Creating User Delight Through UX

Inaccessibility is all around us - but sometimes we’re doing it without even realising. I’ve made every one of these mistakes in the past. It wasn’t until someone took the time to point them out that I learned how inaccessible I was being - despite having good intentions. Here are 5 ways you might be being inaccessible, without even knowing: 1. Long LinkedIn headlines or overuse of emojis. Screen reader users hear your full headline every single time you post or comment. Every. Single. Time. Even when it’s truncated visually. That can mean hearing your full job title, emojis, and taglines multiple times before even reaching your post content. Try to keep your headline under 100 characters or two lines max - it makes a huge difference. 2. Long email signatures, HTTP links, and unlabelled images. Screen readers will read out every line - including things like “H-T-T-P-colon-slash-slash…” for full URLs. Images without alt text are completely invisible to screen reader users. Keep it short and simple, and use alt text wherever you can. Put only essential info in your email signature and put two dashes at the top to signal your signature is starting. And remember, it’s not your marketing tool. When was the last time you actually bought something from an email signature?! 3. Not running documents through the accessibility checker. You run a spell check, so why not an acceeeibility check? It’s a quick step, but it can flag things like heading structures, contrast issues, and missing image descriptions. It takes seconds and makes a big impact. 4. Using colour alone to convey meaning. For example, “I’ve marked the important cells in green” doesn’t help if someone can’t perceive colour easily. Neither does “I’ve shaded the cells for our RAG status”. Always add a label, icon, or another indicator. 5. Using all lowercase hashtags. #thisisnotaccessible - screen readers can’t parse where one word ends and another begins. Use camel case instead - #ThisIsAccessible - so screen readers pronounce the words correctly. Small changes, big impact. If you’ve made some of these mistakes before - welcome to the club. We learn, we improve, we do better. #DisabilityInclusion #Disability #DisabilityEmployment #Adjustments #DiversityAndInclusion #Content #A11y

👩�� Persona Spectrum For Inclusive Design (Figma Kit) (https://lnkd.in/eGD38hs4), a wonderful little accessibility tool for designers to include permanent, temporary and situational contexts in design decisions. Open sources, with all illustrations and assets for presentations and print. By 🐝 Mahana Delacour. --- 🔶 1. Accessibility ≠ Compliance We should never rely on automated accessibility testing alone to “ensure” accessibility. Compliance means that a user can use your product, but it doesn’t mean that it’s a great user experience. Manual testing makes sure that your users actually can meet their goals in their own context. It often feels daunting to get started, but small first steps are a great beginning. First, gather people interested in accessibility. Document what research was done, where the gaps are. And then try to include 5–12 users with disabilities in a dedicated accessibility testing. One way to find participants is to reach out to local chapters, local training centers, non-profits and public communities of users with disabilities in your country. You might want to add extra $25–$50 depending on disability transportation. Once you have access to users, run a small accessibility initiative around key flows in your products. Tap into critical touch points and research them. Eventually extend to components, patterns, flows, service design. A good target is to incorporate inclusive sampling into all research projects — at least 15% of usability testers should have a permanent, temporary or situational disability. --- 🔹 2. Building Accessibility Research From Scratch If you’d like to get started, I highly recommend to check “How We’ve Built Accessibility Research at Booking.com” (https://lnkd.in/eq_3zSPJ), a fantastic case study by Maya Alvarado on how to build accessibility practices and inclusive design into UX research from scratch. Maya highlights the idea of extending Microsoft's Inclusive Design Toolkit (https://lnkd.in/eN5J7EkJ) to meet specific user needs of a product. It adds a different dimension to disability considerations which might be less abstract and much easier to relate for the entire organization. And as Maya noted, inclusive design is about building a door that can be opened by anyone and lets everyone in. Accessibility isn’t a checklist — it’s a practice that goes way beyond compliance. A practice that involves actual people with actual disabilities throughout all UX research activities. More resources in the comments ↓

Accessibility tip that should be the standard anyway: Send documents in advance for review before asking people to respond to them. Don't share documents participants haven't seen before during a meeting and then ask for feedback in that same meeting. Also, provide a reasonable timeframe for review. Emailing documents a few hours before a meeting is still not enough time. Why? 1. Some people need more time to process information and develop thoughts. Those who are neurodivergent or have cognitive disabilities can be part of this group. 2. People are busy and might have competing priorities, and providing more time for review will support them. 3. When documents are reviewed in a live meeting, this is often an environment with background noise and bright lighting. It might be difficult for participants to focus on the documents or read them for understanding when there are people speaking in the background or someone is presenting. This is not an ideal environment to process, understand, and respond to new information. 4. More privileged voices can dominate non-inclusive situations like this and you can lose valuable feedback and insights from others. Has this happened to you before? Do you follow this best practice? #DisabilityInclusion #Accessibility #Meetings

Making workplace support easy to find A recent LinkedIn poll I ran showed that 45% of people were unsure who to ask or where to go for assistance in gaining adjustments or support in their workplaces. This highlights a simple but powerful truth that it’s not just about whether support exists, but how clearly it’s communicated and how easy it is to access. You may have some really good support systems but they may not be obvious or easy to find. Too often, employees only discover support options when they’re already struggling. Clear signposting can prevent this, helping people to thrive rather than survive at work. Here are five practical ways organisations can make support and adjustments easy to find and use: 1. Create a single, visible ‘Support Hub’ Develop a central place (intranet page, Teams channel, or digital dashboard) where all information about adjustments, wellbeing, and accessibility support is stored. Include contact names, request forms, FAQs, and examples of adjustments others have used successfully. 2. Use your everyday tools effectively Make use of existing software such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or Slack to share accessibility tips and tutorials. For example, highlight built-in accessibility features (dictation, screen readers, captioning) and how to activate them. 3. Map accessibility from door to desk Provide clear guidance about physical accessibility - good way marking such as how to find your way around buildings, quiet spaces, parking, toilets, and if there are sensory environments. Include visual maps and contact points for anyone who needs specific adjustments before visiting. 4. 'Normalise' asking for support - see it as optimisation tools for all. Train managers and HR teams to talk openly about adjustments as part of regular conversations for all and not only during crisis points. Build “adjustment check-ins” into one-to-ones or onboarding processes so support becomes a part of working life for all. 5. Share stories and examples Hearing from colleagues who have used adjustments helps to reduce stigma and increase uptake. Case studies, short videos, or internal blogs can demonstrate that getting support is positive and proactive not a sign of weakness and ideas can help us all. When employees know where to go and who to ask, they’re more likely to seek the help they need early. Call to action: 👉 How does your organisation show what support and adjustments are available and how easy is it to find? What helps you?

Stop reinventing the accessibility wheel. Standards, patterns, and guidance already exist. WCAG, ARIA, ISO, plus decades of lived experience from disabled people, have spec'ed out what works and what doesn’t. The problem isn’t the absence of accessible frameworks or design systems. The problem is that too many organizations treat accessibility like a novel experiment and an opportunity to do something splashy or unique rather than following the body of knowledge we already have. Sign language gloves, anyone? Don't waste time and money on one-off “innovations” and tool integrations that don't do what they claim Do focus on consistent implementation, testing with disabled users, maintaining internal accountability, and improving your accessibility maturity. That’s how you build products and services that are actually disability inclusive, instead of just trying to be disability inclusive. Where have you seen teams overcomplicate accessibility instead of applying what’s already proven? #Accessibility #Disability #WCAG #A11y

15 activities to test mobile accessibility In the last 15 years, the internet has gone mobile. Every major platform — from news to shopping to social media — has invested in sleek mobile versions because that’s where people spend their time. 📊 In fact, more than 60% of web traffic now comes from mobile devices (the source: https://lnkd.in/eeSrdHx4) We optimized for speed, performance, and design. But there’s one area where many mobile experiences still fall short: accessibility. And yet, mobile accessibility isn’t a niche concern. It affects everyone — whether you’re navigating with one hand while holding a coffee, trying to read in bright sunlight, or relying on a screen reader every single day. The good news is that you don’t need special tools to understand these challenges: your phone is already the perfect testing lab. That’s why I put together 15 quick activities to test mobile accessibility. Each one reveals how real people experience barriers and how small design choices can make a huge difference. Try these activities: 1. Turn on VoiceOver (iOS) or TalkBack (Android) → Navigate your favorite app. Every unlabeled button or image will suddenly become invisible. Study: Screen Reader User Survey 9 – WebAIM shows that over 70% of users rely on mobile screen readers daily (the study: https://lnkd.in/e9JeHsMx). 2. Increase text size to maximum in settings → Does your layout adjust gracefully? Do words overlap and buttons disappear? WCAG criterion: 1.4.4 Resize text (the link: https://lnkd.in/eDaYZ8wS) 3. Test color contrast outdoors → Step into bright sunlight. Can you still read the buttons? Fact: poor contrast is one of the most common accessibility issues 4. Switch your phone to grayscale → Do instructions still make sense without color cues (“Click the green button” won’t work). Study by WHO: around 300 million people worldwide have some form of color vision deficiency (the study: https://lnkd.in/eD9PkQk7) 5. Try captions on videos → Turn sound off. Are captions accurate, synced, and complete? Fact: 80% of caption users are not deaf or hard of hearing 6. Enable Dark Mode → Is content still clear, or do logos/icons disappear into the background? 7. Try high-contrast mode (Android) or Smart Invert (iOS) → Does the app break visually? 8. Test with one hand only → Can you still reach all main actions (especially on large phones)? 9. Rotate the phone (portrait ↔ landscape) → Does the app adapt, or do important features vanish? 10. Check hit targets → Can you tap small buttons without misclicking? WCAG requires minimum 44×44px target size (the link: https://lnkd.in/eNuZidir) Accessibility on mobile isn’t about edge cases, it’s about real-world design for real-world humans. #WebAccessibility #Inclusion #a11y #MobileAccessibility #WCAG

Design can only be termed good if it reaches all. Creating beautiful and innovative designs is a key goal for graphic designers. However, even the most visually appealing designs can be inaccessible to some users if they don’t consider various accessibility needs. Low contrast between text and gaudy backgrounds can make it difficult for people with visual impairments or colour blindness to read the content. Decorative fonts can be hard to read for everyone, especially for people with dyslexia or other reading disabilities. So, what do we do to make designs more disability inclusive? 🔍 Understand Diverse Needs: Begin with empathy. Get to know the unique needs and challenges faced by people with disabilities. This understanding will guide your design process to be more inclusive. 🖼️ Accessible Visuals: Use high-contrast colors and clear fonts to make text and images easily readable. 🗣️ Alt Text Matters: Provide descriptive alt text for all images to ensure that screen readers can convey the content to visually impaired users, making your designs more inclusive. 🎨 Responsive Design: Design with flexibility by creating layouts that adapt seamlessly across different devices and screen sizes, including those used by people with disabilities. ♿ Universal Symbols: Use universally recognized symbols and icons to communicate important information. 💬 Inclusive Language: Choose words that respect and acknowledge people with disabilities. Avoid ableist language and ensure your message is positive and empowering. 👩💻 User Testing with Disabled Communities:  Involve people with disabilities in your testing process. Their feedback is invaluable in creating designs that truly meet their needs. Embracing disability inclusion in our designs is the next step to making the world a better place. Let me know of more design inclusive strategies in the comments below! #inclusive #design #accessibility #uxdesign #a11y #disabilityinclusion #universaldesign #webaccessibility #empathyindesign #userexperience #designthinking

🔍 My Process for Testing a Web Page for WCAG Conformance Ensuring web accessibility goes beyond automated testing—it’s about a detailed, methodical approach. Here’s how I test a webpage for WCAG conformance: 1️⃣ Start with the Basics - Double-check I’m testing the correct URL, component, and page state. - Open the page in my browser, set the screen width to 1280px, and open developer tools. (I live in developer tools!) 2️⃣ Inspect Elements - Work top-down, element by element, component by component. - Use developer tools to inspect elements and select shortcut “Expand recursively” to easily view the complete code structure. -Check each element’s HTML semantic structure, name, role, value, aria and functionality. ***Ask questions like: *What is this element? *What’s its role? *What is it's name and where is the name coming from? *Does it have supporting attributes for different states? *Does it pass color contrast requirements? *Is this an interactive element? 3️⃣ Interactivity and State Testing - For interactive elements, test with a mouse first, then the keyboard (Tab, Enter, Space) to ensure equitable functionality. - Ensure all interactive elements have a non-obscured color contrast conforming focus indicator. - Check hover, focus, active, pressed, selected, expanded, and collapsed states. - Ensure the element remains conformant, maintains color contrast, and performs its intended functionality in all states across all input devices. 4️⃣ Comprehensive Component Review Apply this process to all elements within a chosen component or page. Switch to Accessibility Tree View for new fresh perspective. 5️⃣ Screen Reader Testing Use NVDA to do a pass-through, ensuring I haven’t missed anything important. 6️⃣ Responsive Testing Test at 1280px for desktop, zoom to 200% for resizing, and zoom to 400% for reflow to check responsiveness and look for cutoff or missing meaningful content. 7️⃣ ARC Toolkit Analysis - Use ARC Toolkit to run tests with all topics selected. Manually review errors, alerts, and best practices by toggling disclosure panels. - Use highlight tools to quickly check: Page titles, iframes, lists, forms, tables, language attributes, buttons, links, tab order, tab index values, landmarks, and headings. - Leverage the text spacing tool at 1280px, 200%, and 400% to ensure compliance with resizing and reflow requirements. Accessibility isn’t just a checkbox—it’s a commitment to inclusivity and usability for all. This thorough (but not exhaustive) testing process ensures every page and component is tested against the WCAG success criteria. Now knowing how to fix the failures... DM me for help! What’s your favorite step or tool for accessibility testing? Let’s discuss in the comments! #AccessibilityTesting #WCAG #WebDevelopment #Accessibility #A11y

Over the past 5 years, I’ve been invited by more than 50 companies to give talks on how businesses should approach accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities. ♿💼 My presentation focuses on three main areas that companies need to address: 1. Organizational Inclusion: Ensuring that people with disabilities have real job opportunities within the company and that they can develop their skills to the fullest, just like any other individual. 💪 2. Inclusive Communication: How to make both internal and external communication inclusive, using channels that allow effective communication and ensuring the message resonates with those of us who have disabilities. 🗣️📢 3. Inclusive Products and Services: Perhaps the most important aspect for creating an accessible world. How can companies design their products and services universally, so that anyone can use them effectively and independently? 🌍✨ For many leaders, it can feel overwhelming to figure out how to address this at a company level. What I aim to communicate is to use this structure: define the ideal long-term scenario, understand the current state, and build from there. 🔍🚀 Additionally, it’s worth considering a few quick wins to break inertia and start taking those first steps: - Find champions within the organization who want to lead this initiative. Ideally, these champions should be people with disabilities or those connected through family ties ("nothing about us, without us"). 🌟♿ - Adopt a mindset of continuous improvement, recognizing gaps and constantly implementing small improvements. 🔄✅ - Encourage universal design principles for all types of processes! 💡🌍 #Accessibility #UniversalDesign #InclusiveBusiness #DisabilityInclusion Wheel the World