Should inclusive design be a UX concern?
The statistics may surprise you.
Is inclusive design really necessary for creating great user experiences? If you look at how often inclusive design is discussed in UX design articles, courses, books, etc., you’re likely to think inclusive design is optional or gold-plating.
Inclusive design is rarely promoted as a foundational principle of UX design. Although designing for disabilities is gaining some traction, designing for other aspects of social identities is still widely overlooked.
Let’s see what statistics can tell us about users’ experiences and their expectations about inclusion...
Disability-inclusion
The World Health Organization reports that, 15% of people worldwide (1.2 billion) live with some form of disability. Nonetheless, evaluations of home pages for the top 1 million websites has found very little improvement in web accessibility over the past 4 years. The percentages of homepages with accessibilities has been: 97.8% in 2019 and 2020, 97.4% in 2021, and 96.8% in 2022.
Should disability-inclusive design be a UX concern?
A few resources to learn more:
Accessibility Checklist [reference tool]
The A11y ProjectAccessibility Fundamentals [course]
Deque UniversityAccessibility for Everyone [book]
Laura KalbagGiving a damn about accessibility [article]
Sheri Byrne-Haber, CPACCInclusive Design for a Digital World [book]
Reginé M. Gilbert
LGBTQIA-inclusion
A survey of people in 27 countries found that 9% of people worldwide (720 million) identify on the LGBTQIA spectrum and perhaps some of the 11% who responded, “don’t know’ or “won’t say” are in the spectrum as well. And, 71% of LGBTQIA consumers say they are more likely to interact with an ad that authentically represents their sexual orientation.
Should LGBTQIA-inclusive design be a UX concern?
A few resources learn more:
4 Key Design Principles for Gender-Identity Inclusion [video]
Jess Mons & Lindsey Brinkworth, dscoutInternational guide to gender-inclusive writing [article]
UX ContentBest practices for inclusive LGBTQIA+ research [article]
Brenna TraynorBeyond binary: designing for gender inclusivity [article]
Anna E. CookTrans-inclusive design [article]
Erin White
Age-inclusion
According to United Nations, people ages 65 and older account for 10% of the world population (800 million) in 2022 and will increase to 16% (1.28 billion) in 2050. In the United States, of people ages 55 and over, 75 million are considered mentally, socially, and digitally “active.” Of these “Active Agers,” 66% agree that they are stereotyped in advertising and marketing.
Should age-inclusive design be a UX concern?
A few resources to learn more:
Age Before Beauty – A Guide to Interface Design for Older Adults [article]
ToptalAge inclusive design — who cares? Everyone should! [article]
Cyber DuckHow to design for an aging population [course]
Jeff Johnson, Interaction Design FoundationInclusive design: digital equality for older users [article]
H. LockeUsability for seniors: Challenges and changes [article]
Nielsen Norman Group
Racial/Ethnic-inclusion
Prioritizing light skin tones is a global issue which impacts Black, African, Asian Indigenous, and Latino communities, which make up the global majority—80% of the world’s population (6.4 billion). The discrimination of darker skin is reflected in the lack of diversity in ad campaigns. A study by Eyecue Insights of 70 beauty brands found about 50% of beauty images feature light skin tones and only 10% feature dark skin tones. After the killing of George Floyd in June 2020 and an increase in demand for racial equity in the United States, the percentage for dark skin tones jumped to almost 25% and quickly began its decline the following month.
Should racial/ethnic-inclusive design be a UX concern?
A few resources to learn more:
3 things you should know about colorism [video talk]
Trina Jones, Harvard Kennedy School50 Shades of Nude: Inclusivity and Diversity in the Makeup Industry
Natalie Mctigue, Walk MagazineConfront Colorism Guide [article]
Do SomethingCross-Cultural Design [book]
Senongo AkpemInclusive Design in Southeast Asia [blog]
Project LimaUX in China: More Is More, Super Apps, and Community [video talk]
Yuan Qing Lim, Config 2022
So, should inclusive design be a UX concern?
65% of consumers worldwide who prefer brands that promote diversity and inclusion [video] would say, “yes.”
44% of consumers worldwide who feel that they are not fully represented by the people they see in ads would say, “yes.”
Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
What a wonderful collection of resources and proofs for making inclusive design a principle level priority, not an afterthought or addon. Thank you so much for this, I've got a lot of reading to do.