Nowadays, technology is part of our lives. Nothing is as simple as googling an important date we can’t remember or liking something on any social network. But not everyone finds technology easy. For some, it can become an insurmountable obstacle that doesn’t help, and even makes their lives worse. People with disabilities often find themselves alone using applications or services that do not take their needs into account. Apps that do not support assistive technology or screen readers. This complicates their lives and they often see themselves marginalised in relation to others. However, technology could, and should, be the vehicle to promote social inclusion and make life easier for all of us.

Below, you’ll find three major concepts to take into account while designing for all.

What is User Experience design (UX design)?

User experience design (UX design) is a user-oriented design approach that adopts a participatory methodology that allows the motivations and interests of stakeholders to be considered, with a focus on users and their experience with the product. Therefore, during the design activity and in the research phase, it is useful to involve a sample of end-users and/or domain experts.

The main objectives of UX design are:

  1. To highlight and represent motivations (needs, aims, values, interests);
  2. To highlight and represent knowledge (conceptualisation, activities, attributes, etc.);
  3. To translate knowledge into a product capable of satisfying needs using the knowledge resources that have emerged.

User experience analysis aims to identify usability problems in a digital interface (website or app). By evaluating the user experience and making recommendations, effective improvements can be made to the digital product. For maximum results, it is important to consider the purpose of the product, the needs of the end-users and the context of use.

What is usability?

“Usability is the degree to which a product can be used by particular users to achieve certain goals effectively, efficiently and satisfactorily in a specific context of use”. [ISO 9241]

The major terms to consider are:

  • Effectiveness is the degree to which an objective is achieved, so it is referred to as the completeness of the results achieved.
  • Efficiency is based on the relationship between the level of effectiveness and the use of resources. For the same level of effectiveness, a tool is more efficient if it requires fewer resources. It can also be defined as the amount of effort required to complete a task.
  • Satisfaction is a subjective evaluation, which is based on a cognitive component (the relationship between expectations and results, and between effectiveness and efficiency) and an affective component (the relationship between positive, neutral and negative emotions).

What is accessibility?

Accessibility refers to the degree to which an interactive product is accessible to as many people as possible. Therefore, websites, tools and technologies must be designed and developed so that people with disabilities (visual, cognitive, neurological, physical, etc.) can also use them. More specifically, they must be able to: perceive, understand, navigate, interact with and contribute to them. The goal is to design systems that are adaptable to most human capabilities.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) advocates that the Web should be accessible to provide equal access and opportunities for people with different disabilities. Access to information and communication technologies is recognised as a fundamental human right.

Accessibility supports social inclusion for both persons with disabilities and normal users. For the former it is considered essential; while it benefits the latter in various ways, such as in cases of temporary disabilities (e.g. broken arm) or situational limitations (e.g. poor visibility, in environments where audio information cannot be heard). Furthermore, it has numerous advantages in both the economic and user experience spheres, including: promoting usability, reducing maintenance costs, addressing a larger audience (etc.).

For the technology to be accessible and inclusive, the research process must involve users with disabilities, who will be able to test the system during development. It is also advisable to follow accessibility guidelines in order to meet and satisfy the requirements. Examples are the guidelines outlined by Google Developers (Accessibility)[1], Material Design – Accessibility[2] and the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)[3].

Conclusions

In Work@ble, we believe in a user-oriented design approach to support social inclusion for vulnerable groups. This is the approach Social IT used as the technology partner to create the Work@ble Escape Room. Only if all people are heard, we can build something that really matters.


[1] https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/accessibility

[2] https://material.io/design/usability/accessibility.html#understanding-accessibility

[3] https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/