Here are a couple of key takeaways we wanted to share:

On Designing for Accessibility

One of the most powerful insights was the idea that simplicity is key. Trying to add features for everyone can paradoxically make your interface or product less accessible. The best approach? Do less, but do it better. Simplicity provides an important pathway to improve accessibility.

Catch this and more insights from Heydon Pickering’s talk, The Folly of Chasing Demographics.

On Inclusive Co-Design

A common industry ethos is that Blind people are seen as recipients of design, not creators. Chancey Fleet is flipping that ehtos on its head! With an amazing mix of tactile design tools, Chancey has been bringing Blind designers together to co-create incredible outcomes. This shift is crucial for inclusive design, breaking barriers and rethinking what’s possible when sighted and Blind designers collaborate.

Catch the inspiring case study from Chancey and collaborator Lauren Race, Inclusive Methods for Co-design Between Blind and Sighted Designers.

Inspired by these talks? Don’t stop there! All the 2024 talks are available for free on YouTube.

Browse all the talks on YouTube

And a big thank you to all the organizers and participants for fostering such important conversations. We look forward to applying these learnings to our own work at Say Yeah, helping us continue to deliver more inclusive products, service, and learning programs.

Looking for the latest inclusive design insights?

Get in touch to apply inclusive design practices in your day to do work and sign up to the newsletter for forward-thinking tools and best practices.

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The post Inclusive Design 24, 2024 Conference Recap appeared first on Say Yeah!.

Among your potential customers, the majority of people have some form of vision need, from wearing glasses (or perhaps forgetting them), to trouble seeing contrast or colour, to a total loss of sight.

These different needs align with various design, product, and service considerations.

Let’s take a look at some key considerations for your website.

Considerations for blind users

Screen reader and keyboard navigation: your website, mobile application, or other software needs to have the ability to be navigated by keyboard and screen reader commands only, which requires the use of tab-key-based navigation and proper headings or landmarks on the page.

Text-first content: Your digital product and available content should not rely heavily on one mode of communication, such as images. To maximize content engagement, ensure that text is used to communicate information. Any images needed for context should have alternative image descriptions (also known as “alt tags”).

Considerations for other vision needs

Text size and zooming

People with certain vision conditions may require the text on their screen to be viewable at a larger size and zoomed in for increased visibility. Your product should accommodate a 200% zoom without compromising the appearance or requiring unintended horizontal scrolling.

Contrast is critical

Text needs to be at a high enough contrast level to ensure that even if someone is colour blind or has low visual acuity, the text is still readable and stands out from the background. For example, black text on white has the best colour contrast, and other combinations can be tested using a colour contrast checker.

Colour contrast isn’t enough

Ensuring an interface doesn’t rely on colour to create meaning or signify a change of state is critical. That’s because 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women are colour blind.

As an example, designing an error on a form to add an icon or symbol alongside explanatory text—not just a red outline of a form element that needs to be reviewed—helps this notice be understood by those who may be colour blind. In this case, they will be able to see the icon and take action as they otherwise may not have noticed the colour change.

This rule can be applied to your menu navigation and highlights as well, where you should include a shape change (such as an underline on a selected menu item), not just a colour change.

All of these different considerations can affect a large portion of your potential customer base. By considering these eyesight accommodations you’ll be well on your way to increasing access to and engagement with your content, products, and services.

Get started with making your website accessible

Not sure where to start?

Make your website more usable, accessible, and inclusive for all with the Inclusive Website Audit. Don’t miss out on expanding your reach and engagement!

Order an audit

Ready to take the next steps with your website?

Better serve your whole market with an accessible website that’s designed to support your business and increase engagement across your entire audience.

Get in touch

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Global Accessibility Awareness Day takes place every year on May 21st, to increase awareness of access and inclusion.

We’re excited to once again be attending #a11yTO Camp on Saturday, May 23, 2020. This free and informative day of presentations and conversations is hosted by the volunteer team at #a11yTO. Covering topics as diverse as artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and voice technology, you’ll have the chance to hear from speakers like Linn Vizard & Ben Kim on Designing with Diversity, and Eyra Abraham on Making Sense with AI.

Whether you’re a beginner or an old hand at breaking down accessibility barriers on the web, you’ll have a wide variety of talks to choose from.

Check out the lineup today and plan for an exciting quarantine Saturday.

Learn more about #a11yTO Camp

For some further reading on web accessibility, check out these recent articles

1. Your website is probably broken: a look at the accessibility issues you forgot to test for
2. Why automated accessibility checkers can’t make your website accessible
3. What accessibility standards should you consider for your website?
4. What can happen if your organization doesn’t comply with accessibility legislation?
5. Introducing the Inclusive Website Audit service

More accessibility articles

The post Celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day and check out #a11yTO Camp this Saturday, May 23 appeared first on Say Yeah!.