Universal Design: Creating Inclusive Technology for Everyone
Universal design makes technology, in any form, available to all. Universal design encompasses accessibility and inclusive design to improve business efficiency and increase profits while supporting productivity. Imagine an application designed to work effectively for anyone regardless of physical attributes or location — and without requiring special adaptive equipment. An application that works anywhere for anyone and offers convenience and usability is a customer’s dream come true.
Successful businesses want to attract and retain new customers for life, and universal design is one way to do it. The universal design approach enables businesses to grow their customer bases efficiently without spending time and resources retrofitting features to comply with changing accessibility regulations. Likewise, teams won’t have to rework an application when users find it inaccessible, difficult to use or not worth the effort.
This guide describes what universal design is, how it affects the bottom line, why it matters, real-world examples and best practices to maximize its value. Build applications for all customers and increase your application’s success by prioritizing universal design.
What is universal design?
Universal design is a method where products are designed to be usable by all without special adaptations or equipment. The Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University initially defined universal design. It’s a design concept that applies to any industry, including software applications, that enforces a design usable by all people without needing adaptation or specialized design. For example, think of typical sidewalks with curb cutouts that allow pedestrians to cross without stepping up and over curbs. It’s much more convenient than stepping down from a curb continuously when pushing a stroller, hauling groceries, making a delivery or even jogging, regardless of a person’s abilities.
In the U.S. alone, one in eight people have a disability. Each disability affects users in unique ways and at different levels. Disabilities can vary widely, encompassing everything from mobility limitations to sensory challenges. There’s no shortage of disabilities, which magnifies the challenge of creating and delivering products to suit all users.
While related, universal design differs from accessibility, usability or inclusive design. Accessibility testing focuses on whether customers can use products with optional assistive equipment. Inclusive design ensures applications work for customers globally and adapt to distinct languages and cultural differences. Similarly, usability practices are meant to provide intuitive and easy-to-use products for new and existing customers. Think ease-of-use for a general customer. Usability doesn’t necessarily account for all customers, only a general user.
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Universal design improves how a product functions for everyone. Applications must also be compatible with assistive technologies when needed.
The 7 principles of universal design
The principles of universal design are intended to guide developers, designers and product managers in producing technology designed to work for all users. The seven universal design principles apply to existing designs and guide new application design while educating creators on the characteristics of highly usable and customer-friendly products.
Here are the seven principles of universal design:
- Equitable use
The design is both marketable and helpful to people with varying ability levels. The app gives all users equivalent features and design elements.
- Flexibility in use
The design accommodates the widest range possible of individual preferences and abilities. The app provides users choices in how they use the application. For example, the application might be configurable for right or left hand use. Features and functionality should be equally accurate and adaptable to varying usage speeds.
- Simple and intuitive use
The design is easy to understand for all users regardless of experience, knowledge, language skills or concentration level required. Application design must aim to eliminate complexity and improve consistency. It must also accommodate varied levels of literacy and language abilities. Web and mobile apps should arrange elements in ways that reflect their importance to all users. Always provide guidance and feedback for customers during and after task completion. Error and warning messages must be straightforward for users to successfully solve issues and accomplish tasks.
- Perceptible information
The design communicates necessary information effectively regardless of ambient conditions or a user’s sensory ability. Vary using images, verbal and tactile modes for redundant but essential information. Make critical information stand out from any background. Be sure important information is legible, and use different elements for instructions if needed. Ensure compatibility with devices for users with sensory limitations.
- Tolerance for error
The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of mistakes or unintentional actions. Rather than punish users for making mistakes, guide them through prompts to successful task completion. Provide clear messaging for warnings and errors, and give the user information on making corrections. Build fail-safe measures to prevent failures resulting from mistakes.
- Low physical effort
The design is efficient and comfortable to reduce user fatigue. Design the application to reduce duplicate, unnecessary or repetitive actions. Minimize any sustained physical effort necessary to accomplish tasks in the application.
- Size and space for approach and use
The design provides appropriate size and space to approach, reach, manipulate and use a product regardless of body size, posture or mobility. This principle is generally intended for physical products like building or park design. For digital products, ensure the design doesn’t require a specific physical size or hand grip strength to complete functional tasks, such as an in-store kiosk. Applications must be compatible with assistive devices if the user needs them to complete tasks.
Why universal design matters
Universal design matters because it improves accessibility to digital platforms for customers with disabilities and those who struggle with one or more aspects of a web or mobile app. For example, many users without a disability still prefer to zoom the text up to 200% to read it without straining. The ability to zoom text is an example of designing options for individual users that improve their application experience.
Some application development organizations hesitate to acknowledge that their users might have some variation and degree of disability. Many teams use cost and effort as a means of justifying the lack of accessible features, especially if they see it as simply accommodating users who prefer not to use the default settings. Some may even believe PWD don’t use their application or product. But the truth is that customers come in various shapes, sizes and degrees of ability, whether physical or mental, temporary or permanent. And remember that anyone can develop a disability through injury, illness or aging.
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Accessibility includes designing applications where users can change settings to view a mobile phone screen in the sun or enlarge buttons, icons and text for easier visibility. Most mobile phone apps also enable users to choose various viewing modes to best suit their individual needs. Today’s modern mobile and web applications must cater to individual needs to attract and retain customers.
Universal design matters because it forces better design and coding practices to provide benefits to the most customers. More customers translates to increased profits.
Universal design also advances the concept of equal access and global business opportunity. Socially responsible businesses improve reputation by supporting legal and ethical practices that create products that are easier to use and accessible to everyone.
Examples of universal design in action
Universal design examples are everywhere. To learn more about how to incorporate these practices within your organization, take a lesson from these universal design examples:
- Apple’s iOS for iPhone and iPad provides access to VoiceOver, AssistiveTouch and Magnifier to help users interact with small text or tiny buttons and links.
- Accessible forms include clear labels and messages to prompt users through each step, if needed. Forms must include understandable error messages that lead the user to a solution.
- Responsive design supports universal design by promoting interfaces that automatically adapt to changes in screen size, visibility and differences in customer input options.
- Keyboard accessibility helps customers access all functional elements via commands or assistive devices. For example, a person might want to record text via voice rather than type it on a keyboard to create a document, email or presentation.
- Mobile patient tracking applications can track patients’ health when using high-risk medications for treatment. These should include a reliable method of alerting medical providers to emergent patient needs immediately and in real time. These applications should include a failover in case an alert goes unnoticed. As a failover, an application might contact an RN internally and have them instigate an emergency response for the patient.
- Browsers and application features include the enlargement of text and icons, high-contrast color options and the ability to zoom in on text.
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Another example of universal design is elevators. Users take elevators for granted; we expect them to exist. However, elevators exist to allow disabled users to get to multiple floors quickly without having to walk upstairs. Can you imagine having broken a leg and walking up four flights of stairs to get to work? Even though the disability is temporary, it still negatively impacts the user’s ability to crawl up flights of stairs.
On the same note, universal design has many benefits in our daily lives. Some real-world universal design examples include curb cuts or sidewalk ramps, automatic door openers, wide doorways, lever handles instead of knobs, adjustable height counters, non-slip flooring, adjustable shower heads and captioning features for TV shows, movies or videos.
Best practices for implementing universal design
Before implementing best practices to realize the benefits of universal design, organizations must first believe in the principle of equal access for all. Software applications developed with an “us versus them” mentality will not succeed in creating accessible applications for all customers. Organizations must prioritize creating software that is usable by everyone without requiring adaptation or specialized development. Only from there can you act.
Specific universal design best practices include:
- including configurability and customization for application features and functionality
- understanding the seven universal design principles
- adhering to standards and legal requirements for accessibility and inclusion, such as:
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
- Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- involving stakeholders and users throughout the development process through user research, feedback analysis and expert-led crowdtesting
- fostering education and awareness for the entire development team
- developing semantic and accessible code, including:
- HTML elements and attributes for describing content
- headings, lists, tables, links, labels, alt text for images, captions and keyboard support
- automated tools to analyze code and identify accessibility issues or errors.
- testing each iteration of development to verify functionality, usability and accessibility.
A variety of tools and approaches can augment universal design practices. Automated test tools can analyze code for accessibility issues to enhance testing. Or, better yet, seeking the feedback of PWD and diverse users through crowdtesting is another way to foster universal design throughout the development cycle.
How businesses benefit from universal design
Implementing universal design reduces costs by investing in accessibility from the beginning. Rather than spending resources and time at the end of a cycle, implement those different accessible options for different user types early and often to make sure they’re accommodated.
The potential for business growth is massive, as more than 1.3 billion people worldwide have a documented disability. Consider the growing number of older users using technology too. Older customers use web and mobile technology to manage investments, finances, taxes, healthcare and more. Take advantage of the growth opportunity unlocked by products designed for universal use. Make applications that are easy to use for all customers, and build a loyal customer base for the long term.
Embracing universal design also helps avoid legal vulnerabilities caused by ongoing and changing regulations. Take the time to evaluate, test and implement customer feedback throughout the development cycle. Create applications that serve as many customers as possible and provide a positive user experience.
The future of universal design
Universal design isn’t only about designing applications for a growing number of older customers. In the future, millennials and younger generations expect accessible features to exist in all types of applications.
Additionally, AI and machine learning technology will influence universal design. Tools that enable developers to scan for issues automatically will save significant development and compliance review time.
AI tools might also be useful for testing. Imagine automatically adjusting to different levels of visual, auditory or physical abilities and personalizing testing to any disability level. Machine learning technology will likely play a role by tracking user interactions and where users have issues with functions or accessing elements. Creating automatic user feedback helps development teams produce applications that all customers use and love.
Universal design has the momentum to become an expectation rather than a unique design method. The more organizations implement universal design, the more the user experience improves. Universal design might provide long-term economic and social benefits as well. Universal design creates larger customer markets, encourages extensive innovation and enhances customer satisfaction.
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How Applause helps with universal design
Organizations evaluating universal design and accessibility can maximize customer feedback input and testing by using expert-led crowdtesting programs from Applause.
Applause crowdtesting teams are composed of users with various abilities, diverse customer experiences and a wide variety of locations around the world. Crowdtesting teams represent real-world customers to test how well an application functions with live customers of all ability levels.
Crowdtesting with an experienced testing partner like Applause integrates seamlessly into existing Agile or DevOps processes. Use the team to conduct user research and receive feedback throughout the development cycle. This feedback helps identify where design falls short, validate assumptions, measure outcomes and verify iterations of a potential solution or feature.
Test that your application or product meets the needs and individual preferences of a potential group of customers. Improve application quality efficiently and effectively with the convenience of a managed crowdtesting team to help facilitate your push toward universal design principles.
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