By the end of this lesson you can
- Describe the range of disabilities that affect how people use digital products.
- Explain the social model of disability and permanent, temporary and situational impairments.
- Understand accessibility as part of inclusive design, not a checklist at the end.
The idea
Around one in five people in many countries has a disability, and almost everyone experiences impairment at some point. Disabilities that affect digital use include:
- Vision: blindness, low vision, colour vision deficiency.
- Hearing: deafness and hearing loss.
- Motor: limited dexterity, tremors, paralysis, repetitive strain injury.
- Cognitive and learning: dyslexia, ADHD, memory impairments, autism, learning disabilities.
- Mental health: anxiety, depression, which affect attention and stress tolerance.
- Seizure and vestibular: photosensitive epilepsy, motion sensitivity.
The social model
The social model of disability says people are disabled by barriers in their environment, not by their bodies. A blind person is not disabled by a website; they are disabled by a website with unlabelled buttons. Designers create or remove those barriers.
Permanent, temporary, situational
Someone with one arm, someone with a broken arm and a parent holding a baby all need one-handed use. Designing for permanent disability often helps many more people.
Inclusive design
Accessibility is about access for disabled people; inclusive design is the wider practice of designing for the full range of human diversity. Both work best from the start of a project.
Why it matters in real projects
Accessible products reach more people, meet legal requirements (such as the Equality Act in the UK, the ADA in the US and the European Accessibility Act) and are usually easier for everyone to use. Fixing accessibility late is costly; building it in from the start is far cheaper. Most importantly, excluding people from services such as banking, health or education causes real harm, and designers have a direct role in preventing it.
A realistic example
A bank's mobile app requires a precise swipe gesture to confirm payments. Customers with tremors, people using switch controls and people on a bumpy bus all struggle, and some cannot pay at all.
The team adds a large "Confirm payment" button as an alternative to the swipe, with clear focus and screen reader labels. Complaints drop, and analytics show many customers without any declared disability choose the button too.
Step by step
Learn the range
List disability types and how each might affect your product.
Apply the social model
For a screen, list barriers rather than "problems with users".
Think in spectrums
For each barrier, note permanent, temporary and situational examples.
Listen to disabled people
Read or watch first-hand accounts of using technology.
Build it in
Add accessibility to your design process checklist from the start.
Include disabled participants
Plan to involve disabled people in research.
Common mistakes
Mistake Treating accessibility as a final check.
Instead Include it from the start of every project.
Mistake Thinking only about blind users.
Instead Consider the full range of disabilities.
Mistake Designing for disabled people without involving them.
Instead Include disabled people in research and testing.
Check your understanding
Choose an answer, then check it. There is an explanation either way.
Practice exercise
Exercise · about 45 min
Barrier mapping
Map accessibility barriers in a service you use.
Steps
- Choose a key task, such as booking a GP appointment online.
- List barriers for each disability type.
- Add permanent, temporary and situational examples.
- Suggest one change for each barrier.
Deliverable
A barrier map with suggested changes.
Self-assessment
Tick each item when it is true of your exercise. Be honest; this is for you.
4 items
Summary
- Disability is common and varied.
- Barriers in design disable people.
- Designing for permanent disability helps many more people.
- Build accessibility in from the start.
Further reading
Third-party sources, chosen for reliability. They open in a new tab.
Your notes
Marking complete updates your course and roadmap progress.