Accessibility has come a long way over the last few years. It used to be a niche discipline focused on people with disabilities, but recently this focus has shifted towards inclusive design and the understanding that websites and apps need to work for everyone regardless of disabilities, hardware or software in use, or internet speed.
“If you woke up tomorrow knowing that’d you’d have some level of a sensory, cognitive, or physical impairment, what would you do differently with the product or service you’re currently working on?” asks Bermon Painter, innovation and strategy lead at EY wavespace. “Often, we choose to build products and services for a fictional person with strong literacy, perfect vision and hearing and who can use a touch device or mouse with no problem. Few people are like this. Instead of building poorly thought-out solutions that frustrate and exclude, let’s remove those barriers to be inclusive for all.”