What is inclusive design?
"Exclusion happens when we solve problems using our own biases. We seek out exclusions, and use them as opportunities to create new and better experiences." — Microsoft Inclusive Design
Building inclusive digital solutions means looking at the experience as a whole: who is using the product and how they interact with it. When we think about people, it's important to remember that everyone has limitations, and those limitations can be permanent, temporary, or situational.
Permanent limitations
These may include different types of disabilities, such as cognitive, auditory, mobility, speech, or visual impairments. Age-related changes that happen over time also fall into this category. Each situation comes with different needs and considerations.
Temporary limitations
These affect us for a limited period of time. A sore throat caused by the flu, for example, may make it uncomfortable to speak, turning something as simple as answering a phone call into a challenge.
Situational limitations
These are influenced by external factors. Using a phone outdoors under strong sunlight can make content difficult to see on screen, even with brightness at 100%.
Keeping these scenarios in mind, digital accessibility and inclusive design work together to create better experiences in a realistic and practical way. There is no single best practice that solves every possible use case. Accessibility is achieved through a set of thoughtful decisions that make a product usable by more people, in more situations.
"If we use our own abilities as a baseline, we make things that are easy for some people to use, but difficult for everyone else." — Microsoft Inclusive Design
Building more accessible products
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are based on four core principles. Here's a simple overview of each.
Perceivable
Information presented in the product should be clear and perceivable to all users. This includes good practices around text readability, color contrast, media usage, and clear visual distinction between interface elements.
Operable
All users should be able to operate and interact with the interface and its components. Navigation should support keyboard and assistive technology, allow enough time to complete actions, avoid visual effects that cause discomfort, and not create unnecessary barriers.
Understandable
Content and interactions should be easy to understand. Users should always know what is happening in the interface and what is expected of them next, without having to guess.
Robust
Content should work across different devices, browsers, and assistive technologies. When creating new components, it's important to clearly define their name, role, and value so users understand what they're interacting with.
In practice, it's not always possible to meet every accessibility requirement throughout a product's lifecycle. There will always be opportunities to improve, revisit decisions, or learn something new before implementing changes. According to Microsoft Inclusive Design, accessibility is an attribute, while inclusive design is a method.
Inclusive design helps us recognize exclusion and understand how to address it, learn from diversity, and think more broadly. Often, a small improvement can positively impact the experience across multiple scenarios. No matter the scale, applying accessibility and inclusion principles leads to better outcomes for users and ultimately results in stronger, more thoughtful digital products.