If you haven’t heard of WCAG, or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, we’re really glad you’re here- as someone who is (we assume) interested in inclusive design, you should know that WCAG is an essential modern standard in making Web content more accessible for a wide variety of users- people with disabilities, people with limited devices or Internet connection, and others.
Read More
Welcome back to our last chapter in our exploration of the original Seven Principles of Universal Design! First developed by Robert Mace, himself a person with a disability, in 1997 at NCSU, the Seven Principles have formed the basis for much of modern theories of inclusive design. You can check out the first part here, and the second part here.
Read More
On a policy level, activism that advances awareness or requires implementation of inclusive principles will naturally find its way into the marketplace- advocating for expanded access to technology or requiring new standards accommodation for persons with disabilities will result in an increased demand for products and services that meet these needs, spurring innovation.
Read More
From policy makers to programmers, they shared their experiences, passion, and insight on the future of inclusive design- where we need to go, and where the technology and culture of design are already taking us. As we looked back on these ten interviews, we noticed that certain issues and ideas came up time and time again, and when we distilled them all through the lens of our subjects, we found some important truths worth sharing.
Read More
As we prepare for our next 10 (and beyond!) interviews as the IQ Interviews become Project Inclusion, we wanted to take the time to reflect on the most important learnings from these guests. As we reviewed these interviews, we observed important common threads, and valuable concepts repeated in various ways again and again- essentials to understanding and implementing inclusion. We’d like to share them with you.
Read More
A recent Studio Analogous project speaks directly to how inclusive design principles can be applied to nearly every consumer experience- and how many aspects of even a very basic user experience can be improved by thinking inclusively. I hope that examples like this and much of our other work at Studio Analogous can offer other designers, businesses, and product managers some insight into how inclusive principles can be relevant in almost every domain.
Read More
My mother is terrified of smartphones. She resisted buying one as long as she possibly could, until the day she went into the store to renew her plan and was told that the “dumb” phone she had clung to “isn’t made anymore, and this plan doesn’t include any devices that aren’t smartphones anymore.” She was not happy.
Read More
Whatever you call it, the theory of universal design is based on seven principles Mace and his colleagues developed, which have since been codified and embraced by universities, nonprofits and NGOs, and of course inclusive designers of physical and digital products and services everywhere.
Read More
Are you an agile startup or an established company retooling their process? If so, you’ve probably either heard “inclusive design” a thousand times or not at all- neither of those scenarios are good. The first one implies that it’s already become a meaningless buzzword for you and has lost its impact- just say “inclusive” once in a while to show you’re aware of it, and do business as usual.
Read More