How can you make sure your innovative solutions are accessible to everyone?

1 Understand your users

The first step to create accessible solutions is to understand your users and their needs, goals, and challenges. You can do this by conducting user research, such as interviews, surveys, observations, or testing. User research helps you to empathize with your users, identify their pain points, and discover their expectations and motivations. You can also use personas, scenarios, and journey maps to represent your users and their contexts.

2 Apply accessibility principles

The second step to create accessible solutions is to apply accessibility principles to your design and development process. Accessibility principles are guidelines that help you to ensure that your solutions are perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust for all users. For example, you can use contrast, color, font, and layout to make your content easy to see and read. You can also use keyboard, voice, touch, or gesture inputs to make your interactions easy to perform. You can also use clear language, labels, and feedback to make your information easy to comprehend and use. You can also use standards, formats, and compatibility to make your solutions easy to maintain and support.

4 Learn and iterate your solutions

The fourth step to create accessible solutions is to learn and iterate your solutions based on your findings and feedback. Learning and iterating help you to refine and optimize your solutions and make them more relevant and valuable for your users. You can use various tools, such as prototypes, experiments, or pilots to test and validate your assumptions and hypotheses. You can also use various techniques, such as brainstorming, ideation, or co-creation to generate and explore new ideas and possibilities.

6 Follow ethical and responsible practices

The sixth step to create accessible solutions is to follow ethical and responsible practices throughout your innovation process. Ethical and responsible practices help you to ensure that your solutions are fair, inclusive, and respectful for all users and communities. You can use various frameworks, such as codes of conduct, principles, or standards to guide your decisions and actions. You can also use various tools, such as checklists, audits, or impact assessments to monitor and evaluate your outcomes and risks.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?