Inclusive Design: looking beyond the guidelines
During the keynote "Inclusive Design: More Than You Hear" at the Service Design Global Conference 2024 in Helsinki, our colleague Marie van Driessche shared her insights on how accessibility is often misunderstood in the design of products and services. She emphasized that many solutions, although well-intentioned, are based on false assumptions, biases and ignorance, often failing to meet the needs of people with disabilities. Although her presentation had a focus on accessibility for the deaf and hard of hearing, her insights can be applied broadly within the framework of inclusive design.
Inclusive design: beyond technology
Accessibility is not just about technological adaptations. While technical solutions are useful, they often fail to consult users themselves. As a result, these additions do not always match their actual needs.
A good example is subtitling in videos. For the deaf and hard of hearing, this is essential to understand the content. However, because Dutch is often their second language and the subtitles are fast-paced, it can be difficult to follow everything.
Another example is text-to-speech functionality on Web sites. This can be useful for people with reading disabilities, but it does not take into account users who prefer visual information such as infographics, images or videos with sign language.
Empathy versus co-creation
Marie pointed out the limitations of empathy within the design process. While it can seem useful to empathize with people with disabilities, simulations such as wearing earplugs or special glasses offer only a superficial understanding. This mainly increases feelings of stress without providing real insight into their daily challenges. While empathy, testing and including different perspectives are important, we are often blinded by our own assumptions. This is why co-creation, where users are actively involved in the design process, is essential to developing truly accessible products.
Marie shared her own experience with the Dutch Railways. Because she is deaf, she uses a video relay app to make calls in Dutch Sign Language through an interpreter. However, when she was asked for permission to record the call, her "yes" through the interpreter was not accepted in the same way as a spoken "yes." This shows how inaccessible systems can be created by a lack of understanding of alternative means of communication.
Captioning: broader than hearing loss
Marie discussed the difference between subtitling ("subtitles") and closed captions. Subtitles provide a translation of the spoken dialogue into the desired language. Closed captions, however, go further by also reproducing important sound elements, such as background noise and music. This is crucial for the deaf and hard of hearing to understand the full context of a video.
Interestingly, many people without hearing impairments also use subtitles. Research shows that 80% of people who watch videos with subtitles do not have hearing loss. This is useful, for example, in situations where people want to watch without sound, such as on the train. 85% of videos on Facebook are viewed without sound.
Subtitling additionally offers SEO benefits, provided it is not hardcoded into the video. By offering subtitles separately, they can be indexed by search engines and the user can choose to turn them on or off.
Accessible writing
The deaf community may have difficulty with written texts because Dutch is not their native language. Dutch Sign Language has a different grammar than written Dutch. Therefore, it is important for websites and digital content to be easily written.
Some tips for more accessible writing:
- Use clear headings and sub-headings.
- Make one point per paragraph.
- Write short sentences (7-10 words per line).
- Avoid jargon and use simple language.
These principles make content more accessible not only to people with disabilities, but also to people with lower language skills or for whom Dutch is a second language, which is a large group. 1 in 6 Dutch people have difficulty with reading, writing and/or arithmetic.
Accessible design for all
Marie emphasized that there is no "one-size-fits-all" solution to accessible design. What works for one user may be inaccessible for another. It is therefore important to consider the different needs of a wide range of users in the design process. With the advent of the European Accessibility Act (EAA) in 2025, which requires companies to make their digital products and services accessible according to WCAG guidelines, this will become increasingly important.
The power of co-creation
Marie closed her keynote with the message that companies need to go beyond simply asking users. Often organizations do not involve users who have difficulty with accessibility, even though their insights are valuable to everyone. Actively involving people with disabilities in the design process ensures that they are seen not just as recipients of design, but as co-inventors who contribute to solutions. This leads to more inclusive and effective products and services.
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