Designing for Inclusive User Experience

Getting Started

If you work in experience design, it’s essential to learn about designing for inclusive user experience.

Inclusive design ensures that your product or service can be used by as many people as possible, regardless of their abilities or disabilities.

This is not only ethical but also good business sense, as it can help you reach a wider audience.

This guide is for anyone involved in experience design, including UX designers, product managers, developers, and content creators.

How to

Start by researching accessibility guidelines and best practices. WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is a good place to start.
Identify the needs of your users. Consider all types of users, including those with disabilities, older users, and those with limited access to technology.
Design with accessibility in mind from the beginning. This includes choosing colors with sufficient contrast, using clear and concise language, and ensuring that all elements are keyboard accessible.
Test your design with real users. This will help you identify any issues and make necessary improvements.
Continuously monitor and improve your design. Accessibility is an ongoing process, and it’s important to keep up with new guidelines and best practices.

Best Practices

Use clear and concise language
Ensure that all elements are keyboard accessible
Provide alternatives for non-text content, such as images and videos
Choose colors with sufficient contrast

Examples

Let’s say you’re designing a website for a university.

You want to make sure that the website is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.

Here’s a role-play conversation between a UX designer and a user with a visual impairment:

UX Designer: Can you tell me about your experience using our website?

User: Well, I have trouble reading the text.

The font is too small, and the contrast is not high enough.

UX Designer: I see.

We’ll make sure to increase the font size and choose colors with higher contrast.

Is there anything else we can do to improve your experience?

User: Yes, it would be helpful if there were alternative text for the images on the website.

I use a screen reader, and it can’t read the images without alternative text.

UX Designer: Thank you for letting us know.

We’ll make sure to add alternative text for all images on the website.

By listening to the user’s feedback and making necessary improvements, the UX designer was able to create a more inclusive user experience for all users.