In today’s product development, the focus on accessibility is becoming increasingly important. It is essential to ensure that all users, regardless of any disabilities, can benefit from and enjoy a product. Building accessibility into the product from the ground up not only increases its reach and target audience, but also promotes inclusion and respect for the diversity of users. In this context, accessibility becomes not just a feature, but a core principle that drives innovation and creates a positive impact on society.
The goal is for all individuals, regardless of disabilities, to be able to use a product, navigate, and understand a website or interface. It is important that everyone involved in the development understands this and works towards the same goal.
There are many examples where a product is designed for people with disabilities but is equally beneficial for society as a whole. For example, being able to dictate a text message instead of typing, having text read aloud, being able to use the keyboard to step through different options, captions when watching in a quiet environment, or the ability to enlarge text.
In the work to meet accessibility criteria, the European standard EN301549 can be used, which largely refers to the American guidelines for accessible web content, WCAG 2.2 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines).
What UX, usability, and accessibility have in common is focusing on the user.
In practice, a combination of UX, usability, and accessibility means including features that can be customized, ensuring the interface is easy to understand and use, and ensuring that all users can reach their goals with a positive experience. At the UX level, this might mean using clear headings with straightforward language. At the usability level, this could mean ensuring the website’s hierarchy is such that it doesn’t require many clicks to reach the content. At the accessibility level, this may involve having good contrast in the interface and including a text-to-speech function on every page.
By combining UX, usability, and accessibility, it helps ensure that everyone can live independently and on equal terms in society. By including everyone, creating, and promoting solutions to overcome limitations and problems, it contributes to increased usability for people, even without limitations. A problem should no longer be a problem, but rather a solution should exist for everyone.
It’s easy to categorize people with disabilities as a separate group. To clarify how disabilities are defined and how common they actually are in society, temporary disabilities are also included. This may encompass individuals who are stressed, having temporary difficulty thinking clearly, interpreting their surroundings, or understanding information. It may also apply to individuals who experience limitations in learning and memory or are in the early stages of the aging process.
On June 28, 2025, the new European Accessibility Act (EAA) will come into effect. The law means that products and services that are particularly important for people with disabilities will be reviewed and adapted. This includes, for example, computers, smartphones, and services related to passenger transport, banking, and e-commerce. The goal of the accessibility law is to eliminate barriers for people with disabilities, which in turn benefits everyone by creating a more accessible and inclusive society.
The law will result in a common view of accessibility for certain products and services. This will make it easier to buy and sell across Europe, as well as expand the market for accessible products and services. Including everyone therefore offers an advantage to the affected individuals, businesses, and society.
This may seem like an obvious step, but it requires that organizations involve individuals with the right expertise from the start of a project. This is especially crucial for planning and organization, requirements setting, ongoing review, and testing of content and functions on websites and interfaces that fall under the scope of the EAA.
At the organizational level, it is important to implement inclusive requirements throughout the product development process. This means regularly allowing users to test the product or service throughout the project to ensure accessibility goals are met. Training and information about accessibility goals should also be part of the organization’s strategy to create awareness and understanding.
As a first step to making websites, web applications, browsers, and other tools accessible, the core principles of web accessibility should be followed. These core principles refer to parts of the WCAG.
The 4 core principles are:
Robust
Perceivable: Information on a webpage should be presented in a way that allows the content to be both seen and heard. Therefore, make sure to clearly highlight headings, use text alternatives for images, and consider thoughtful color combinations, text sizes, or other ways to facilitate access.
Operable: Navigation on a webpage should be possible in multiple ways, such as using the various keyboard functions. Therefore, ensure that it is easy to navigate, find content, and determine the position on a webpage without time constraints or flashing content.
Understandable: The content on a webpage should be readable and easy to understand. Therefore, ensure that the language is consistent, difficult words are clearly explained, error messages provide guidance, and it is hard to make mistakes.
Robust: The content should be compatible with current and future assistive technologies. Therefore, ensure that combinations of different browsers, media players, and assistive tools function properly.
An important part is to conduct a thorough review before a website or interface goes live to ensure that all accessibility requirements are met.
By implementing an accessibility strategy at the organizational level, aligned with the accessibility law, you ensure that all employees share the same vision of the goal to create accessible products. Integrating accessibility from the beginning of a project is key. This means including accessibility requirements in the design and development phases, making the entire process more cost-effective and time-saving. Accessibility requirements should be treated in the same way as other performance or functionality requirements from the start of the project to ensure they are comprehensively integrated into the interface or website. This not only promotes inclusion but also long-term sustainability that complies with legal requirements and guidelines.
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The article was updated on March 9, 2025.