Member-only story
The Business of Design: Time to see differently
A comment on accessibility blindness
The recent ‘services for business’ campaign from the RNIB really caught my attention. Not because it says something new, but because it says something old. Very old.
Designing for designers
For too long, designers have designed for themselves. Not for those who use the designs they create. I know because I was one of them once. I chose typefaces that worked for my design, type sizes that worked for my design (the smaller, the better), colours that worked for my design, images that worked for my design, and layouts that worked for my design. Unfortunately, all too often, the last person I thought about was the person who would be on the receiving end of my designs.
Sadly, for many designers, their stakeholders, and the businesses that employ them, the right thing to do is not the thing to do.
The impact of this approach is that it limits the number of people that can use those designs. They become inaccessible to them. Of course, the right thing to do, especially in this age of diversity and inclusion, is to make them more accessible. Sadly, for many designers, their stakeholders, and the businesses that employ them, the right thing to do is not the thing to do.
