How to design accessibly?

there are a lot of organizations out there focusing accessibility. The goal is to make life easier for those who are limited in any shape or form, let it be disability, ageing or disease. When it comes to information technology, web development is already relatively well covered.

as much as organizations and charities try to advocate their cause, they often lack professionally done and well-thought design solutions and communication strategies. Due to the misconception that design cannot be “seen” by their audience, most don’t consider it as important. However, conveying the message in the right way is crucial. People who have low vision or learning difficulties need a clear and easy visual language making sure that the content is understood. This requires conceptional thinking and some out of the box design skills for the web and far beyond. If you’d like to know more, check out my presentation slides on accessible and inclusive design, along with a series of articles on this topic.

the few design/advertising agencies dealing with accessibility try their best to cater, but the lack of proper content creation and often restrictive guidelines make such jobs rather a burden than a pleasure. As a result, the end product is often a rotten compromise, which is anything but benefiting the actual target audience. Not to mention that most designers ignore this matter altogether.

how can this gap be filled? This is where I comes in. Being visually impaired and a designer, I can provide insights and perspective first hand. I can help organizations and charities to (re)brand their identity so that the audience can connect with them. I can also help agencies with accessible solutions for their projects and show them ways how to satisfy the clients’ needs without cutting on design quality. Feel free to contact me.