Inclusive design is about creating a product or experience that works for as many people as possible. It functions regardless of a user’s age, ability, background, or situation. This means it doesn’t just help people with disabilities but caters to people of all abilities. Closed captions are a great example of inclusive design in that not only do they serve the deaf community, but they’re also helpful for users in loud or quiet environments where audio cannot be heard or played (and even for people learning a new language!).
Accessibility
Accessible design is about catering to users with a variety of disabilities. This can include auditory, cognitive, physical, and visual disabilities. It’s about meeting specific needs, rather than serving all needs. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines serve as a web standard and in-depth guide for how digital agencies can meet these needs. Some key aspects include:
- Making content distinguishable: Using sufficient color contrast, resizable text, and avoiding color use alone to convey meaning
- Providing text alternatives: Provide alt text for images and labels for form fields
- Compatibility with assistive technology: Ensure content works with screen readers and other tools
- Navigation and interaction with content: Allow for navigation by keyboard, allow user to pause, stop or hide changing content, provide alternatives to dragging content
Accessible Design Is a Part of Inclusive Design
Think of accessibility as a goal or destination. Inclusivity is how we get to that destination.
- Inclusivity covers a broad spectrum of differences. This includes race, age, culture, economic status, education, location, language and much more.
- Accessibility has a narrower scope than inclusive design in that it’s focused on specific accommodations for those with disabilities.
They work together by making sure that everyone can reach their goal but also feel considered and supported while doing so.
How do you create accessible and inclusive designs?
The first step in creating accessible and inclusive designs is identifying who might be excluded or have a hard time accessing and using your services. Then it’s important to learn about their needs, whether it be through direct feedback, research and case studies, or usability testing.
Some best practices to get you started include familiarizing yourself with and following accessibility guidelines (WCAG). In general, it’s best to allow for flexibility and multiple ways of interacting on your site, like including closed captioning on videos and implementing a responsive design. It’s also important to be inclusive in the imagery and language you use. Clear, simple language is best along with diverse imagery. Diverse imagery should showcase varying economic status, disabilities, race, age, cultures, and situations.
Ultimately, an accessible and inclusive website is one that is built with usability in mind. This, along with proper development, ensures your site can be loaded and viewed on all devices. When development includes important pieces like proper HTML elements and compressed images, it allows for screen reader use and increased load speeds. When good design and good development work hand-in-hand, we can create intuitive, usable websites that are accessible and inclusive.
Why both accessibility and inclusivity matter
Very few people have absolutely no difficulties according to the Pyramid Model of Diversity – only 21% of the population. 16% experience minimal difficulties, 37% experience mild difficulties, and 25% experience severe difficulties. In other words, the majority of the population can benefit from accessible and inclusive design. But both matter because where accessibility aims to help those with severe difficulties, inclusivity focuses on the rest. This ensures that everyone, regardless of their abilities, background, or situation, can fully participate and enjoy what’s being offered. Reach out to ZAG to discuss your accessibility and inclusivity needs.
