A11y is your Ally

By Philipp Binggeli

Accessibility – also written as A11y (to account for the 11 letters between the first letter of Accessibility and the last one) – is an important aspect of user experience and user interface design. By designing with accessibility in mind, you can create products and services that are inclusive, beneficial and meet some legal requirements for your company or business. As UX and UI designers, it's important to care about accessibility and design with it in mind, not as an after-thought.

Over the last few years, I have heard some almost unbelievable statements when making sure that Accessibility would be considered while building products. For example:

• “People with disabilities are not our target audience.”
• "I don't work for healthcare."
• “It’s good to have but it is still a low priority.”
• "Accessibility is expensive and time-consuming."
• “This is a task for developers.”
• "We don't have anyone here at our company with a disability, so how would we know what to consider?"

Yep, I can hear your eyes rolling. Some people may think that accessibility is just about designing for people with disabilities, but that's not the whole story. Accessibility is actually about designing for all users, regardless of their abilities. It's about creating products that are usable, navigable and understandable by everyone, including those with disabilities, older users and users with different language proficiency levels.

Some people may think that accessibility is just about designing for people with disabilities, but that's not the whole story. Accessibility is actually about designing for all users, regardless of their abilities.

For starters, let's briefly mention what accessibility means. Accessibility refers to the design and development of products, services and environments that are usable by people with disabilities. This includes people with visual, auditory, motor, cognitive and other disabilities. Please note that some disabilities or impairments can be temporary when a person gets Lasik surgery and goes through a period of "visual impairment." There are also situations during which someone can experience temporary hearing loss or might require special digital accommodations for several other reasons.

Regardless of the reason for a disability or an impairment, however, you might be wondering why accessibility is important for UX and UI designers. The answer is simple: accessibility is a fundamental aspect of user experience. When designing products and services, it's important to consider how they will be used by all users, including those with (temporary and permanent) disabilities.

If you already include at least some Accessibility in your UX & UI design and development work, kudos!

Consider delivering brilliant user experiences for everyone, including the 1 billion people globally living with a disability today.

If you are not including Accessibility considerations in your design work, but you're thinking about it: don't waste any time and start now. Yes, I understand that Accessibility is not always popular in some organizations (for so many wrong reasons), but as as an inclusive designer, there are some things you can start doing now without needing a larger budget or permission. Near the bottom of this article are some references about Accessibility myths. Read up, find other resources, get to know WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), befriend some Accessibility experts on LinkedIn or elsewhere – and start implementing what you can.

Where to start? Don't get overwhelmed. You don't have to be fully WCAG compliant (unless, of course, you work for an organization that is required to do so). Many companies know that they have to meet more Accessibility standards at some time, but they start with the most obvious and important ones. That's still better than doing nothing.

1. If you are building digital products that can be accessed in a web browser, consider Accessibility extensions and plug-ins, such as axe DevTools for web accessibility testing. You could, for example, use those tools to review the "current state" of your product. Find out what you can improve quickly and without too much effort. Then, if you decide you're ready to get even more involved with meeting higher WCAG standards, get plug-ins that focus on one specific issue (color contrast between text and the background, meaningful ALT text for images that blind people can't see, subtitles or transcripts for videos, etc.). Keep in mind that there are several levels of WCAG compliance, and it's quite common to aim for a specific level of compliance, not necessarily the highest level (although that would ultimately be the goal).
2. Do you use Figma? There are many helpful plug-ins for Accessibility. I'll point out one of them: Stark Accessibility Tools. This plug-in includes tools like Contrast Checker, Focus Order, Alt-Text Annotations, Vision Simulator and more, all in one place. You can find accessibility issues in a design before it goes into production – or quickly analyze and fix what’s already in flight. Rome wasn't built in a day, so decide on the top three Accessibility related issues that you could implement. (And if you're using a different design tool, do a little research to find out where you can find plug-ins or anything else to help with Accessibility.)
3. Join the Accessible Community on LinkedIn. What's this all about? "Accessible Community is a non-profit that nurtures disability-inclusive communities by helping small organizations become accessible, people with disabilities find accessible organizations, and emerging experts grow their experience." I have befriended some people who are Accessibility gurus in various companies. It's been eye-opening to learn more and understand what I can do as a designer to provide better user experiences for all end users. Keep the communication going and start involving your entire team when it comes to Accessibility. This is also an excellent place to ask some general or specific questions you might have about Accessibility. Nobody is going to laugh at you.
4. It's also important to involve people with disabilities in the design and testing process to ensure that your digital products are truly accessible. This can help you identify and address accessibility issues that you may not have considered, and ensure that your products are usable and enjoyable for everyone. If you need help finding suitable testers, read my previous article "Recruiting Participants for your UX Design Work" for some tips from UX Researcher Eric Vincent Olsen. In my professional experience, I thoroughly enjoyed an online session during which a visually impaired person showed us how he uses his screen reader software to fill out a form on a company website. We took notes and were truly humbled afterward but also grateful that this individual took the time to show us what his day-to-day experience with digital products looks like.

To make sure we understand why inclusive design matters, here are just a few reasons why UX and UI designers should care about accessibility:

1. Inclusivity: Accessibility is about creating products and services that are inclusive of all users, regardless of their abilities. By designing with accessibility in mind, you can ensure that your product or service is usable by everyone, regardless of their disability.
2. Legal requirements: There are legal requirements for accessibility in many countries, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the United States. By designing with accessibility in mind, you can ensure that your product or service complies with these legal requirements.
3. Business benefits: Accessibility can also have business benefits. For example, designing with accessibility in mind can help you reach a wider audience, including people with disabilities who may be more likely to use your product or service.
4. User experience: Accessibility is an important aspect of user experience. When designing products and services, it's important to consider how they will be used by all users, including those with disabilities. By designing with accessibility in mind, you can create products and services that are more usable and enjoyable for everyone.

Please, refer to the resources listed near the bottom of this page for more information about Accessibility. Every platform has informative and educational resources, even YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. All you have to do is search for it.

Finally, if I could, I would urge you to stand up for inclusive design. Why? Our products are being used by an increasing aging population. Ultimately, we are designing and setting standards for our future selves (and the new generation of UX and UI designers). The risk of bad design is too high, and we already know that from "Dark UX" and "UX Anti-Patterns – it goes for Accessibility as well. The value of good inclusive design far outweighs the negativity of a few uneducated people. Even without resorting to lawsuits that have cost some companies millions of dollars because their digital products and services were not accessible to a certain part of our population, you can present a business case for inclusive design and do it for all the right reasons. If you're still at a loss as to how to do that after consulting the resources mentioned below and doing a little research on your own, let's talk.

References

Additionally:

https://www.dhirubhai.net/advice/1/how-can-you-challenge-common-accessibility-myths

Assets:

The title image for this article was created by Philipp Binggeli, using original text and Adobe Express for layout and available stock photography.

The image about permanent, temporary and situational disabilities has been widely published throughout dozens of websites. Original author unknown.

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