Design for Every User
In a world where digital experiences dominate, it’s easy to overlook that not everyone experiences the web the same way. Imagine visiting your favourite website, only to find the text too small to read, the contrast too low to decipher, or worse, you can’t even navigate it at all. Frustrating, right? Now imagine this is your everyday reality. That’s the case for over 1.3 billion people worldwide living with some form of disability, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Accessibility isn’t about ticking off legal checkboxes. As designers of online experiences, it’s our responsibility to ensure everyone can use the products we create, regardless of ability.
Why Accessible Design Matters
Accessible design is both a moral and ethical consideration. It reflects the belief that everyone should have equal access to information and digital experiences.
Beyond ethics, accessibility also makes good business sense. By designing with accessibility in mind, you enable more users to engage with your product, improving the overall user experience for everyone. As Steve Krug notes in Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, accessible design enhances usability for all users, not just those with disabilities. A clean, legible interface benefits everyone, regardless of their abilities.
And don’t forget the legal aspects. In places like the U.S., accessibility is mandated by law. Section 508 requires digital products to be accessible to people with disabilities. Failing to comply isn't just poor UX; it could also expose your business to lawsuits and penalties.
Visual Accessibility Guidelines: The Foundation of Inclusive Design
So, what does accessible product design look like? Enter WCAG—the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines—created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to set the standard for digital accessibility. If you’re in UX or UI design, you should have heard of WCAG and their standards, but for those whole haven’t here’s a high-level overview:
AA: The standard for most product designs, with a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1. This ensures the majority of users, including those with mild to moderate disabilities, can engage with your design.
AAA: The strictest standard, requiring a contrast ratio of 7:1. AAA is typically reserved for high-priority use cases, such as government websites like gov.uk and the NHS, where usability takes precedence over aesthetic design.
While most products aim for AA compliance, striving for WCAG standards ensures a user-centric approach—the foundation of great UX design.
Building Accessible Products Is a Team Effort
Creating a truly accessible product isn’t a one-person job. It requires collaboration across teams. From designers to developers and product managers, everyone plays a role. These efforts need buy-in from the top to ensure sufficient time for accessibility testing, as it can be the first thing companies cut when time gets tight.
Designers: The Visual Accessibility Heroes
As designers, you’re the primary champion of visual accessibility. Here’s how you can make sure your designs are inclusive:
- Ensure sufficient contrast in colours. Not only does this help people with visual impairments, it’s simply good visual design all-round.
- Design for legibility: Placing text over images might look great in your mockup, but in production with unpredictable content then it might become impossible to read. The same goes for choosing fonts—what might convey your brand personality in a header or logo doesn’t always translate well to body copy. Pair well, ensuring your smallest text style is still readable and your type is well-set.
- Don’t rely solely on colour: Someone with a visual impairment might not see the difference when your selected/highlighted states are just a different colour. Use things like underlines, outlines, or icons, to add extra highlights.
These principles aren’t just about accessibility—they’re pillars of great UI design. A well-designed interface always prioritises clarity, legibility, and ease of use.
Developers: Bringing Functionality to Life
Designers lay the groundwork, but developers bring accessibility to life. Here are some key points for devs:
- Make everything keyboard-accessible: Some users can’t use a mouse, so all components need to be navigable via keyboard. Logical focus states are crucial so users can move smoothly through your interface.
- Support screen readers: Not everyone interacts with a product visually. Screen readers convert digital content for users who are visually impaired, but they can only do that well if your website is built with logical and human-readable HTML structure. This also applies to designers, as here at The Bang we build some of our websites ourselves. Adding alt-text to images and non-text elements is a simple yet powerful way to make your design more accessible.
Product Managers: Enablers of Accessibility
Product managers play a pivotal role in driving accessibility efforts. They’re responsible for:
- Educating clients: Not all clients understand the importance of accessibility. It’s up to project managers to help them see the value in making digital products accessible.
- Setting expectations: PMs must ensure clients or internal stakeholders are aware of the additional efforts, legal requirements, and responsibility required to allow their team to create accessible products.
- Securing time for testing: Accessibility requires thorough testing at multiple stages, so PMs need to advocate for the necessary time and resources to get it right.
The Ripple Effect of Accessible Design
Designing accessible products benefits everyone, not just users with disabilities. A well-designed product, grounded in solid UX principles, will be easier to navigate, understand, and use for all users.
By designing inclusively, you expand your audience, boost user satisfaction, and demonstrate that your brand values all users. At the same time, you safeguard your business from legal risks and adhere to industry best practices like WCAG.
At the end of the day, great UX design is about solving people’s problems and providing joy along the way when necessary. We’re big believers that modern technologies should be a force for good and not a hindrance. By prioritising accessibility, we ensure no user is excluded by the technology they use, regardless of their abilities.
