Why accessible must equal beautiful
Accessibility is grounded in usability. So where is it going wrong?
One of the most common questions I get asked as a leader in the accessibility space, is how I’m going to ensure that my accessibility program isn’t going to impact the usability and visual design of a product. I want to take some time to unpack why this question is triggering, and encourage all of us to debunk this myth. Most of all, I’d like to leave everyone with the firm understanding that accessibility equals accessible, plus usable, plus aesthetic.
What is beautiful?
Let’s reflect on what beautiful means. At Xero, we have a core value of ‘beautiful’. We define this as ‘creating experiences that people love’. This means:
- creating experiences that inspire and delight
- doing high quality work
- going the extra mile
Our tagline of ‘beautiful business’ also supports the concept of beauty extending far beyond aesthetics. You can read more about that in our ‘What does ‘Beautiful business’ mean?’ blog.
In a digital context, whilst aesthetics are still important, it’s worth noting that digital experiences which are confusing or don’t result in the achievement of a task, no longer satisfy the modern definition of beauty.
‘Beautiful’ is intrinsically linked to usability. For something to be beautiful, value also needs to be placed on the joy the experience brings, the reduction of cognitive load, the efficiency it achieves, or its ability to solve a problem.
Accessibility = accessible + usable + aesthetic
This brings me to accessibility. Digital accessibility, in its simplest form, is about ensuring digital experiences are usable for as many people as possible, including people who live with disability.
Accessibility is grounded in usability. So where is it going wrong? Why do some people believe that an accessible product means a product that is less usable and beautiful?
The challenge begins when accessibility principles are applied in isolation, without considering the customer context or job to be done. It’s when accessibility changes are being made without consideration of usability or aesthetic.
In the excellent words of Dieter Rams, “Good design is aesthetic. The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness, because products we use every day affect our person and our wellbeing. But only well-executed objects can be beautiful”.
For designers, there’s a job to be done in reconciling the product and the brand in an elegant way.
For example, if you were looking to change the text colour of a page to better meet the needs of the low vision community, you might introduce a new colour scheme to go above and beyond the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
Although well meaning, this type of change is risky if it’s not aligned with usability or aesthetics. It can also create unexpected issues for users with other types of disabilities.
What does good look like?
When I engage with product delivery teams on accessibility, I’m often (understandably) asked, “Ok, so what does good accessible design look like?”. It’s difficult to answer this question, as context is key when choosing the best way to solve accessibility problems.
Accessibility solutions for online booking sites or e-commerce sites will be vastly different to those for business software. The team will need to pause, consider their customer context, review WCAG and get creative.
If you’re a product designer, you’ll need to explore different options, test these options with users and be open to discovering that there are many ways to solve a problem in an accessible way. There’s no magic wand or single solution within either your design system or WCAG. It will take time and effort to get the balance of accessibility, usability and aesthetics right.
Because of this, I always recommend that accessibility is embedded into product design from the outset.
So, where to start?
I have two tips for those wanting to create accessible, usable and aesthetic experiences.
1. Get accessibility curious
If you’re starting out in the accessibility space, I encourage you to get curious. Stay true to your product and design ethos, but fully commit to figuring out how to knit accessibility in.
Advocate for the usability experiences that are right for your product, and challenge your team to re-think your experience from different usability perspectives. Don’t be afraid to question accessibility fixes, and always reach out to your accessibility team, if you have one. If you don’t, you’ll find a lot of information on digital accessibility online.
2. The best place to start is to begin
Accessibility can feel overwhelming and scary when you start out. Many teams begin with an accessibility audit, and the list of things to fix is usually long.
Remember that you’re on a journey. It’s ok to start with removing the biggest accessibility barriers and build up your accessibility skills over time.
It’s common to make mistakes the first time you try accessibility. The stakes can feel really high when customers start reacting to the changes you’ve made.
It’s important to tell your customers that you’re on an accessibility journey. When you make accessibility errors, I encourage you to stay the course and try again. And if you forgot the first time, make sure you’re testing with customers — including customers with disabilities.
We’re proud to be on our accessibility journey at Xero
Inclusive and accessible design is good for everyone, not just people with disabilities, and this continues to be an important and growing area of focus and investment for us at Xero.
We deeply value diversity and inclusion, and examining how we can improve digital accessibility across our platform is a priority.
We are proud to have a dedicated digital accessibility team and committed to meeting the global standards for accessibility as set out in the WCAG. Like everyone, we’re learning, and we’re committed to trying until we get it right.
