Limited awareness of people has constrained the use of the term ‘inclusion’ majorly with respect to culture, education and politics.  This has often led to the neglection of the importance of this term relating to the usability of many products and services for people with disabilities.  

Inclusive design requires a change in the usual pattern of thinking. It therefore widens and ensures the reach and accessibility of mainstream products and services to a vast majority of the population without the need for special adaptations.  

About 15% of the world’s population lives with some form of disability according to the World Health Organisation. In India, according to census 2011, around 2. 68 Cr of the population i.e. around 2.21% of the population has some of the other kind of disability. 

These disabilities include: 

• People with some form of physical disability– Upper limbs, lower limbs or both.  
• People with visual impairment– Low vision or totally blind 
• People with hearing impairment– Hard of hearing or deaf 
• People with speech impairment 
• People with cognitive impairment– Mild, moderate or severe. 

Along with this, there are other groups of people who do not directly fall into these categories but should be considered.  

• Elderly– Longer life expectancies and an aging population mean there will be more users with some impairments. 
• People with temporary disabilities– A person with a muscle pull, fractured arm etc. 

The problem: 

• Inclusive design is either often neglected or seen as an add-on, like an afterthought.  
• There’s a general lack of understanding and considering these user groups.  
• There’s a lack of understanding about how to design for inclusivity and the benefits it brings. 

Why invest in Inclusive Design? 

Inclusive design increases user acquisition and retention.

Inclusively designed products and services are good and accessible for all. With a growing population and longer life expectancies leading to an aging population, there will be more users with some or the other kind of impairments in the future. Designing inclusively creates better solutions and experiences for all. Not designing products and services inclusively would only mean losing out to a large and increasing market segment. 

Inclusive design has been practiced since a long time, but it has not yet been adopted by all.  A good example of a company which started designing with an inclusive approach was OXO good grips. A range of easy to use kitchen utensils. With their brilliant market research, packaging and marketing strategies, they were able to tap into the kitchen market to emerge as one of the best products.

Inclusive design means more profit

Imagine a product or service not being usable enough for any or multiple of these user groups. That would be a large amount of probable spending one would miss out on if they don’t design inclusively.

There’s an upfront cost but you’ll make a return on your investment.
While we may agree that designing inclusively does come with a good cost, but a company investing in good and inclusive design will in no time cover their costs and make a return on the initial investment. Not only would a not -so- useable design cost a lot of money to the company in terms of exchange and warranty but might also cause damage to the brand and goodwill. 

People are united by design

Inclusive design offers a great opportunity to bring people together. Creating and designing user friendly products and services which everyone can use, regardless of their abilities, unites people by design. It creates a sense of belonging. 

Why choose BarrierBreak 

1. Digital accessibility company with accessibility in out DNA! With inclusive culture being a big part of our company, our team comprises of individuals who can empathize with the disabled users. 
2. We understand users. We understand the different user groups and the challenges and limitations they face. 
3. It is not enough to just read about disabilities and design for to fully understand the diversity of users.  The designers at BarrierBreak work along with our accessibility experts that include people with disability and user groups to bring the most effective digital solutions and plan to do the same for products as well. 

Get in touch with our accessibility experts today. Write to us sales@barrierbreak.com 

The post How would inclusive design help your organisation? appeared first on Leader in Offshore Accessibility Testing | Section 508 Compliance | WCAG Conformance | BarrierBreak.

Yes, I believe people with disabilities can do everything. Let me say this again, I believe that people with disabilities can do everything.

In a way, I have proved this through Barrierbreak, where people with disabilities co-exist with everyone.

In the last 18+ years, I have interacted with so many people with disabilities. Each of them views themselves differently. Again exactly like the rest of the world and why not:

• Some people believe that they have been brave leaving their house irrespective of their disability. This might be a small achievement for some but a very big thing for that person.
• For others, they have managed to travel the world and might look that leaving the house as a too small an achievement
• Some people believe that they would like to be referred to as differently abled, others people they should be called people with disabilities
• Some people believe that they can do everything and others might doubt themselves and need support

People have different thresholds, skills, ambitions, etc. People interpret their own challenges, opportunities, achievements as they see them. Let’s celebrate the differences. I am not saying this for only society at large but it’s also about how people with disabilities see themselves as well as each other.

Let’s embrace that! Let’s not question it.

Let’s inspire people to jump the hurdles that life gives them and celebrate the small and large wins.

As I am writing this, it sounds like each & everyone of us, doesn’t it?

Since I founded, Newz Hook – India’s first Inclusive & Accessible News Media site focusing on disability, accessibility and inclusion, these differences have become more apparent to me.

We share news and stories about people and these people view themselves in a certain way. Who am I to judge. What we are here to do is share their stories.

My own and my editor Shai Venkatraman’s opinion aside, it’s about the people!

Let’s come together to change attitudes towards people with disabilities!

The post How are people with disabilities perceived by themselves and others? appeared first on Leader in Offshore Accessibility Testing | Section 508 Compliance | WCAG Conformance | BarrierBreak.