Chapter Six of the UX Design Playbook
The world of UX Design is filled with various strategies that shape high-quality and impactful user experiences. It is a playbook, and this blog post represents its sixth chapter – accessibility. One article at a time, a new game tactic is revealed, gradually building a UX knowledge field where every position and condition is mastered through the strategies of the playbook.
Accessibility has long been one of the cornerstones of UX design, guiding the process toward creating high-quality user experiences for all user groups.
What Is Accessibility and Why Does It Matter?
For many, accessibility first brings to mind legal requirements imposed on e-commerce platforms and public sector websites. While this is entirely true, accessibility is much more than just a compliance obligation.
Accessibility is not merely about meeting standards and WCAG guidelines. It means designing applications in a way that makes them easy to use for people with any of the following limitations:
- Hearing impairments
- Cognitive impairments
- Neurological impairments
- Physical impairments
- Speech impairments
- Visual impairments
Accessibility is an essential part of high-quality UX design. Good accessibility ensures that services function for everyone, regardless of abilities, devices, or environments. While accessibility primarily supports individuals with visual, hearing, cognitive, or motor impairments, all users benefit from accessible services. Let’s look at a few examples of what this means in practice:
- If an application has sufficient contrast and clear typography, it remains easy to read for all users, regardless of lighting conditions or distractions in their environment.
- If a video includes high-quality captions, they help overcome language barriers or provide an alternative in situations where sound cannot be played.
- If an application’s navigation is well-designed and logical, it results in a smoother user experience for everyone.
Accessibility ensures that all potential users can fully utilize an application. This makes it not only an ethical and inclusive design principle but also a business advantage—improving conversion rates and customer reach. Additionally, Google and other search engines prioritize accessible websites, meaning accessibility also enhances SEO performance.
What Are the Key Components of Accessibility?
Perceivable
Applications should be designed so that content is perceivable by all users in all conditions, including situations where bright environmental lighting makes screen visibility difficult.
Perceivability is improved through sufficient color contrast, appropriate text size and scalability, alternative text for images, and screen reader compatibility. In practice, this means ensuring that content can be understood through more than one sensory channel.
Operable
The application must be usable with different control methods, such as keyboard navigation and alternative input methods. This is crucial for users with motor impairments or those relying on assistive technologies.
Understandable
The user interface of an application or website must be clear, predictable, and easy to understand. Users should never have to guess how a system works—its structure, instructions, and functions should be intuitive.
For example, using simple and clear language in an application ensures that content is accessible to a wide range of users.
Robust
Content must be designed to function reliably across different user agents, such as various web browsers and assistive technologies. This ensures that content remains usable as technology evolves.
In practice, this means ensuring that elements are properly coded with names, roles, and values, allowing assistive technologies to correctly interpret and present the content.
Conformance
Conformance means that web content meets the criteria defined in WCAG 2.1 at a specific level (A, AA, or AAA). Levels A and AA form a solid foundation for accessibility, while AAA represents an exceptionally high standard.
How Does a UX Designer Ensure Accessibility?
UX designers integrate accessibility at different stages of the design process. As the process moves from initial research to final implementation, accessibility considerations evolve alongside other design aspects.
Research & User Insights
- Conduct interviews with users who have different types of disabilities.
- Use analytics and user testing to identify pain points caused by poor accessibility.
- Base design decisions on accessibility standards and derive actionable design drivers.
Concept Development & Architecture
- Build a clear and consistent information architecture.
- Ensure accessible user journeys and design a logical tab order for navigation.
UI Design
- Ensure sufficient contrast and readability.
- Use clear and predictable UI elements.
- Provide accessible color and typography choices.
Interactions & Prototyping
- Test keyboard navigation and screen reader support.
- Simulate different user scenarios, such as increased text size and audio descriptions.
Testing & Validation
- Conduct accessibility testing with real users.
- Use automated tools to validate accessibility compliance.
- Perform manual accessibility testing and conduct accessibility audits.
Launch & Continuous Development
- Collect ongoing user feedback and track accessibility issues.
- Stay up to date with WCAG and legal accessibility requirements.
In addition to design and development, UX designers play a key role in integrating accessibility into company strategy and values. They must ensure that accessibility is embedded in design systems, development processes, and corporate communication—both internally and externally.
By securing stakeholder commitment, UX designers take on a critical role in improving accessibility, ensuring that digital experiences are truly inclusive for all users.
Get Your Users in the Game – Make Accessibility a Core Part of UX Design!
Accessibility is not just a legal requirement or a technical optimization—it is a fundamental part of high-quality UX design and user-centered thinking. When accessibility is embedded in every stage of the design process, the result is a service that serves all users equally, ensuring a smooth and seamless experience regardless of their individual needs.
Good accessibility benefits everyone, enhances business profitability, and strengthens brand responsibility. It makes digital services perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust, ensuring they remain relevant and functional even as technology evolves.
UX designers play a crucial role in ensuring accessibility—from research and conceptualization to UI design and continuous development. When accessibility is considered from the start, it is not an extra step but an integral part of great design.
Accessibility is not a compromise—it is the foundation upon which better and more sustainable digital experiences are built.