Designing for Inclusion

Inclusive design, design for all, digital inclusion, universal usability, and similar efforts address a broad range of issues in making technology available to and usable by all people whatever their abilities, age, economic situation, education, geographic location, language, etc. Accessibility focuses on people with disabilities — people with auditory, cognitive, neurological, physical, speech, and visual impairments. The documents below explore some of the overlaps between inclusive design and web accessibility, and help managers, designers, developers, policy makers, researchers, and others optimize their efforts in these overlapping areas.

How People with Disabilities Use the Web

Introduces detailed examples of people with different disabilities using websites, applications, browsers, and authoring tools.

Web Accessibility and Older People: Meeting the Needs of Ageing Web Users

Introduces how the accessibility needs of older people with age-related impairments are similar to the accessibility needs of people with disabilities, and how existing international guidelines address them. Links to resources for developers, managers, researchers, advocates, and others, such as:

• Developing Websites for Older People: How Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Applies
• Overview of “Web Accessibility for Older Users: A Literature Review”

Mobile Accessibility

Summarizes existing and developing resources related to mobile accessibility — that is, making websites and applications more accessible to people with disabilities when they are using mobile phones and a broad range of other devices.

Web Content Accessibility and Mobile Web: Making a Web Site Accessible Both for People with Disabilities and for Mobile Devices

Introduces the significant overlap between accessibility and Mobile Web design and development. Provides a brief overview that is useful for the business case. Links to:

• Experiences Shared by People with Disabilities and by People Using Mobile Devices – Lists web interaction that is similar by a user with a disability and by a user with a mobile device. Links to recommendations from WCAG and MWBP for designing web content without these barriers.
• Relationship between Mobile Web Best Practices (MWBP) and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) – Provides guidance for people who already know WCAG and want to learn how it relates to MWBP; and for people who already know MWBP and want to learn how it relates to the WCAG.

See also:

• Involving Users in Web Projects for Better, Easier Accessibility describes how project managers, designers, and developers can better understand accessibility issues and implement more effective accessibility solutions in their websites and web applications; browsers, media players, and assistive technologies; authoring tools such as content management systems (CMS), blog software, and WYSIWYG editors; standards and policies on accessibility; web technologies and technical specifications.
  
• Tips for Getting Started with Web Accessibility Introduces some basic considerations for making your website more accessible to people with disabilities, and provides links to additional guidance.
  • Designing for Web Accessibility: Tips for user interface and visual design
  • Writing for Web Accessibility: Tips for writing and presenting content
  • Developing for Web Accessibility: Tips for markup and coding

Source: Designing for Inclusion | Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) | W3C