A design approach to inclusivity
Inclusive Design means designing for the needs of all people, regardless of their age, or background, and including those who may have special needs.
The closed caption feature in videos is a good example where a feature does not only assist people with hearing disabilities but benefits elderly and non-native speakers to understand the video content better. I personally use this feature too, especially when watching videos in public places, when I don’t have my earphones with me.
Let’s identify several other examples of inclusive design in the digital products we’re using:
Keyboard-Only Commands
- Keyboard-only commands feature enables people with motor disabilities to easily navigate our site without using the trackpad or mouse.
- The keyboard command is also commonly used by other users as a shortcut to speed up their work. In data entry for example, users mostly press ‘Tab’ to move from one field/cell to the other faster.
Audio Narration
- Audio narration helps people with visual impairment to understand the text content. Medium.com did an excellent job by providing the ‘Listen’ button for all published articles. This also enables us to listen to the article’s content while working on other tasks.
Display & Text Adjustments
Apple is a good reference when it comes to accessibility. Here are some of the options provided in its mobile settings for display & text adjustments:
- Text size adjustment enables low-vision users to increase the text size from the standard default.
- Increased contrast distinguishes the text from its background and would help users see text more clearly.
- Colour filters can be used by users who are color blind. Some of the options provided are the greyscale, red/green and blue/yellow filters.
Video Resolution Option
- This option will enable users with low connectivity to access the video content. Typically, the lower quality video would consume less data and loads faster compared to the higher quality setting.
Image Alt Attribute
- The image alt attribute is the text that describes the image and is used to make images more meaningful for screen readers.
- This also comes in handy for situations where the images fail to load or render successfully.
In conclusion, it is important to build empathy and strive to make our product better. Working towards inclusive design would indirectly improve the user experience and customer satisfaction of our product. This would also lead to a larger user base since more people are able to use and enjoy our product. With the advancement of technology, we too can build a product that is both visually appealing, accessible, and inclusive for everyone.
Here are some interesting articles for your future reading on this topic:
https://blog.ai-media.tv/blog/6-awesome-accessibility-apps
https://uxdesign.cc/inclusive-design-is-good-business-and-heres-why-27244a4b6a02
