Accessibility, Usability, and Inclusion
Distinctions and Overlaps
Accessibility
Ensures that people with disabilities can equally perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with websites and tools
Addresses discriminatory aspects related to equivalent user experience for people with disabilities
Usability
Focuses on designing products to be effective, efficient, and satisfying
Includes user experience design
Often does not sufficiently address the needs of people with disabilities
Inclusion
Focuses on diversity and ensuring involvement of everyone to the greatest extent possible
Addresses a broad range of issues, including accessibility for people with disabilities, access to hardware/software, computer literacy, economic situation, education, geographic location, culture, age, and language
Accessibility and Usability
Accessibility primarily focuses on people with disabilities, but many requirements improve usability for everyone
Accessibility includes technical requirements for assistive technologies and user interaction/visual design requirements
There is a significant overlap between accessibility and usability, but usability practice often does not consider the needs of people with disabilities
Accessibility and Inclusion
Several accessibility requirements also benefit people and situations that are a focus of inclusive design
Accessibility focuses on disability and does not try to address broader inclusion issues
Keeping accessibility focused on disabilities encourages research and development on the specific needs of people with disabilities
Accessible Design
Combining accessibility standards and usability processes with real people ensures that web design is technically and functionally usable by people with disabilities
Usable accessibility or accessible user experience (UX) involves incorporating real people with disabilities in the design process
Usable Accessibility
Web designers and developers can use usability processes, methods, and techniques to address the user interface component of accessibility
Accessibility standards also have an important role in accessible design, as usability processes alone cannot address all accessibility issues
Key aspects include:
Ensuring everyone involved understands how people with disabilities use the web
Involving users with disabilities early and throughout the design process
Involving users in evaluating web accessibility
Conclusion
Accessibility practitioners and researchers can incorporate usability techniques to improve 'usable accessibility'
User experience designers and researchers can incorporate accessibility to make their designs work better for more people in more situations
Addressing accessibility, usability, and inclusion together can more effectively lead to a more accessible, usable, and inclusive web for everyone