Inclusive Design Frameworks

Not every design principle should make your product more engaging. Some should protect people. You’ve probably seen Laws of UX, but its creator, Jon Yablonski also runs another brilliant project: humanebydesign.com It’s a framework for building digital products that respect users, not just attract them. Core principles: 1. Resilient → Design for the most vulnerable and anticipate misuse 2. Empowering → Centre on the value products provide to people  3. Finite → Respect people’s time and focus on meaningful content 4. Inclusive → Reflect the full range of human diversity 5. Intentional → Add friction where needed and favour long-term well-being 6. Respectful → Protect attention and digital health 7. Transparent → Be honest, clear, and free of dark patterns Honestly, I teach and implement this way too little myself, still stuck very much in the optimisation game. So this isn’t preaching, it’s sharing. And as usual with Yablonski’s work, the site is beautifully crafted, full of thoughtful illustrations and links to in-depth articles and research on each principle. So dive in, enjoy, just as I will!

Ever seen a program built to include… that ends up limiting instead? I have. A couple of times. I’ve seen initiatives designed with care and good intent but often, they unintentionally narrowed possibilities: 🔒 Steering specific marginalized people toward certain roles 🔒 Labeling them in ways that don’t reflect their full potential 🔒 Reinforcing the very boxes these programs aimed to break That’s why I’m a fan of applying Universal Design Principles to DEI work. Organisations need to rethink how they design programs and this framework has so much to offer. Originally developed to make physical spaces more accessible, Universal Design is a powerful framework for inclusion. It pushes us to design DEI related programs that are usable by all employees, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for separate, specialized design. 💥 It’s time we stop designing for categories and start designing for conditions. So ask yourself: how the conditions need to change for everyone can participate, contribute and thrive. Whether you're designing leadership tracks, trainings, mentorship programs or onboarding experiences, Universal Design helps you serve specific needs without excluding others. 💡 Curious how to do it? Here’s a sheet with more practical info that could inspire you to redesign. Because real inclusion starts not with asking, "Who do we need to support?"but "How can we design this to remove barriers so everyone can participate?" What are your thoughts on that? Please share in the comments 👇

🧠 Is Your Workplace Designed for Everyone—Or Just the Majority? 👀 Imagine this: A brilliant new hire is ready to contribute—but the tools, meetings, and environment weren’t built with their needs in mind. They’re not underperforming. They’re under-accommodated. ➡️ And this is exactly where universal design comes in. 💡Universal design is not about making special exceptions. It’s about building inclusion into the very foundation of your workplace. When we design with everyone in mind from the start, regardless of ability, background, or communication style, we don’t just accommodate; we empower. This approach transforms workplaces from reactive to proactive, from surface-level compliance to deep systemic inclusion. And here’s the truth many leaders are realizing: 👉 👉 True inclusion isn’t about making room—it’s about designing a workplace where no one is ever left out to begin with. 🛠️ Below are 5 ways to start embedding universal design into your organization: ✅ Audit accessibility – Regularly evaluate your digital tools, websites, and physical workspaces. ✅ Invest in inclusive technology – Use platforms that work seamlessly with screen readers, voice input, and other assistive tools. ✅ Diversify communication – Incorporate alt-text, audio descriptions, and transcripts; avoid relying solely on visuals. ✅ Train your teams – Equip staff and leaders with practical tools and mindsets that promote inclusion. ✅ Institutionalize it – Update hiring practices, performance reviews, and promotion paths to reflect inclusive values. 🧠 These changes don’t just benefit one group—they improve the experience for everyone—and that is the brilliance of universal design. 🏆 The Payoff: Equity that drives engagement and innovation. Organizations that embrace universal design consistently see: ✔️ Higher employee satisfaction ✔️ Better team collaboration ✔️ Greater innovation (because diverse perspectives are heard and valued) ✔️ Lower turnover and higher retention 🔥 The hidden cost of exclusion isn’t just about morale—it’s about missed potential, lost innovation, and the quiet departure of voices we never truly heard. When systems, tools, and environments aren’t built with inclusion in mind, we don’t just create inconvenience—we create barriers. And those barriers silently push away the very talent we say we want to attract and retain. Universal design flips that script. It ensures that everyone, not just the majority, can participate, contribute, and thrive from day one. 🎓 Ready to Take Action? Start With Our Signature Workshop “Working with Diverse Physical and Mental Ability.” 📩 Message me to learn how we can bring this powerful session to your team. #UniversalDesign #InclusiveWorkplaces #ChampionDiverseVoices #Neurodiversity #BelongingByDesign #AccessibilityMatters

Most frameworks count how many people with disabilitied are in the room. Ours measures what’s keeping them out. There’s a fundamental difference and it changes everything about what we do next. Organisations celebrate diversity numbers while the environment around people with disabilities stay exactly the same. Inaccessible. Exclusionary. Unchanged. A Monitoring & Evaluation Framework that doesn’t ask “are people with disabilities included?” It asks: → What barriers exist in this environment? → How deep does the exclusion run? → What has persisted and why? This is the social model applied to measurement. We stop locating the problem in the person. We locate it in the system. Because you can’t fix what you’re not accurately tracking. This framework is the foundation of how AccessInclusion conducts accessibility assessments and it’s reshaping how our clients understand what inclusion actually requires of them. Remediation without rigorous measurement is just guesswork with good intentions. We deserve better than that. I’m building out the methodology white paper. If you work in disability inclusion, policy, or organisational M&E and you’re tired of metrics that celebrate presence without interrogating barriers let’s talk #DisabilityInclusion #MonitoringAndEvaluation #InclusionFramework #AccessInclusionInstitute

Accessibility isn’t just compliance. At its most expansive, it’s an invitation for more ways in. In The Sensory Bloom — a research-informed framework developed during my experience design residency — experience is understood as layered and embodied. Rather than isolating the senses, it examines how multisensory design cultivates deeper, more resonant experiences. At the outermost layer of the Bloom, the senses form the threshold where experience first meets the body. This layer creates access, shaping who can enter, how easily, and through which pathways. From there, we move inward, layer by layer, toward engagement, meaning, and ultimately resonance. Because differences in ability, neurodivergence, learning style, and sensory preference shape how we experience environments, multisensory design creates parallel pathways into meaning. Here’s what “more ways in” can look like: 🖐 TOUCH: Tactile replicas and material affordances that support blind and low-vision visitors (and deepen understanding for everyone). At SFMOMA San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s Ruth Asawa exhibit, I encountered a bas-relief sculpture you could physically touch, grounding interpretation in texture, weight, and form. 👂 SOUND: Soundscapes that communicate mood and narrative across languages, ages, and lived experience. At Luna Luna, a sudden drumbeat gathered visitors into a shared moment, drawing bodies together to witness live costumed dancers. 👃 SMELL: Scents that trigger memory and emotion instantly — often before cognition catches up. At Ether (an olfactory exhibit in LA), the woody scent of a hearth connected me to home and warmth before my eyes even found its source. The more senses we design through, the more people we invite in. And not just more people, but more of each person. Their body, memory, emotion, and difference. If you design experiences, I’d love to hear: What’s a sensory doorway you’ve seen open access for someone — touch, sound, scent, movement, or something else? -- #SensoryDesign #Accessibility #ExperienceDesign

🦸🏻 Accessibility Skills For Accessible AI Interfaces (https://lnkd.in/envRSTuT), a thorough set of accessibility-focused instructions and guidelines for AI tools to build with accessibility in mind to meet WCAG 2.2 AA and ADA standards — even when dealing with quick fixes. Put together by Felipe A. Carriço. --- 🔹 1. AI-Generated Interfaces Are Inaccessible By Default Most AI systems model what code *looks* like, not what code *means* to assistive technologies. Accessible code is quite underrepresented in training data, and feedback loops typically involve visual output, not semantic failures. As a result, most LLMs optimize for visual output while generating near-zero semantic information for the layer that assistive technologies actually read. Improvements are slowly coming in, but they are inconsistent, and the default output remains inaccessible enough to require systematic enforcement. You can find a 5-layer enforcement system of prompt constraints — with examples and useful pointers — in a neat article “AI-Generated UI Is Inaccessible by Default” (https://lnkd.in/eirA7xSd) by Durgesh Rajubhai Pawar. --- 🔸 2. Inclusive Design Skills If you are looking for AI skills specifically focused on inclusive design, Marie-Claire Dean has put together Inclusive Design Skills (https://lnkd.in/exsrRuDA). It's a set of 40 skills and 18 commands across 6 plugins, covering cognitive accessibility, inclusive interactions, accessible content, inclusive personas, adaptive interfaces and accessibility decisions (!). --- 🔺 3. AI Can’t Replace Manual Accessibility Testing It’s always worth noting that no level of automation can replace human accessibility testing. Even if a product is fully compliant, it doesn’t mean that it’s usable for people with various accessibility needs. The best way is to regularly bring people with accessibility needs for testing. No magical Claude skill can be more efficient than that. And as always, thanks to everyone putting these wonderful little helpers together to benefit from. 🙏 ↓

Have you heard of the 5As framework for embedding accessibility and inclusion? Originally developed by the TV Access Project (TAP) to ensure Disabled talent can fully participate in television, the 5As provide a strong foundation for accessibility in any industry. They move beyond compliance, embedding inclusion into everyday practice. The 5As stand for: Anticipate – Accessibility isn’t an afterthought. We expect to work with Disabled people and proactively design inclusive environments, staying informed on best practice. Ask – We don’t assume. Everyone is regularly and sensitively invited to share their access needs, focusing on adjustments rather than conditions or impairments.   Assess – We reflect and improve. Accessibility information is easy to find, our culture is open and safe, and we regularly review and update our policies. Adjust – We take action. Adjustments are planned in advance to ensure full inclusion and wellbeing, with expert input and proper funding. Advocate – Inclusion is a long-term commitment. We champion Disabled talent, challenge discrimination, and support career progression into senior roles. The 5As help build workplaces, events, and industries where accessibility is standard. They don’t solve everything, but I do find them a useful tool for things to consider in creating accessible environments. Do you have any other frameworks like this you can recommend? Find out more: https://lnkd.in/dx7QwvBZ ID: graphic from the Creative Diversity Network highlighting key steps to drive inclusivity: Anticipate, Ask, Assess, Adjust, and Advocate. #DisabilityInclusion #Disability #DisabilityEmployment #Adjustments #DiversityAndInclusion #Content

Using AI to Recognize Exclusion: The Microsoft Inclusive Tech Lab just published a great resource showing how to use generative AI as a thinking partner, not a checklist, to uncover where our designs might unintentionally exclude people. It walks you through prompts for websites, apps, and games, all built around the inclusive-design principle “Recognize Exclusion.” The AI generates examples of where people could get left out (perceivability, operability, understandability), which you can then validate with real people with disabilities.This is such a great example of how AI can expand empathy and awareness, instead of just automating compliance. Definitely worth a read:  https://lnkd.in/gzshGu7e #a11y