Claudia @ Brave People | 3 October 2023
In today’s digital age, it’s important to make sure that everyone has access to digital content, regardless of their abilities or disabilities. Both terms are used frequently in the digital accessibility world, and they are sometimes used interchangeably, but what’s the difference between them?
Inclusive design
Inclusive design is closely related to accessibility, but rather than an outcome, it’s a methodology for how to approach design. It’s a process that considers the full range of human diversity, such as ability, language, culture, gender, age, and other forms of human difference to create a design that can be used by a diverse group of people. The goal of inclusive design is to identify and eliminate barriers that may exclude people from using digital products effectively.
The three principles of inclusive design are:
- Recognize exclusion: By acknowledging and addressing exclusion, which can occur when we rely on our own biases to solve problems, we can turn it into an opportunity to create new and inclusive designs.
- Learn from diversity: By embracing diverse perspectives and experiences, we can gain valuable insights that inform our designs and ensure inclusivity. We should be recognizing the value of diversity and placing people at the center of the design process from the beginning.
- Solve for one, extend to many: By considering the abilities and limitations of all users, we can create designs that are more universally accessible, and constraints can even serve as inspiration for more innovative solutions.
Accessibility
On the other hand, accessibility focuses on making digital content usable for everyone, especially those with disabilities. It’s based on guidelines established by governmental and industry groups to ensure that people with disabilities can access digital products effectively.
The four principles of accessible design are:
- Perceivable: Information and interface components should be presented in a way that users can perceive, which includes providing alternatives for non-text content and presenting content in different ways that are easier to see or hear.
- Operable: Users must be able to operate the interface and cannot require interaction that cannot be performed, which means ensuring that all functionality can be accessed through keyboard navigation and that users can easily find and navigate content.
- Understandable: Content should be clear and easy to understand, with predictable behavior and consistent design. It should also be readable and understandable when read aloud by text-to-speech and other assistive technologies.
- Robust: Content should be designed to remain accessible as technology evolves, and be compatible with different browsers, user agents, and assistive technologies.
Inclusive Design 🤝 Accessibility
It’s important to note that inclusive and accessible design work hand in hand. Inclusive design is a way to achieve accessibility, and both methodologies learn from the way people navigate through certain problems they face. By employing inclusive design methodology and empathizing with diverse groups of people, designers can create products that are accessible to all.
Accessibility and inclusive design are both important in making sure that everyone can access digital content. Inclusive and accessible design both have the same end goal which is to make the product more useful. Accessibility is a goal; inclusive design is a way to get there. Both methodologies are necessary for lowering barriers that exclude people and creating digital products that are usable and accessible for all.
