15 Facts About Inclusive design

Inclusive design is a design process in which a product, service, or environment is designed to be usable for as many people as possible, particularly groups who are traditionally excluded from being able to use an interface or navigate an environment.

Historically, inclusive design has been linked to designing for people with physical disabilities, and accessibility is one of the key outcomes of inclusive design.

However, rather than focusing on designing for disabilities, inclusive design is a methodology that considers many aspects of human diversity that could affect a person's ability to use a product, service, or environment, such as ability, language, culture, gender, and age.

In 1973, the United States passed the Rehabilitation Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs conducted by federal agencies, a crucial step towards recognizing that accessible Inclusive design was a condition for supporting people's civil rights.

Inclusive design is often equated to accessible or universal design, as all three concepts are related to ensuring that products are usable by all people.

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Inclusive design seeks out cases of exclusion from a product or environment, regardless of the cause, and seeks to reduce that exclusion.

For example, a design that aims to reduce safety risks for people suffering from age-related long-sightedness would be best characterized as an inclusive design.

Inclusive design looks beyond resolving issues of access to improving the overall user experience.

Universal Inclusive design originated in work on the Inclusive design of built environments, though its focus has expanded to encompass digital products and services as well.

Universal Inclusive design principles include usefulness to people with diverse abilities; intuitive use regardless of user's skill level; perceptible communication of necessary information; tolerance for error; low physical effort; and appropriate size and space for all users.

Many of these principles are compatible with accessible and inclusive design, but universal design typically provides a single solution for a large user base, without added accommodations.

Inclusive design acknowledges that it is not always possible for one product to meet every user's needs, and thus explores different solutions for different groups of people.

In general, inclusive design involves engaging with users and seeking to understand their needs.

Frequently, inclusive design approaches include steps such as: developing empathy for the needs and contexts of potential users; forming diverse teams; creating and testing multiple solutions; encouraging dialogue regarding a design rather than debate; and using structured processes that guide conversations toward productive outcomes.

Adobe, the inclusive design process begins with identification of situations where people are excluded from using a product.