Design: Accessibility

Digital products are about content. Even if you think they’re all about interactivity, controls are pointless if users don’t understand their purpose and cannot read about what they do. The most important thing you can do to make a Web site or app usable is to make sure everyone can read its text, on every device, under every condition.

Units and Conversions

First, let’s define some terminology. People often use the term font incorrectly these days. Technically, in the modern world, a font is a digital file containing a particular typeface. In this column, I’ll be using the term type when referring to the characters that make up printed or displayed text—including the content, the font or typeface, and its size and color. Read More

The whole point of technology is to make our lives easier. It helps us save time and effort so we can focus on what’s really important in life rather than on the mundane tasks we need to complete. Because of accessible design, which is a subset of universal design, people who are disabled can now potentially enjoy a level of convenience that is similar to that of the rest of the population. However, when the typical Web site is three times less useful for people with disabilities, these differences become all the more crucial.

People with disabilities face social exclusion, and apathetic communities send the message that their difficulties are their own. This is not how caring communities operate. Nor does widespread apathy encourage the creation of inclusive, user-friendly designs. While it could be difficult to completely eliminate barriers because of the specific needs of people with particular disabilities, there is definitely room for improvement in terms of making the Internet more user friendly for those with impairments. Read More

I rarely talk explicitly about accessibility—not because I don’t care about it, but because accessibility must be so well baked into the overall design process. Plus, there are so many overlaps between accessible design and the concept of design for everyone in every context that my basic design principles and detailed guidelines more or less cover it. On projects, I actually avoid discussing accessibility specifically because I think it tends to lead to project teams’ creating accessibility features, which of course, are all too easy to descope, so teams might never get around to implementing them.

Mobile—and the related trends of using tablets and notebook computers in every environment—has made discussions of universal access even more important. Instead of thinking of disabled rather normal people, it is best to think along the lines of everyone being at least sometimes temporarily disabled. Although much temporary disability is the result of physical conditions, illnesses, or injuries, it can also be the consequence of environmental conditions. For example, sunlight might be coming through a window and glaring off a screen, making it hard to read and colors difficult to differentiate. Read More