The essential guide to inclusive design: From user research to accessibility

Explicit need

Users understand what they're trying to achieve—they can recognise their needs and clearly explain them.

Implicit need​

A need that is uncovered through research or observation. This is a common discovery during usability testing, where users may not articulate or even recognise their needs but it becomes evident through their behaviour.

Created need

A result of your product or service design i.e. a user must complete a specific action to progress further in their journey.

Applying accessibility

What is accessibility?

​– GOV.UK – Accessibility in Government

The social model of disability

The social model of disability emerged as a proactive response from disabled individuals to combat their oppression and exclusion from society. This approach is a more advanced evolution of the earlier ‘Medical model’, shifting the emphasis from individual limitations to societal barriers. The focus becomes dismantling these barriers and aiming for an inclusive society that caters to everyone's needs. Embracing the ideals of this model means acknowledging our responsibility to design solutions that are universally accessible. 

Therefore, accessibility should be addressed throughout all stages of your project lifecycle, from the initial content review and user research through the stages of wireframing and design reviews, to the deployment and subsequent post-launch testing.​

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

Web accessibility is a legal requirement informed by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) – the most recent version being WCAG 2.2, launched October 2023. WCAG 2.2 Level AA is a minimum requirement for:

• All UK, EU and US public sector sites
• After 28 June 2025, all EU sites for businesses with more than 10 employees and/or over €2 Million annual turnover

POUR Principles

WCAG Level AAA

We advise you to consider meeting WCAG Level AA as the floor, not the ceiling. Striving to meet some of the higher Level AAA success criteria broadens inclusivity, maximising the benefits of integrating accessibility standards into your project and enhancing your value far beyond compliance—helping you create an enriching user experience.

Features required to meet WCAG Level AAA include:​

• Enhanced colour contrast to help visually impaired users.​
• British Sign Language on videos alongside captions and transcripts.​
• Visual focus styles to enhance keyboard navigation.​
• Alternative versions if the reading ability required is over lower-secondary education level.

It’s not all about the aesthetic!

Code plays a critical role in making your site friendly to assistive technologies, especially for users with visual impairments. Creating a website with inclusive visuals and language is a step in the right direction, yet if the underlying code isn't accessible, the site remains off-limits to many. 

Leveraging Semantic HTML and tried-and-tested accessible patterns is key to ensuring your code is usable. The Gov.UK Design System can help you understand and apply HTML, CSS, and JavaScript components to make your code accessible.

Innovation

Accessibility has long been a catalyst for innovation. As early as the typewriter—created by inventor Pellegrino Turri for his blind girlfriend in the 19th century—which gave blind people better access to education and transformed written communication; and the first curb-ramp created in the early 1970s—installed by Michael Pachovas and friends—that set in motion the creation of curb-cuts and more inclusive urban planning.

These inventions have developed beyond their initial purpose, becoming a part of everyone’s day-to-day. Whether it's enjoying an audiobook on your morning commute or benefitting from the convenience of an electric toothbrush, these advancements highlight the universal value of accessible design. Illustrating that crafting products and services with everyone in mind doesn't just meet a standard—it elevates the experience for all.

Experience design

Experience design focuses on developing products and services that are functional and valuable and provide a joyous experience through the thoughtful design of interfaces and interactions.​ It seeks to answer three questions: Does it work well? Does it do what I want it to do? And does it provide a sense of achievement and satisfaction for the user?

This phase of inclusive design is where you truly see your project coming together. Having mapped out user flows, you gain a deep understanding of the journey your users embark on and your designers are focused on sketching and creating concepts. These sketches are transformed into wireframes and prototypes, ready for usability testing to ensure your design is on track to creating an inclusive and engaging experience.

Content design:

Content design is the written, visual, and multimedia content you use to deliver information. Many WCAG standards are implemented in this stage, including closed captioning on videos, sufficient colour contrast, and providing alternative text for images. These considerations are crucial in your content strategy to help shape accessible and engaging communications.

The three main focuses of content design are:

Strategic:

Planning your solution through content strategy and organising your website content through well-defined information architecture.

Tactical:

 Planning your approach to communication: Forming a unique writing style with a clear and captivating tone, and developing a visual identity: Choosing an art direction that sets your brand apart and effectively conveys your intended message.

Production:

Crafting the content itself. Making key decisions about image preparation; graphic design or photography, copywriting, video and sound editing. Then seamlessly blending all these elements to create captivating content.

Always measure

As you draw closer to wrapping up your project, you may be under pressure to translate the value of this work into business benefits. To make this process easier and maximise its effectiveness we advise you to begin measuring before your project kicks off, to its conclusion and through the post-launch phase. This foresight will aid in documenting the project's benefits on an organisational level and can help guide future strategic decisions.

Make sure to capture:

Outcomes/OKRs

• Goal/ task completion​
• Repeat usage​
• Reduction in support calls​
• Less channel switching​

Satisfaction

• Quality of experience​
• Value for money or time​
• CSAT​
• User feedback – reviews, comments, social channels​

Understanding audiences

• Use segmentation in your analytics/ quant to compare different audiences​
• Continue to engage and research with users​

Share and expand knowledge

The goal goes beyond projects: cultivate an understanding of fundamental accessibility elements within your team, both in a professional setting and beyond, to help streamline the development of future products and services.

Perfection isn't the goal—continuous learning is. Engage actively by subscribing to newsletters and blogs and attending as many webinars and training courses as possible. You’ll soon see that integrating accessible practices will become second nature.

Access the resources by opening the titles below.

Case studies