As a designer, you can no longer afford to overlook the growing trend toward inclusive design. Having designs that properly represent your company and its message is vital. Designing in a style your target audience will understand is even more crucial. Among these considerations is making products accessible to persons with a wide range of impairments. The percentage of people who are disabled in some way is staggering. Sixty-one million adults in the United States. Accessible design is crucial and should not be ignored. On December 3rd, the world celebrates International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Therefore, it is appropriate to discuss accessible design today.

People that have trouble identifying colors are also among your target audience. That’s why it’s crucial to start emphasizing accessible design. Do you have no idea where to start? We’ve got you covered. We’ll provide some practical advice on easy tweaks and design factors that can greatly impact.

An approach to accessible design in visual communication

In discussions on diverse advertising and promotion, the focus is generally narrowed to highlighting the need to showcase individuals from various cultural backgrounds. Facilitating a sense of belonging for individuals of many backgrounds. Recognizing and appreciating the value of people of all backgrounds. In any case, inclusiveness encompasses more than that. Another important aspect of inclusive marketing is assessing and improving the user experience for people with varying ability levels.

Creating products that are accessible to people with disabilities covers a lot of ground. Making sure all of your consumer touchpoints are accessible is a crucial part of this. There are numerous steps a business may take, ranging from an accessible UI design to app features that facilitate use for all types of people. However, we’ll be focusing on graphic design accessibility here.

For instance, what if the user cannot see the text because there is insufficient contrast between the text and the background? What if a visitor who is colorblind has problems with your infographic because the pie chart’s slices are different colors? The design’s purpose has been lost. Because of this, it is crucial to include accessibility elements in your branding and marketing strategies.

The nice aspect is that it really doesn’t take much effort to use accessible design in marketing. Minor adjustments will make your design accessible to everyone. Let’s have a look at some potential approaches to making this happen.

1. Pay close attention to your typography.

The legibility and readability of the text are affected by certain typographic features. Although there are no hard and fast rules for picking the best typeface and designing your typefaces, there are a few things you can keep in mind to make your design more accessible to persons with visual and neurological impairments.

Think carefully before using a small font.

The eyes have to work very hard to read small letters. Also, it adds extra effort for your consumers without adding any value. Most likely, they won’t do it. Also, typefaces smaller than 12 points on a mobile device might be difficult to read. As of 2015, mobile devices accounted for 58.99% of all worldwide online traffic, making the option to forego the use of small fonts a necessity for creating an accessible design.

The font you choose is important.

Some of the most readable and attractive typefaces are serif styles. You can count on it. However, when designing with accessibility in mind, sans-serif fonts stand out as the obvious winner. Their simple, uncluttered letterforms are easier on the eyes. This is true for both analog and electronic layouts.

2. Color contrast demands particular attention.

A design is only complete with the use of contrast. The level of contrast between two colors indicates how different they are from one another. Arrange them next to one another or stack them to create a foreground and background.

3. Use caution while using text overlays.

If you want to make your design accessible, you should avoid superimposing text on top of busy backgrounds. It might be tough to read even the most readable fonts when a lot is happening in the background.

4. Include descriptive subtitles for videos and alt text for images.

Always remember that some users may use assistive technologies like screen readers. Therefore, your picture may be of little value to them without appropriate alt text. The short answer is “yes,” alt text serves a wider purpose than just assisting search engine optimization. Facilitates user-friendly, accessible design. Still, it’s important to avoid overly-detailed sentences and stick to the essence of your message.