Accessibility
Differences exist between individuals in any sample of people. These can relate to body size, strength, intelligence, reaction time, etc. If you design for just one person, it’s very likely that the product will be less easy to use by others who differ in certain respects that may be important for its operation. For example, designing a table for a person of average height to prepare food may be less suitable for a very tall or a very short person. Designing to accommodate individual differences requires taking a broader perspective of the whole likely user population.
When is something accessible?
The goal of accessibility is to design products, interfaces, or buildings that can be used and enjoyed by as many people as possible. The concept focuses on enabling access for people with disabilities, or special needs, or enabling access through the use of assistive technology. Though it’s important to note, that greater accessibility brings benefits to everyone.
Someone can experience disability whenever there’s a barrier in place that prevents them doing a task, using a product or participating in an event. For example, physical barriers include buildings without wheelchair access; digital barriers include apps that don’t support voice recognition.
It’s important to understand the physical and cognitive requirements of a task, product, place or system and to match them to the abilities of the target users.
Website accessibility
Regarding website design, the most widely accepted standards for accessibility are the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) developed by W3C, which are internationally recognised and provide a set of testable criteria that can be measured.
The UK government has produced a series of posters featuring dos and don’ts of designing for accessibility and best design practices. The posters feature low vision, deaf and hard of hearing, dyslexia, motor disabilities, users on the autistic spectrum and users of screen readers.
