Inspired by the BIMA debates in 2022, the Inclusive Design Council hosted a series of conversations focussed on the key questions we regularly get asked. This article collates the themes, stories, and debates that surfaced. We don’t have definitive answers, but we do have opinions, guidance, and starting points in the hope that you continue the conversation after reading.
As inclusive design and accessibility take the recognition they need in the modern world, there’s a growing confusion as to what they mean, how they’re used, and the outcomes they refer to. In our client conversations the term accessibility can be used to refer to different things, and there is a need to elaborate on this to fully understand what it is we’re addressing.
The confusion comes from considering the terminology as literal, or as the title of a practice. Accessibility perceived as the noun is a practice which has defined activities and approaches. However, accessibility as a verb would mean to make something accessible to everyone – which the practice takes steps to doing, but needs to work alongside usability, inclusion, and much more to complete the verb.
Universal Design started in the 1970s in the UK, and shares much of the same purpose as inclusive design. The goal is to create experiences that can be used by the widest range of people. Universal design is rooted in physical and spatial disciplines which couldn’t offer as much choice as digital. Therefore the key difference is that inclusive design has its roots in the digital space where a core principle is the ability to empower the widest range of people to choose the way they want to interact with a digital product. This may be through the use of assistive technologies, or gestures for example. This is similar in the design of services, where choice is key. So while universal design needed to find the one solution that best fit many, inclusive design offers a mechanism that allows many people to choose the solution that best fits them.
Inclusive design is a process, it’s a way of thinking that should be adapted in all projects. At its core, the process draws on diversity, applying a magnified lens on people who have typically been excluded from design in the past to innovate and create experiences that work for everyone. The approach should open up the design process to allow broader representation at all points, as well as establishing a process for assuring quality of design that is yet to be part of mainstream consideration.
A common misconception is that inclusive design only refers to disability. While accessibility is borne from designing for disability, inclusive design is broader. It considers all the factors that have typically not been thought about as deeply when designing, and aims to remove all the barriers society creates. Examples include designing for lower literacy and digital literacy, different geographies, cultures, languages, and circumstances that require differing needs such as care responsibilities. Of course this is just to name a few but it helps give examples of where design needs further consideration.
While inclusive design and accessibility are not the same thing, accessibility is one of the primary outcomes of an effective inclusive design process. Inclusive design can be considered to be the input method, and accessibility one of the output standards that you meet. Accessibility also has more of a focus on elements of an interface or product. Whereas inclusive design could apply to an overall journey.
Inclusive design and accessibility work together, terminology may differ but the principles must be understood.
We don’t mind what terminology people use, it’s complicated and lives in legacy so thinking that we alone can determine what’s to be used and what isn’t would be foolish. What we do think is important is having a full enough conversation to understand what is meant by the terminology so that scope, actions, outcomes, and impact can be agreed. These are all critical to taking successful steps in making an inclusive and accessible digital world.
Whether inclusive design is a trend or not depends on the definition of the word “trend”. It could mean a fad, similar to a trend that comes and goes in fashion. Or it could mean a movement in a certain direction, which is much more in-keeping with the purpose of inclusive design and accessibility.
When inclusive design is perceived as something that would be fleeting, to lean into now and forget about later, it can be harmful. Those that take this approach will often “do” accessibility or inclusion once, check it off the list and never think of it again. There is also a risk that organisations who think of this as a fad will do the minimum to be part of it while waiting for it to pass. Cutting corners and looking for quick results can lead to negative effects. For example, recently a big agency said ‘The metaverse would be transformational for people with disabilities because they could be their whole selves’ – and although we can see where they are coming from, that language is very loaded. A lot of inclusive design is about language and semantics, and they’re saying “whole” as a descriptor to suggest that that person isn’t whole. Another example is celebrating pride. Lots of organisations know that they should show support, but there is a big difference between changing your logo to be rainbow coloured and actually making changes to internal and external products and practices that truly acknowledges the needs of LGBTQ people.
Treating inclusive design and accessibility as a fad is a disingenuous approach to removing barriers and making equal experiences and is often the case when business benefits are the primary objective rather than the consumer or customer. What lots of people fail to recognise is that prioritising customers has a direct correlation with a successful business.
The benefit of something being “trendy” is that there’s increased attention on it. That’s a benefit that inclusive design and accessibility has been experiencing over the last few years. Attitudes are changing and for a long time this was only done through “the stick” and obligation, but with increased attention comes progressive conversation that has now caused a cultural shift in society. It’s now not acceptable to actively ignore the needs of many, people expect organisations to make it their responsibility to remove barriers for everyone. Social proof is powerful, and it’s a positive effect of inclusive design and accessibility being increasingly popular.
A great example of increased attention on the subject is Rose Ayling starring on ‘The Last Leg’. Rose has been deaf since birth and is a sign language user. She spoke about how her prominence on Strictly Come Dancing has led to a law change to acknowledge sign language as an official language in the UK.
Unlike other fads, we believe and have heard from many others, that once you start with inclusive design methodology and accessibility practices, it is often hard to stop. So while the idea of it being a “trend” in the conventional sense has many negative effects, for many it’s likely they’ll never put it down.
A key thing to remember is that inclusive design and accessibility should not be practiced solely in isolation. They need to be considered across a variety of applications. So instead of considering inclusive design and accessibility as a trend, we would challenge you to apply the thinking to the many design trends that we know do come and go. Do we know the implications of inclusion and accessibility that come with increased use of AR and VR? What about immersive scrolling? By taking this approach and encouraging inclusive and accessible curiosity with every new design trend, we’re ensuring inclusive design and accessibility are here to stay.
Practicing inclusive design and accessibility can feel daunting at the start. As we learn more about the barriers that exist you’ll need to be prepared to adapt, be curious, and be open. Having said that, it’s also a lot less complicated than it may appear to start your journey into creating more inclusive and accessible digital experiences. We’ve compiled the top tips from our conversations.
The first step is to immerse yourself in a world beyond the life you live. It’s hard to imagine or even know about the different considerations or impacts of your decisions without first learning from others. Exposure doesn’t always come naturally either, if we sit and wait it’s likely we’ll learn a lot slower. So be proactive, a good place to start is on your social media. It’s easy to follow people with differing beliefs, needs and stories. Expand this into your physical life, chat to people you wouldn’t in the workplace or the pub. Watch how people interact with their environments and you’ll start to see people doing thighs very differently to you.
As someone working in creating digital products and services, a key part of an inclusive design approach is to simply create greater opportunity for diverse input. The most commonly known ways of doing this are in user research and testing. And this is a great place to start, recruit diverse participants, test with different technologies, and needs in different environments. However, it shouldn’t stop there. Inclusive design should be about co-creation. Consider how you can have subject matter experts with their own life experiences consulting on your project, can you run your design activities with participants beyond your team? There are many ways of creating opportunities to input, see if you can find even more!
Luckily, accessibility has been a practice for a long time and there are lots of highly skilled experts who have helped to break it down. This is done through standards such as WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines). These are a great starting point for bringing into your designs and testing. You need to follow WCAG, but it’s also important to remember that doing this alone doesn’t necessarily equal a fully inclusive and accessible experience. This is because the standard only covers a certain amount of barriers and technologies. So start with the standards, but don’t stop there.
A common pitfall is to expect inclusive design and accessibility to automatically embed into existing work practices. While this may be the long term goal, at the beginning of the journey you need to set aside time to upskill, build knowledge, and fill the broader gaps that have been unaddressed. As you practice this more often, the time needed will reduce and you’ll find efficiencies that seamlessly integrate it into ways of working. As with most things, you need to walk before you can run!
Finally, don’t forget to share your experiences. Just as you need to learn from others, others should learn from you. By sharing and starting conversations, thinking will evolve and ideas can form. This is even more important in this field that is ever evolving.
“As designers, we should consider ourselves not just as the designer of a product, but more as a facilitator of the design process, in which many people without the job title of ‘Designer’ can be designing.” – Steph Marques
“Inclusive Design can be scary as there’s a lot to learn and a lot you can get wrong. Just remember, you don’t have to be an expert to be an advocate. If you can identify exclusion, that’s the point of entering an inclusive design journey.” – Kevin Mar-molinero
“There’s not a singular answer to inclusive design and accessibility, it’s about learning from others, best practice, and new ideas. Make both the big and the small changes and don’t underestimate the positive impact you can have on even one person’s life. It matters, for them, for business, and for society.” – Becky Ferraro
“For creators we have an opportunity to lead on creating great designs that work for all. Use this opportunity to challenge and question yourself with empathy on how you can be better in your own processes to be inclusive. Don’t be afraid to embrace curiosity at every stage. Have those conversations with different people to learn and understand different needs which will help you uncover great possibilities.” – Eve Ofosu