9 Designing with Accessibility, Inclusion, Diversity in Mind
9 Designing with Accessibility, Inclusion, Diversity in Mind
Where to begin?
If we knew how to, and if we had easy-to-use tools, we’d all make our content more accessible, more inclusive, more adaptable, and more configurable to individual learner needs. Of course, authoring content in an accessible application from the beginning helps achieve these goals best and makes the content more adaptable. There are also options for making materials more accessible “after the fact”.
In either case, making content more inclusive begins with understanding what kinds of alternatives are needed, and realizing that inclusivity and accessibility are achieved through awareness, adaptation, collaboration, and flexibility. There is no definitive checklist, no machine that churns out accessible materials. With awareness and the tools, we can commit to making our materials more inclusive and more accessible.
“Where to Begin” by The Floe Inclusive Learning Design Handbook is licensed under CC BY 2.5 CA.
What is inclusive design?
Watch this 1-minute introduction to inclusive design. The transcript can be found below the video.
What is Inclusive Design on YouTube
The Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC) provides the following definition of inclusive design: “design that considers the full range of human diversity with respect to ability, language, culture, gender, age and other forms of human difference.” The IDRC also stresses three dimensions of inclusive design. Take a moment to learn more about each dimension by clicking on the hotspots (question marks) in the following H5P activity. If you prefer, you can access this resource as a text-based version of the three dimensions of inclusive design.
Three Dimensions of Inclusive Design
Innovation at the edges
Learners learn differently. The goal of education is to support learners in reaching their full potential. While part of the educational process is to challenge learners to facilitate their growth, many learners experience constraints that make it difficult if not impossible to access certain learning resources.
These potential barriers to learning can include:
- sensory, motor, cognitive, emotional and social constraints
- individual learning approaches or preferences
- linguistic or cultural preferences
- technical, financial or environmental constraints
Where to begin? by the Inclusive Design Research Centre is licensed under CC BY 2.5 CA .
Innovation at the Edges by community members of the Inclusive Design Research Centre at OCAD University is licensed under CC BY 3.
This starburst plot shows a denser set of dots (representing the majority needs) in the centre, and more widely spaced dots the further you get from that centre (the minority needs). Distance represents difference. The closer the dots the more similar they are. The wider they are spaced from each other the more they differ. Design innovation happens at the outer edges.
When we have limited time and resources, we tend to follow the 80/20 rule; t