Guide to Universal Design.

What is the Universal Design?

“ The process of creating one product for users with the widest range of abilities and in the widest range of situations.”

Using this method, UX Designers need to design a user experience as so easy and understood by all users with different capabilities. The goal of universal design is to design it for many people, but on the other hand, it leaves some people behind with accessibility and disability issues. Universal design is some kind of one size fits all method. Minimalist websites and apps with the simple structure are good and practical examples of universal design.

7 Principles of Universal Design

There are seven principles in universal design to make it Inclusive. The seven principles of universal design were founded by a team of product designers, architects, engineers, and researchers, led by Ronald Mace at the North Carolina state university in 1977. This is the origin story of these seven principles. So UX Designers need to follow these seven principles to deliver a good user experience to users.

1. Principle One - Equitable Use

“The design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities.”

Guideline :

1. Provide the same means of use for all users: identical whenever possible, equivalent when not.
2. Avoid segregating or stigmatizing any users.
3. Avoid segregating or stigmatizing any users.
4. Make the design appealing to all users.

Examples :

1. Need to add high contrast option in the design for color-blind users. Is it important? The simple answer is “YES”. Because 1 in 12 men are color blind (8%) and 1 in 200 women are color blind (0.5%). Technically 300 million people are struggling with the color blind situation. If these numbers don’t make sense to you, I will make it simple, The population of the USA is 332 million.

2. Avoid mouse-only interactions in smartphones and tablets. Because mouse-only interactions like hover, and double click is some kind of disaster for the user experience in smartphones.

3. Add alt text to images because assistive technologies like screen readers, screen magnifiers, and text-to-speech depend on the alt text in images.

2. Principle Two - Flexibility in Use.

“The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities. ”

Guidelines :

1. Provide choice in methods of use.
2. Accommodate right or left-hand access and use.
3. Facilitate the user’s accuracy and precision.
4. Provide adaptability to the user’s pace.

Examples :

• Allow to users resize the text and elements in UI. Because this makes their life easy.

• 2. Add subtitles to videos, because deaf users can’t listen to audio and it’s the UX designer’s job to make it useful to everyone.

3. Principle Three - Simple and Intuitive Use

“Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the user’s experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level.”

Guidelines :

1. Eliminate unnecessary complexity.
2. Be consistent with user expectations and intuition.
3. Accommodate a wide range of literacy and language skills.
4. Arrange information consistent with its importance.
5. Provide effective prompting and feedback during and after task completion.

Examples :

• When users are using the product, they should understand quickly how to use it. UX designers need to design it familiarly and simply. Otherwise, we need to teach users how to use it.

4. Principle Four - Perceptible Information

“The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or the user’s sensory abilities.”

Guidelines :

1. Use different modes (pictorial, verbal, tactile) for redundant presentation of essential information.
2. Provide adequate contrast between essential information and its surroundings.
3. Maximize the “legibility” of essential information.
4. Differentiate elements in ways that can be described (i.e., make it easy to give instructions or directions).
5. Provide compatibility with a variety of techniques or devices used by people with sensory limitations.

Examples :

• Avoid paragraphs in the design and use simple bullet points, and subheadings then the design will more be accessible and clear to everybody.

• Use pictures, icons, and emojis to emphasize the point in the text.

5. Principle Five - Tolerance for Error

“The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions.”

Guidelines :

1. Arrange elements to minimize hazards and errors: most used elements, most accessible; hazardous elements eliminated, isolated, or shielded.
2. Provide warnings of hazards and errors.
3. Provide fail-safe features.
4. Discourage unconscious action in tasks that require vigilance.

Examples :

• when the user taps the “delete the account” button. we need to ask users “are your, sure?” or “enter the password to delete your account”, We need to design it to avoid accidents for users.

• Give Undo option to users to avoid mistakes.

6. Principle Six - Low Physical Effort

“The design can be used efficiently and comfortably and with a minimum of fatigue.”

Guidelines :

1. Allow the user to maintain a neutral body position.
2. Use reasonable operating forces.
3. Minimize repetitive actions.
4. Minimize sustained physical effort.

Examples :

• Add fixed navbar on websites otherwise, the user needs to scroll to the top to navigate.

• Minimize the scrolling and dragging by action grouping.

• Minimize the request by dividing the long forms into a few steps.

7. Principle Seven - Size and Space for Approach and Use

“Appropriate size and space are provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use regardless of user’s body size, posture, or mobility.”

Guidelines:

1. Provide a clear line of sight to important elements for any seated or standing user.
2. Make reach to all components comfortable for any seated or standing user.
3. Accommodate variations in hand and grip size.
4. Provide adequate space for the use of assistive devices or personal assistance.

Examples :

• Use the different sizes of buttons in the desktop version and mobile version. Make action buttons large enough for tapping on a mobile screen.

• The virtual keyboard takes up space on the screen. So use dynamic space in the design.

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