How do you balance accessibility and aesthetics in design?

1 What is accessibility and why does it matter?

Accessibility is the degree to which a product or service can be used by people with different abilities, preferences, and situations. Accessibility is not only a legal requirement, but also a moral and business responsibility. Designing for accessibility can benefit all users, not just those with disabilities, by improving usability, inclusivity, and diversity. Accessibility can also boost your brand reputation, customer loyalty, and market reach.

2 What are the principles of accessible design?

Accessible design is based on four principles: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. These principles are defined by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), a set of standards and best practices for web accessibility. Perceivable means that the information and interface components are presented in ways that users can perceive, such as using text alternatives, captions, and contrast. Operable means that the interface components are easy to use and navigate, such as using keyboard access, focus indicators, and skip links. Understandable means that the information and interface components are clear and consistent, such as using simple language, labels, and feedback. Robust means that the content and interface components are compatible with different devices, browsers, and assistive technologies, such as using valid code, markup, and ARIA attributes.

3 How do you balance accessibility and aesthetics in design?

Balancing accessibility and aesthetics in design is not a trade-off, but a synergy that can be achieved by following some basic guidelines. When using color, be sure to use color contrast tools to check the readability and visibility of your text and graphics, and use color-blindness simulators to ensure that your color scheme is accessible. Typography should be legible and readable; use fonts that are clear, consistent, and scalable, and create a balanced and organized layout with white space, alignment, and hierarchy. Images and icons should be relevant and informative; use alt text, captions, and descriptions to provide text alternatives for images and icons; use SVG or vector formats to ensure that they are scalable and responsive; avoid using images or icons that are decorative, ambiguous, or misleading; use labels or tooltips to clarify their meaning or function.

4 How do you use usability testing to evaluate and improve your design?

Usability testing is a method of evaluating how well your product or service meets the needs and expectations of your users. This testing can help you identify and fix any issues or gaps in your design, while also validating and refining your design choices. To use usability testing effectively, you should define your goals and objectives, choose the appropriate methods and tools, recruit and select participants, prepare and run tests, analyze and report results. This will ensure that your design is not only accessible and aesthetic but also usable and effective. When defining goals, consider the key questions or hypotheses you want to test, as well as how you will measure success or failure. When selecting methods and tools, consider whether to use moderated or unmoderated testing, qualitative or quantitative data, or a combination of both. When recruiting participants, consider who your target users are and how many you need. When preparing tests, consider what tasks, scenarios, or questions to use. Finally, when analyzing results, consider what insights or recommendations to draw from them.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?