Design and development posts
Designing for people with disabilities
At the heart of inclusive design are people. Not technology, and not standards. Technology is what people use, and standards provide a foundation for access, but inclusive design is shaped by real use, not rule sets.
Accessible building blocks for the web videos
By applying accessibility considerations to the building blocks of your web content you can create digital products that everyone can use.
Our Accessible building blocks for web video series introduces key accessibility considerations for some of the most widely used elements on websites - from headings to images, links, buttons, and form fields.
Common accessibility misconceptions
Our Common accessibility misconceptions series sheds light on many misunderstood aspects of accessibility.
Common misconceptions about testing accessibility
Testing for accessibility is often misunderstood. Teams either overestimate what tools can do, underestimate their own role, or assume testing is something that happens once only, at completion of the development process.
In this post we tackle some of the most frequent misconceptions about accessibility testing.
Common misconceptions about implementing accessibility
For many organisations and digital teams, knowing how to start implementing accessibility and how to sustain it over time isn't always straightforward. Teams often wonder who is responsible, which tools to use, and when accessibility should be considered.
Common misconceptions about WCAG
Most people working in digital are aware of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and know they can help make digital products work for everyone. However, the way the guidelines are discussed often leads to mixed assumptions about what they cover and how they should be used.
Common misconceptions about screen readers
Screen readers are familiar to many in digital, but how they work in practice can be less clear. In this post, we shed some light on the topic.
Guide to the Inclusive Design Principles
The Inclusive Design Principles (IDP) were first published in 2016 by myself, Ian Pouncey, Léonie Watson, and Heydon Pickering. We felt that while the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) set out what to do to meet technical compliance, many design decisions fall outside the scope of WCAG but still determine whether an interface is inclusive, usable, and welcoming.
The principles were developed to plug that gap with people-centred guidance that helps teams make better design decisions without adding unnecessary complexity. In this post, we'll look at who the principles are for, what they can be applied to, how they help people, and how you can integrate them into your own practices.
Annotating designs using common language
In most organisations, design documentation often includes annotations, but accessibility-specific ones are still rare. That’s a missed opportunity. Annotating designs for accessibility helps everyone involved understand what needs to be built, tested, and maintained.
Why inclusive products are green products
More and more organisations are conscious about the environmental impact of their products - both physical or digital - and are trying to make positive changes.
Applying inclusive best practices when designing digital products results not only in more accessible products but also in more sustainable ones.