Websites, apps, and social media are the real gateways for all new customers to discover your brand. As with all entrances, you will probably want it to be beautiful, visible, open, large, uncluttered, and accessible to everyone: without discrimination. To achieve this, it is important to engage an expert in inclusive design for websites, social media, and apps.
What is meant by “inclusive design” or “inclusive design” today, and why is it being talked about more and more?
Inclusive design means a design approach that takes into account the full range of human diversity, making itself usable to as many people as possible. This does not mean creating a one-size-fits-all experience, but rather considering the diverse experience of different people, ensuring that each of them has a multitude of accessible paths to what they are looking for. As in: if traditional design envisions a one-size-fits-all suit, inclusive design envisions a suit tailored to each person’s needs.
But in practice, what do we need to do to make sure we use the web, apps, and social media in an inclusive way? Certainly much of the inclusivity efforts must focus in the principles of accessibility, that is, the usability of sites and apps for people with disabilities, but that is not enough today. Inclusive design, in addition to disabilities, also considers demographic, economic, employment, cultural, linguistic, ethnic, sexual orientation and gender identity diversity.
In addition to being broader than the concept of accessible design, inclusive design also implies a different perspective: while accessible design focuses more on the end result, inclusive design works more on the initial approach and thus the creative process, in the belief that good design can meet not only the needs of those with disabilities, but of anyone. In fact, inclusive design takes into account not only “persistent” diversity, but also “different abilities” of circumstance.
To better understand this concept let’s take an example, and think about the use of subtitles in an Internet video. Surely this expedient will help a person with a deafness. At the same time, however, it will also help someone who is on a train and has forgotten their earphones, or someone who is learning a language and has difficulty understanding speech. Inclusive design therefore goes beyond accessibility, because by designing a priori alternative enjoyment of a piece of content, it manages to take into account not only permanent disabilities, but also the different circumstances in which a person will find themselves using a given service.. Something that not only brings value to what are superficially called “minorities,” but improves the experience for everyone.
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3 key elements for an inclusive website
Inclusive design is important for your brand because more and more people are looking for this value in businesses and because it makes you available to a wider range of people. But specifically, what should we focus on when designing an inclusive site? We could summarize the inclusive design approach in three core values: accessibility, simplicity, and representation. In the next few lines we will study them in detail, to understand their importance and find out how to rely on the right experts to achieve the best results.
Accessibility: an accessible site is a better site for everyone
What would you do if you were told that a billion people today cannot use your site? You would probably immediately look for a solution. Well: when we say one billion people, we are not exaggerating at all, because that is the number of people with disabilities. We are talking, in fact, about 15 percent of the world’s population with some form of disability.
The steps that need to be taken to create an accessible site are as many as the different forms of disability: visually impaired, deaf, people with more or less pronounced physical disabilities, and so on. As much as operating systems include assistive technologies to accommodate these people, it is the responsibility of every company to make sure that its online reality is designed to be accessible.
The arrangements for accessible design are endless, which makes it essential to rely on an expert. There have been very valuable guidelines for years, such as those issued by the W3C institute. Among the most commonplace and well-known expedients is the proper use of HTML markup and alternative text in photos, which greatly facilitate the enjoyment of an inclusive website by blind people. The ability to navigate a site using a keyboard can make it easier for those with a physical disability. And for all multimedia content we always think of alternative fruitions: subtitles for speech, written text for a podcast, descriptions for pictures, and so on.
When it comes to visual issues then, there is the large universe of “non-serious” visually impaired people, a group that is often overlooked but integrates disabilities that are also very different from each other. There are those who have trouble focusing on text, those who have difficulty concentrating while reading, those who need to enlarge fonts, and so on. A true inclusive site succeeds in addressing very specific needs, which we often trivialize into macrogroups.
The Hilton Columbus website adapts the same content based on mild and less mild disabilities, with different characteristics between them.
Beware also of the use of colors: we do not use only colors to conceptually distinguish data, because not everyone sees colors the same way (think of customers with different forms of color blindness) and software for the blind may omit this information.
When using images, it is important not to rely only on colors to distinguish important data.
As mentioned, these tricks help not only “minorities” but everyone. Using descriptive text for photos, for example, facilitates indexing on Google. An easy-to-navigate website adapts well to mobile devices. A video with subtitles is perfectly usable even if we cannot turn up the volume at the time. These, of course, are just a few examples to give an idea of the large number of arrangements that those in charge of your site must think about.
Representation: don’t fall into stereotypes
As mentioned, today, it is not enough to check the accessibility box to consider oneself truly inclusive. In an increasingly diverse, heterogeneous and aware society, it is important that a site and social media also manage to represent all the differences that set us apart. This is borderline terrain between marketing, content and design, and only a conscious team can ensure that inclusivity comes through smoothly at all levels of our online presence.
For example, think about the images you use on your site: do they represent your customers well or are they the result of stereotyping? Are all the diversity of gender and sexual orientation that may affect your target audience represented? In your language, do you always address the customer with the male gender, or do you manage to write texts that are as neutral as possible, which do not take anything for granted about the gender identity of your interlocutor? Will the physicality of the models you use on your eCommerce make you seem inclusive to those who are buying a size XL, or will it make them feel different?
These are the most obvious examples, but images and text are not enough. Think about a site’s registration forms: if you have to ask for sensitive information such as gender, have you thought about those who prefer not to be labeled with definitions of “Male” or “Female”? When registering family members, do you assume that a “married” client must have a wife, or can she also enter a husband?
Over the years, Facebook has improved the definition of gender on its signup form
If you make use of artificial intelligence, keeping inclusive design principles in mind is even more important: serious failures of facial recognition systems, for example, have not been uncommon, givingalgorithm more inclusive for these systems as well.
“Nudemeter” technology was created by a developer dissatisfied with the inclusiveness of cosmetics eCommerce
Today, inclusivity and the ability to represent customers without stereotypes must be a mantra at all levels, from the communication to the technological part, because there is nothing that can alienate a customer more than the inability to represent them. It is no coincidence that today, 49 percent of consumers in this bracket would stop buying products and services from companies whose values did not meet their own, according to a Microsoft second.
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Relying on an expert is increasingly crucial, because the risks of making a misstep are always just around the corner. Think of the case of the Immuni app: when the app was launched by Bending Spoons on commission from the Ministry of Health, it immediately ended up in the headlines for an unfortunate choice in the instruction screens: one small drawing depicted a woman intent on cradling a child, while next to it a man was intent on working. This was an all too obvious gender stereotype, which led to some parliamentary questions and the hasty revision of the images by the developer. At all levels of design, from the backend to the frontend, there is a need for guidance from an inclusivity expert to help all professionals involved overcome preconceptions and stereotypes that might make an issue less visible.
Do you recognize the stereotypes in this image used by the Immuni app?
Simplicity: when it’s easiest, it’s for everyone
The last value, is perhaps the one that has always been the hallmark of good design, even in unsuspected times. Any inclusive website or app should be easy to use for everyone, regardless of age, attention span, or cultural level. For this reason, for example, it is important to use very simple interfaces, and to keep the complexity very low when writing copy. An experienced copywriter, for example, can make a brand more accessible by writing short texts that do not abuse technical terms, organized in very short paragraphs. Simple, short text is also easier to enlarge, or easily read if we are visiting the site from a smartphone.
“Less is more”: sometimes putting less is worth more. This design principle also applies to inclusive design: for example, sites without heavy flash animations, and more sober, are not only easier to load, but present fewer problems for those with visual impairments.
Let us then remember the different degrees of schooling that our audience may be involved in, but also the different ages of the audience: if we are to target minors, for example, it is essential to use language that is appropriate for them and to clearly separate the areas of the site designed for them, from those aimed at parents. An inclusive design for minors, then, must know how to orient them in a safe environment, and allow their families to watch over their behavior. Same for seniors: ease of use or language must take into account that not everyone is a digital native, but no one should be forgotten.
As soon as you enter the LEGO website, it is very easy to distinguish the area dedicated to adults from the area for boys and girls
Accessibility and inclusivity are core values for your brand: they need to be entrusted to experts capable of applying them at all levels, from the technological side to inclusive marketing. Digital consulting realities, like ours, know how to ensure inclusive design because they are inclusive by nature, in their very organization.
The future is inclusive and accessible and, for those who can grasp it with digital, it can be even more so.