UX in Accessibility – Designing with a Heart (And Compliance)!
When speaking of the role of UX/UI design in accessibility, most formal definitions have an instantly alienating effect. As if accessibility design is an unrelated prong running tangentially to “normal” UX/UI design. As if it requires designers to possess a special set of skills to design for accessibility. And maybe it does.
However, this is where it helps to circle back to the core intent of design – to solve problems, and to do so smartly. And this isn’t rocket science. When the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was put into action, they didn’t ban stairs. Instead, they promoted elevators or ramps so that people with disabilities could get to any location that people using stairs could get to. In other words, there is a need to push the barriers of design, not just towards better functionality, but also increased inclusivity.
What’s the hold-up?
Detractors of accessibility design come in many intellectual shapes, forms and sizes. There are the ones that think it affects too small a percentage of people, so why bother? The WHO may not agree. In fact, according to WHO figures, there are about a billion disabled people in the world, one-fifth of who face great functional challenges in day-to-day living.
Then there are the ones that are more focused on the “business case” for these changes and demand the same. If the brutality of this pragmatism doesn’t seem alarming enough, the unethicality of it will surely does. Why? Because several acts across the globe (the American with Disabilities Act in the US, the DDA act in Australia, the ACA act in Canada) deem the act of actively blocking an individual’s access to civil rights is, indeed, unethical.
The list of reasons why many favour new feature development over updating existing features for accessibility goes on. However, the fact that the inability to serve this demographic can lead to legal issues makes it a no-brainer if a company is looking to survive and avoid a web accessibility lawsuit.
So, how do you start?
“Accessibility is not a checkbox. Accessibility is a mindset that can lead to a very powerful sense of inclusion”
The best way to start UX/UI designing for accessibility is to give the latest WCAG document, or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, a thorough read. Created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a non-profit, non-governmental community, WCAG falls under the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). Given that these standards are virtually universal, it is in a website’s best interest to have these compliance requirements down to a tee.
Easier said than done? Most definitely.
