We take web acces­si­bil­i­ty very seri­ous­ly here at pur­ple­plan­et, as you might remem­ber from our pre­vi­ous guides to acces­si­bil­i­ty audits and gen­er­al web­site acces­si­bil­i­ty. (Or you’ll know it from our exten­sive acces­si­bil­i­ty options!)

The impor­tance of inclu­sive web design can’t be over­stat­ed, as cre­at­ing dig­i­tal expe­ri­ences that cater to every­one isn’t just a mat­ter of com­pli­ance. It’s also a reflec­tion of a brand’s val­ues. Web inclu­siv­i­ty demon­strates a busi­ness’s com­mit­ment to cor­po­rate social respon­si­bil­i­ty (CSR), ensur­ing that no user is exclud­ed based on their abil­i­ties. It’s a moral oblig­a­tion that reflects a com­pa­ny’s ethics and com­mit­ment to equality.

How­ev­er, the ben­e­fits of inclu­sive design go beyond social respon­si­bil­i­ty. From a busi­ness per­spec­tive, design­ing for acces­si­bil­i­ty widens your poten­tial audi­ence, open­ing your web­site to mil­lions of users who rely on assis­tive tech­nolo­gies. Inclu­siv­i­ty isn’t just about doing the right thing; it’s also a smart growth strat­e­gy that improves user sat­is­fac­tion and boosts brand loyalty.

In this arti­cle, we’ll go beyond the basics and explore 7 essen­tial prin­ci­ples of inclu­sive web design, pro­vid­ing handy tips along the way. Whether you’re new to acces­si­bil­i­ty or look­ing to refine your design prac­tices, these prin­ci­ples will help you cre­ate a web­site that’s not only func­tion­al for every­one but also future-proof and wel­com­ing to all.

Let’s dive into the core prin­ci­ples of inclu­sive design that will ele­vate your dig­i­tal presence:

1. Research and testing should be thorough and diverse

In inclu­sive design, ear­ly and diverse research is non-nego­tiable. By involv­ing users with a vari­ety of dis­abil­i­ties in the ini­tial research and test­ing phas­es, design­ers can address acces­si­bil­i­ty chal­lenges before they become ingrained in the final product.

This proac­tive approach pre­vents cost­ly, time-con­sum­ing fix­es lat­er in the devel­op­ment process and ensures a more seam­less expe­ri­ence for users from the out­set. Instead of wait­ing until the final audit to test acces­si­bil­i­ty, con­duct­ing ear­ly user research with peo­ple who have dif­fer­ent needs (such as those with visu­al, audi­to­ry, or motor impair­ments) helps uncov­er issues that might be missed by stan­dard test­ing tools.

Beyond that, con­tin­u­ous feed­back from diverse users at mul­ti­ple stages is key to refin­ing the design in a way that tru­ly meets the needs of all users. Often, acces­si­bil­i­ty prob­lems are only revealed when real peo­ple inter­act with a web­site or app. Gath­er­ing feed­back ear­ly ensures that adjust­ments can be made incre­men­tal­ly rather than try­ing to retro­fit an inclu­sive design into a near­ly fin­ished product.

By test­ing with users of dif­fer­ent abil­i­ties and back­grounds, design­ers can devel­op a more robust under­stand­ing of the diverse ways peo­ple nav­i­gate con­tent, which may dif­fer great­ly from assump­tions. This not only improves acces­si­bil­i­ty but also cre­ates a more intu­itive expe­ri­ence for everyone.

In short, embed­ding inclu­siv­i­ty into the design from the start, through com­pre­hen­sive and diverse test­ing, ensures that acces­si­bil­i­ty isn’t an after­thought but an essen­tial part of the entire process.

2. Design for everyone

Inclu­sive design means cre­at­ing dig­i­tal expe­ri­ences that work for all users. Of course, cater­ing to ‘all’ users is a mighty task and it’s easy for us to for­get some groups that aren’t nor­mal­ly rep­re­sent­ed. That’s why design­ers should take time to con­sid­er who will be using their prod­ucts and try their best to be inclusive.

For exam­ple, in much of the West­ern world, high-speed broad­band and 5G net­works are com­mon. So, it’s under­stand­able if we for­get that a sig­nif­i­cant por­tion of the world still strug­gles with slow or unre­li­able inter­net. For these users, a web­site heavy with high-res­o­lu­tion images, videos, and com­plex ani­ma­tions may take too long to load or not func­tion at all.

So, inclu­sive design might not be just for those with the lat­est tech­nol­o­gy or fast inter­net con­nec­tions. Con­sid­er if your prod­uct will be used by peo­ple in the world with­out access to fast or sta­ble internet.

Mobile-first and low-band­width design strate­gies are essen­tial for address­ing this issue. By opti­mis­ing con­tent for mobile devices and ensur­ing that web­sites load quick­ly on slow­er con­nec­tions, design­ers cre­ate a more acces­si­ble expe­ri­ence for every­one, includ­ing those in rur­al areas, devel­op­ing coun­tries, or even peo­ple in urban areas where band­width may be lim­it­ed due to over­crowd­ed net­works. Tech­niques like image com­pres­sion, caching, and reduc­ing the use of large files can sig­nif­i­cant­ly improve load­ing times and ensure con­tent is accessible.

Addi­tion­al­ly, ener­gy-effi­cient web design ben­e­fits users with old­er devices or lim­it­ed bat­tery life. Lighter, faster-load­ing web­sites with few­er resource-heavy ele­ments not only reduce ener­gy con­sump­tion but also improve per­for­mance across all devices. This approach, some­times over­looked, ensures that web­sites are inclu­sive to users with old­er tech­nol­o­gy or those in areas where resources are scarce.

When design­ing for every­one, it’s impor­tant to con­sid­er often-over­looked pop­u­la­tions, but we appre­ci­ate that this list could go on and on, so we’ve only gone into detail about one exam­ple here. You might con­sid­er old­er adults who may not be famil­iar with dig­i­tal trends, users with cog­ni­tive dis­abil­i­ties, or peo­ple from dif­fer­ent cul­tur­al back­grounds who may inter­pret visu­al and lan­guage cues differently.

Ulti­mate­ly, web design­ers can make tru­ly spe­cial dig­i­tal expe­ri­ences for users if they go the extra mile to con­sid­er who they could include.

3. Inclusivity through text

Tex­tu­al ele­ments are a huge aspect of web design work, so let’s go over the ways in which text can be made accessible.

Adding descrip­tive text for non-text ele­ments is cru­cial for ensur­ing that all users, includ­ing those who are blind or visu­al­ly impaired, can access your con­tent. By pro­vid­ing alter­na­tive text for images, videos, and audio, you allow assis­tive tech­nolo­gies like screen read­ers to describe what’s being dis­played, offer­ing a more com­plete expe­ri­ence for users who can­not engage with visu­al or audi­to­ry elements.

This might also include adding audio descrip­tions to instruc­tion­al videos, so that users can fol­low along through voice guid­ance, or adding closed cap­tions for users with hear­ing impairments.

Cap­tions, in par­tic­u­lar, are essen­tial for mul­ti­me­dia con­tent. They not only help users with hear­ing dif­fi­cul­ties, but they also make con­tent more acces­si­ble in envi­ron­ments where sound may not be avail­able or prac­ti­cal, such as pub­lic spaces. Ensur­ing that all videos include cap­tions or tran­scripts opens up the con­tent to a wider audience.

Anoth­er crit­i­cal point is the prop­er labelling of form fields. If form fields lack clear labels, users rely­ing on assis­tive tech­nol­o­gy may strug­gle to under­stand what infor­ma­tion is required. Clear, descrip­tive labels allow screen read­ers to relay the nec­es­sary instruc­tions to the user, mak­ing the form sub­mis­sion process much more inclu­sive and reduc­ing frus­tra­tion for users with disabilities.

We men­tioned this in our gen­er­al guide but feel it must be reit­er­at­ed: using anchor text that accu­rate­ly describes the des­ti­na­tion of a link ensures users can nav­i­gate the site eas­i­ly. For exam­ple, nam­ing your careers page ‘www.example.co.uk/join-us’ is less clear than using some­thing like ‘www.example.co.uk/work-for-us,’ which more clear­ly con­veys the link’s purpose.

When adapt­ing your web­site with inclu­siv­i­ty in mind, thought­ful and descrip­tive text is key since it con­sti­tutes such a large part of the user’s experience.

4. Inclusivity through colour

Anoth­er huge aspect of web design is colour, and colour can be inclu­sive in a few ways.

Make sure that your colour choic­es sup­port read­abil­i­ty for all users, includ­ing those with visu­al impair­ments or colour blind­ness. It’s cru­cial to main­tain a strong con­trast between text and back­ground colours to make con­tent easy to read. When the con­trast is too low, users with lim­it­ed vision or colour per­cep­tion may strug­gle to dis­tin­guish between ele­ments on the page.

Addi­tion­al­ly, thin or light fonts can make text even hard­er to read. Instead, opt for thick­er, more sub­stan­tial fonts paired with deep­er, rich­er colours to enhance leg­i­bil­i­ty. This ensures that your text is clear and acces­si­ble, even for users with visu­al differences.

It’s also worth con­sid­er­ing how colour is used to con­vey mean­ing. Rely­ing sole­ly on colour to indi­cate inter­ac­tive ele­ments (like links or but­tons) can exclude users who are colour-blind or those using screen read­ers. Pair colour cues with text labels, icons, or under­lines to ensure that the func­tion of these ele­ments is obvi­ous to all users.

Last­ly, con­sid­er pro­vid­ing cus­tomis­able colour schemes or a dark mode option, which allows users to adjust the inter­face to their per­son­al pref­er­ences and needs. Here at pur­ple­plan­et, we’ve got sev­er­al colour scheme options that might inspire you – dark, light, and high con­trasts, high and low sat­u­ra­tions, mono­chrome and an option to exclu­sive­ly adjust text, titles, and back­ground colours.

5. Consider new technologies and always improve

Inclu­sive design is not a one-time effort but an ongo­ing process that requires con­tin­u­ous updates and improve­ments. As tech­nol­o­gy evolves, so do the oppor­tu­ni­ties to make dig­i­tal expe­ri­ences more acces­si­ble. It’s essen­tial to stay informed about emerg­ing tech­nolo­gies and advance­ments that can enhance acces­si­bil­i­ty, while also being mind­ful of how new tools can cre­ate bar­ri­ers for some users if not imple­ment­ed inclusively.

One area where this is par­tic­u­lar­ly impor­tant is in the grow­ing use of Voice User Inter­faces (VUIs). With the increas­ing pop­u­lar­i­ty of voice-acti­vat­ed devices like smart speak­ers and vir­tu­al assis­tants, design­ing acces­si­ble voice inter­faces is becom­ing crit­i­cal. VUIs offer hands-free nav­i­ga­tion and can be extreme­ly use­ful for users with mobil­i­ty impair­ments. How­ev­er, design­ers must con­sid­er the diverse needs of users, includ­ing those with speech impair­ments or non-native lan­guage speak­ers. Ensur­ing that voice com­mands are flex­i­ble, adapt­able to dif­fer­ent accents or speech pat­terns, and don’t require per­fect pro­nun­ci­a­tion is key to mak­ing VUIs more inclusive.

Beyond VUIs, new tools like AI-dri­ven con­tent cus­tomi­sa­tion, aug­ment­ed and vir­tu­al real­i­ty, and even advanced automa­tion for screen read­ers can all con­tribute to a more inclu­sive web experience.

How­ev­er, these tech­nolo­gies need to be imple­ment­ed thought­ful­ly, con­sid­er­ing a wide range of users and their unique require­ments. For instance, users with visu­al impair­ments might strug­gle with pure­ly visu­al expe­ri­ences, while those with mobil­i­ty impair­ments could have dif­fi­cul­ty nav­i­gat­ing vir­tu­al spaces. Addi­tion­al­ly, VR envi­ron­ments that require fast reflex­es or spe­cif­ic phys­i­cal ges­tures could exclude peo­ple with motor impair­ments. With­out alter­na­tives like audio descrip­tions or alter­na­tive nav­i­ga­tion meth­ods, these expe­ri­ences can become inac­ces­si­ble to a sig­nif­i­cant por­tion of users.

While new tech­nolo­gies might enhance user expe­ri­ences, fail­ing to con­sid­er acces­si­bil­i­ty can lead to exclu­sion. Thought­ful imple­men­ta­tion ensures that these tools enhance usabil­i­ty for all users, rather than inad­ver­tent­ly cre­at­ing new barriers.

6. Intuition, ease of use, and peacefulness

While bold, loud, and max­i­mal­ist design choic­es can have their place in the cre­ative world, they often clash with the prin­ci­ples of inclu­siv­i­ty. When it comes to acces­si­ble web design, peace­ful­ness, clar­i­ty, and ease of use are far more crit­i­cal. These val­ues allow a wider range of users to engage with con­tent in a way that feels intu­itive and wel­com­ing, with­out over­whelm­ing their sens­es or caus­ing confusion.

Cog­ni­tive acces­si­bil­i­ty plays a big role here. Clear visu­al hier­ar­chies, sim­ple nav­i­ga­tion struc­tures, and a well-organ­ised lay­out can help reduce cog­ni­tive load for users, mak­ing it eas­i­er for them to find infor­ma­tion and com­plete tasks. When inter­faces are clut­tered or chaot­ic, users (espe­cial­ly those with cog­ni­tive dis­abil­i­ties) may strug­gle to process infor­ma­tion or nav­i­gate your site effec­tive­ly. Ensur­ing a clean and intu­itive design allows every­one to engage with the con­tent in a calm, stress-free manner.

Ani­ma­tions, while visu­al­ly engag­ing, should be used care­ful­ly. Overuse of motion or sud­den, unex­pect­ed ani­ma­tions can over­whelm users, par­tic­u­lar­ly those with sen­so­ry sen­si­tiv­i­ties, ADHD, or autism. Offer­ing users the option to reduce or turn off ani­ma­tions entire­ly can cre­ate a more com­fort­able expe­ri­ence, allow­ing them to focus on the con­tent with­out distractions.

Respon­sive design is anoth­er key ele­ment of peace­ful and intu­itive web expe­ri­ences. Con­tent that scales dynam­i­cal­ly, adapt­ing to dif­fer­ent devices and user pref­er­ences, allows for smoother inter­ac­tions and a more per­son­alised expe­ri­ence. This flex­i­bil­i­ty means users can engage with your site in the way that works best for them, whether they’re on a desk­top, tablet, or mobile phone.

Final­ly, avoid­ing sud­den ele­ments like flash­ing images or unex­pect­ed inter­ac­tions is vital for neu­ro­di­verse users or those with sen­so­ry pro­cess­ing disorders.

7. Continuously support users

The final prin­ci­ple of inclu­sive web design goes beyond the cre­ation phase.

We believe inclu­sive design ensures users feel sup­port­ed through­out their entire jour­ney on your web­site. Offer­ing con­tin­u­ous, acces­si­ble assis­tance is essen­tial for mak­ing sure users can over­come any chal­lenges they encounter, no mat­ter their spe­cif­ic needs.

One key ele­ment is pro­vid­ing clear and acces­si­ble help doc­u­men­ta­tion. This includes user guides, tuto­ri­als, and trou­bleshoot­ing con­tent that is easy to find and nav­i­gate. These resources should be designed with inclu­siv­i­ty in mind (using plain lan­guage, offer­ing alter­na­tive for­mats such as audio or video with cap­tions, and ensur­ing com­pat­i­bil­i­ty with screen read­ers and oth­er assis­tive technologies).

Live chat sup­port can also be help­ful for users need­ing imme­di­ate assis­tance (and it, of course, should be made acces­si­ble to users with dis­abil­i­ties, such as those who rely on key­board nav­i­ga­tion or assis­tive technologies).

An intu­itive FAQ sec­tion can pro­vide quick answers to com­mon ques­tions, reduc­ing frus­tra­tion for users who may strug­gle with nav­i­gat­ing tra­di­tion­al help chan­nels. FAQs should be well-organ­ised, search­able, and writ­ten in a way that accom­mo­dates a range of lit­er­a­cy levels.

By offer­ing mul­ti­ple, acces­si­ble ways for users to seek help, whether through live sup­port, FAQs, or doc­u­men­ta­tion, you pro­vide them with ongo­ing sup­port. This makes your web­site more wel­com­ing, help­ing all users feel empow­ered and con­fi­dent as they inter­act with it.

Final thoughts

Inclu­sive design ensures that every­one, regard­less of abil­i­ty, can ful­ly engage with your dig­i­tal pres­ence. By incor­po­rat­ing the 7 prin­ci­ples out­lined in this blog, you can cre­ate a web­site that is not only func­tion­al and acces­si­ble but also wel­com­ing and empow­er­ing to all users.

As you apply these prin­ci­ples, keep in mind that acces­si­bil­i­ty is nev­er a one-size-fits-all solu­tion. Con­tin­u­ous­ly learn­ing, improv­ing, and sup­port­ing vis­i­tors will ensure your web­site remains inclu­sive for everyone.

Get help with improv­ing your web­site’s inclu­sive­ness by reach­ing out to us here at purpleplanet.

Get in touch