Design and development posts
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.
Foundations: types of assistive technology and adaptive strategies
This post provides an overview of common assistive technologies (AT) used by people with seeing, hearing, moving, and thinking disabilities. It also explains what adaptive strategies are, and how these approaches work together to support accessibility and inclusive experiences.
Foundations: Keyboard accessibility
By prioritising semantic HTML and offering keyboard-friendly alternatives for complex interactions, you help create a more inclusive experience for people who use a keyboard.
Can generative AI write contextual text descriptions?
In 2025, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLM) like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and DeepSeek are being used for everything. Writing emails. Generating code. Even applying for jobs. But, can they write good text descriptions for images?
Foundations: grouping forms with <fieldset> and <legend>
In this post, we explore how to use the <fieldset> and <legend> elements to group and label form elements effectively, creating a more accessible and well-structured experience.
XR Accessibility: for people with moving disabilities
Extended Reality (XR) experiences provide immersive experiences which tend to require movement based interactions. But we need to consider alternative input methods for people who can’t move.
Foundations: form validation and error messages
As well as labelling text fields with input and labels, and grouping forms with the <fieldset> and <legend> elements, form validation and error messages are also essential to making forms accessible to everyone.
XR Accessibility: for people with hearing disabilities
Extended Reality (XR) experiences tend to focus on providing immersive sounds and directional audio to convey information. But we need to consider how we convey the information in these experiences to people who can’t hear them.