• Digital Inclusion
• Regulation
• UX

Written by Joanne Petrillo , UX/UR Consultant, Triad Group Plc

As a UX Designer, accessible design is an important part of my discipline. But it isn’t widely understood. So here is my whistle stop tour of accessible design; what it is and why it matters. 

What is accessible design?

I often get asked this question. Accessible designs are products and services that are deliberately created for everyone to use, whether they have disabilities or not. This means that it is different to ‘usability’, where the focus is to deliberately make the user experience better for everyone.

Why design for accessibility?

I think that Accessible design is important, because it covers such a wide variety of disabilities. This can include vision, hearing, movement, thinking, and learning difficulties. It also helps people with temporary or situational disabilities, such as those recovering from surgery or a parent holding a child.

For example, video subtitles help people who are deaf or hard of hearing, those learning a new language, and anyone in a noisy place. Clear and high-contrast designs help people with vision problems and those using a device in bright sunlight.

If designs aren’t accessible, people may feel excluded and unable to use products or services. This can lead to legal issues, fines, bad publicity, and loss of trust and money. It’s also harder and more expensive to fix accessibility issues later.

Is accessible design a legal requirement?

Yes. In many countries, making designs accessible is a legal requirement. In the UK, laws like the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018 mandate that digital content be accessible. Public sector organisations must follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) at the AA level. Let’s take a look at these now.

WCAG – WCAG helps make web content accessible. It has four main principles: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. There are three levels of conformance:

• A: Basic accessibility features.
• AA: More features, like good contrast and text resizing.
• AAA: The highest level, with even more features, like high contrast and video sign language.

WCAG 2.2 – The latest version, WCAG 2.2, adds new rules to help people with low vision, learning difficulties, and limited movement. Some new rules include:

• Making sure focused items are visible.
• Making dragging movements easier.
• Making interactive elements big enough to use easily.
• Making login processes simple without hard tests.

Here are my top tips for accessible design:

1. Test with diverse users: Regularly test designs with people who have different disabilities.
2. Use simple language: Write clearly and avoid complex words.
3. Consistent layout: Keep the design layout the same to make it easy to use.
4. Customisable interfaces: Allows users to change settings like font size and colours.
5. Use visual aids: Images and icons can help explain things.
6. Prevent errors: Design forms and other elements to avoid mistakes and help users fix them.
7. Clear Structure: Use headings and a logical order to guide users.
8. Match reading age: Write content for a nine-year-old reading level.
9. Responsive design: Make sure designs work on all devices, like phones and tablets.

Cultural sensitivity: Respect all users’ backgrounds and cultures.

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