{"id":2805,"date":"2021-05-10T09:00:38","date_gmt":"2021-05-10T07:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sortlist.com\/blog\/?p=2805"},"modified":"2021-09-13T10:18:19","modified_gmt":"2021-09-13T08:18:19","slug":"website-designing-techniques","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sortlist-test.com\/blog\/website-designing-techniques\/","title":{"rendered":"Ultimate Guide to Inclusive Web Designing Techniques"},"content":{"rendered":"

Times are changing and they are changing for the better, as inclusive web design is finally becoming a priority in the digital realm. As such, brands need to be aware of this and need to fully implement everything inclusivity brings to keep up with the trends in the digital world.<\/span><\/p>\n

No matter which niche you are currently in, whether you’re providing services, selling products, or want to create a presentational website for your business, you should be aware of all the needs of all your users and cater to them.<\/span><\/p>\n

For most of the existence of the Internet, web design was based on a rather narrow standard view of how humans interact with technology. In the past few years, that paradigm has shifted, because web designers realized that the approach they used actually managed to alienate certain user groups from websites and the Internet altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n

These are the people who interact with websites differently. These are people with visual, hearing, cognitive, speaking, and motor impairments, and web designers need to create digital surfaces that are inclusive and accessible for them as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this guide, we will go over some of the best website designing techniques designers and developers can use to make their web projects more inclusive and enable a larger group of people to use them with ease.<\/span><\/p>\n

Defining Accessibility<\/span><\/h2>\n

Sometimes, inclusive design and accessibility are used more or less interchangeably but there’s a distinction between the two, and failing to differentiate between them can lead to drastic consequences.<\/span><\/p>\n

Accessibility is about removing unnecessary obstacles and enabling every visitor to use the app or website you design.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

For example, larger font sizes can improve visibility, eliminating the \u201ccan’t read the text\u201d obstacle, and oftentimes, designers go about this by enabling certain users to switch to an alternative \u201caccessibility mode\u201d or create a separate version that can be accessed through a link in the navigation bar.<\/span><\/p>\n

While this technically is a solution for the problem, people with visual impairments will still have a difficult time locating the link in the navigation bar. As such, this method not only will blur the lines between inaccessible and accessible but also alienate these users since they’ve been, in a sense, segregated and made to feel different. Not to mention that you’ve also needed to develop two different versions of the same interface.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is where the idea of inclusive designs comes into play. Instead of going through all this trouble (both the user and the devs behind the site), designing a singular, more inclusive interface<\/a> would be the best solution, where the fonts are larger for everybody.<\/span><\/p>\n

Achieving Inclusive Web Design Through Simplification<\/span><\/h2>\n

Simplicity, along with minimalism has been on the top list of graphic design trends for a while now, and as it turns out, they are great trends and important factors when it comes to making your website more accessible as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are several obvious benefits of having a clear visual identity and layout. It manages to improve user experience in general as navigation and orientation on the website become easier. Simply put, visitors can easier determine the hierarchy of different webpage elements, and in return, can navigate on the website that more intuitively.<\/span><\/p>\n

Group elements of the same size and color make it easier for most users to know which element follows the other, and white space can improve readability and can also reduce the risk of the user clicking on incorrect elements.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Additionally, by adding directional signage and icons where you can, you can even improve navigation and orientation efficiency even further.<\/span><\/p>\n

Responsiveness and Inclusive Designs<\/span><\/h3>\n

Whether you’re a site owner, a web designer, or work for a Web Design Agency in Chicago<\/a>, you already know that responsive web designs<\/a> have become a must ever since the rise of tablets and smartphones.\u00a0 <\/span>As such, responsiveness is also something you should keep in mind when you are trying to be inclusive as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

As there are several different screen sizes and shapes, you need to assess what is lost or adapted when different users look at your site on different devices. To ensure full responsiveness, you need to make sure that your design looks good and works fine across screens, with a clearly defined goal for each page<\/strong>. With these goals in mind, you can better assess which elements need to be highlighted on certain screens and which need to be hidden to make using your website easier for everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before going live, it’s also necessary to test your design as much as possible to catch every bug or potential problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

Simplify Language<\/span><\/h3>\n

When it comes to simplifying the written words on your website, there are several different factors you’ll have to consider to make sure that the overall design experience caters to everybody in the end. The simplicity of the words you choose can make a world of a difference for those with reading difficulties, while typography can be bothersome for visually impaired users (more on that later)<\/strong>. Lastly, text consistency can affect those who are cognitively disabled.<\/span><\/p>\n

In terms of word usage and consistency, using shorter sentences with simple words in simpler structures can go a long way. Also, make sure to use shorter paragraphs and an overall simpler text structure that helps everyone with \u201cdecoding\u201d your message.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also:<\/span><\/p>\n