Design Accessible Experiences

Designing accessible experiences means intentionally creating user interfaces, interactions, and flows that can be used equitably by people with disabilities. This includes considering a range of impairments (e.g., visual, auditory, cognitive, motor, speech) and ensuring the design works with assistive technologies, follows inclusive patterns, and avoids introducing unnecessary complexity or barriers. Designers shape the interaction patterns that determine access.

Role in the ENABLE Model

This is the third stage in the ENABLE model. Design is where abstract requirements become concrete interfaces -- often the moment where equity is either encoded or denied. Inclusive design prevents downstream compensations by ensuring the product is inherently usable, not retrofitted.

Redesign?

Sometimes ensuring accessibility means doing redesign. Builders revisit interfaces and flows to remove barriers previously created. Redesign is design.

Why Design Matters

Design decisions shape whether someone can use a product in the first place. Poor design choices can force users with disabilities to navigate more complex paths, rely on assistive tools to compensate, or abandon a product altogether. Design decisions can also cause harm. A 2026 Meta and YouTube verdict linked design choices to anxiety, depression, body dysmorphia, social phobia, and self-harm. Accessible design isn't just about compliance -- it's about respect, usability, and autonomy.

Examples

In the news

Xbox Unveils Four New Accessibility Offerings (August 21, 2024)
-- Xbox Wire

• Microsoft announced the Xbox Adaptive Joystick ($29.99, early 2025), 3D-printable adaptive thumbstick toppers, and expanded USB support for the Xbox Adaptive Controller. Developed through years of research and collaboration with players with disabilities, these design choices demonstrate how inclusive design serves the 425+ million gamers with disabilities worldwide as a core design principle.

Apple unveils powerful accessibility features coming later this year (May 2025)
-- Apple Newsroom

• Apple announced Accessibility Nutrition Labels for the App Store, allowing users to view accessibility features (VoiceOver support, Voice Control, Larger Text, Reduced Motion, Captions, Sufficient Contrast) before downloading apps. This design decision shifts accessibility information upstream, enabling informed choices and incentivizing developers to set requirements that include accessibility from the start.

How the Nike Go FlyEase upended the world of adaptive fashion (May 13, 2021)
-- CBC News

• Nike's FlyEase line, developed after a teen with cerebral palsy wrote to the company in 2012, demonstrates disability-led design. The hands-free shoes were co-created with disabled athletes and designers, including congenital arm amputee Richard Ramsay. Unlike disability dongles, FlyEase emerged from collaboration with the disability community, not assumptions about their needs. Jury finds Instagram and YouTube liable in landmark social media addiction trial (March 25, 2026)
  -- Kaitlyn Huamani and Barbara Ortutay, Associated Press

• A California jury found Meta and YouTube negligent in the design or operation of their platforms after hearing evidence that design features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, constant notifications, and beauty filters harmed a young user. The Guardian and NPR via WUSF described the harms as depression, anxiety, body dysmorphia, social phobia, and self-harm. This matters here because the case treated those features as design decisions that caused concrete mental and bodily harm.

• Using sufficient color contrast and avoiding color-only indicators
• Designing large, well-spaced clickable targets for users with motor disabilities
• Ensuring focus states are clearly visible
• Avoiding rapid animation or motion that may cause vestibular issues
• Presenting instructions and labels clearly
• Using consistent layout and predictable patterns

Care sounds like

"We must design a speech interface that is usable by people who stutter."
"We've built keyboard navigation into every interactive element."
"Let's test this flow without a mouse to ensure it works."
"We designed this form to be navigable by screen reader users." “We updated the UI because we realized the flow excluded people.”

Neglect sounds like

"The devs can make it accessible later."
"We only designed for the average user."
"Screen readers will figure it out, right?"
"It's not our job to fix accessibility -- just to make it look good."

Real-world Scenario

A ride-sharing app's design relies entirely on map-based interaction. Users must drag and drop a pin to confirm pickup -- there's no way to enter an address via keyboard or screen reader. This design excludes users with motor and visual impairments, forcing them to rely on others or abandon the app. Had the designers considered alternative input methods and inclusive flows from the start, the experience could have supported a broader user base without requiring compensation.