# What does it mean to design accessibility?

Accessibility in design is where the needs, wants and capabilities of a diverse range of users are factored into each stage of the product design process. This is good for business since the barrier to using your products is lowered, and - more importantly - good for users, since everyone feels like they’re involved.

# In the party of life, who is invited?

I like to think of accessibility like a party. Let’s say that you want to throw a party because you want to make as many friends as possible. So you plan to start inviting people - deciding on written invitations sent by post. Now who might we expect to turn up? People who:

• Have an address
• Have time to spare
• Can read the invitation
• Can travel to the party
• Can understand the invitation
• Are not anxious about parties

That’s a lot of barriers! And less people coming to your party, means less people to befriend.

The party has already happened and lots of people didn’t get a chance to go, so you decide to throw another party but this time you send an invite via the post and via direct message or email. Now who shows up? People who:

• Have a device that can receive messages
• Has an address
• Have time to spare
• Can read the invitation
• Can listen to a screen-reader voice the invitation
• Can travel to the party
• Can understand the invitation, or have the invitation explained to them
• Are not anxious about parties, but can be reassured in direct messages

Now more people show up - because you lowered the barrier of entry, which is great! Way more people came to your party and you got to make lots of new friends. BUT you look at the bill - you’ve spent twice the amount you budgeted for.

This could have been prevented, had you thought about who your invitation excluded initially. When the first invitation was sent, if you had asked the question “who am I not inviting?” or “who am I excluding?” you would have known who was left out.

# Fear and awkward questions

Businesses essentially do the same thing - and often make the same mistakes. But why? Kat Holmes puts this down to the awkwardness of admitting your own bias, especially regarding the designer. No one wants to admit that they have racist or ableist tendencies - that would expose how deeply flawed you are in front of leaders who control your success or failure, whether you’re promoted or laid-off, hired or fired. Admitting and recognising your own biases publicly can make you feel so exposed and very anxious. While this feeling doesn’t go away, a healthy working environment that includes a diverse range of abilities and experiences, without fear of asking the wrong questions can help everyone.

Without the hard questions and diversity from the get go, businesses often have a choice to make: ship it and spend a lot to fix it later, or ship it and fail.

# References

Kat Holmes (2020). MISMATCH : how inclusion shapes design. MIT Press.