Design for Everyone: Why Accessibility Matters

Have you ever sat in a new vehicle and realized how many options there are to adjust your seat? It took us decades to innovate beyond the notion of “move it forward and move it back.”

We’re no longer in the phonebook era. Designers, engineers, and decision-makers have come to the conclusion that we need to create everyday experiences that cater to everyone. The digital world needs to catch up.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

95.9% of sites have accessibility errors. 79% of pages have low-contrast text, and 56% of pages have missing alt text. Alt text is what helps screen readers navigate.

Here are some stats relating to all users:

• 71% of disabled users abandon a site they find difficult to use.
• 69% click away when a site doesn’t work with their needs.
• 83% limit their online shopping to sites they already know are accessible.

Here are the stats related to users with disabilities:

• Cognitive (13.5%): difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions.
• Motor & Mobility (12.2%): serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs. This relates to reliance on keyboard navigation, switch controls, or voice-recognition software instead of a mouse.
• Hearing (6.2%): deaf or have serious difficulty hearing. This relates to a lack of video captions or transcripts.
• Visual (5.5%): visual impairment.
• Colour blindness (~300 million worldwide): people who either can’t see colour or mix colours up.

Design with Intent

A brief example: someone who is colour blind may misinterpret a status signal that is green. From a design perspective, this is why it’s important to pair status signals with accompanying text such as “Active.”

We’re humans creating things for other humans. We’re not always going to be perfect. Quality over quantity matters. We encounter so many experiences on the internet, yet how many of them are built for all?

It’s a collaborative effort: features mean nothing without developers and designers who take ownership of who they’re building for. User experience has become a buzzword in the community. Here’s how I would define it: clean, intuitive, and accessible design for all.

The Tools Are There

Think of when you’re navigating through an airport and get to the security line. No one is in line, but you still have to zigzag through multiple rows to reach a wide-open landing point to offload your things to be scanned. The design of the barricades with adjustable straps was in place, yet the execution of the security officer tending to the “line” wasn’t there.

They had all the tools at their disposal to make it a good experience—and accessible for those who are physically impaired—yet they didn’t readjust the line to make it streamlined.

The same applies to the digital world. The operating systems built the tools: font scaling, screen readers, and contrast modes. They held up their end. When designers and developers don’t account for those features in their products, the system breaks down at the last mile. The infrastructure exists. The execution is where we fall short.

The good news is that’s the easiest part to change. Unlike rebuilding a system from scratch, the tools are already there. It just takes the intent to use them. Every designer and developer who asks, “Who am I building this for?” moves the needle.