What is accessible design?
Accessible design means creating products and services everyone can use, including those with disabilities. It’s different from usability, which focuses on making the user experience better for everyone.
Who needs accessible design?
Accessible design is important for people with various disabilities, such as 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.
Accessible design and the law
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.
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.
Why accessibility matters
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.
Tips for accessible design
- Test with diverse users: Regularly test designs with people who have different disabilities.
- Use simple language: Write clearly and avoid complex words.
- Consistent layout: Keep the design layout the same to make it easy to use.
- Customisable interfaces: Allows users to change settings like font size and colours.
- Use visual aids: Images and icons can help explain things.
- Prevent errors: Design forms and other elements to avoid mistakes and help users fix them.
- Clear Structure: Use headings and a logical order to guide users.
- Match reading age: Write content for a nine-year-old reading level.
- Responsive design: Make sure designs work on all devices, like phones and tablets.
- Cultural sensitivity: Respect all users’ backgrounds and cultures.
If you have a question for Jo or the Triad team, please get in touch.
