Accessibility Essentials: Core Principles for Every Designer

This session covers an overview of digital accessibility, including the range of disabilities that impact users and the essential terminology and acronyms used in the field. We’ll also touch on core accessibility principles, popular assistive technologies, and key tools and resources that every designer should have in their toolkit.

Key Takeaways:

• Understand the primary types of disabilities—physical, cognitive, neurodivergent, hearing, and vision—and how each affects the user experience.
• Understand essential accessibility terminology and acronyms to engage in future sessions and apply them in your designs.
• Learn core accessibility principles that guide inclusive design, including perceivability, operability, and navigability.
• Recognize the role of assistive technologies in supporting users with disabilities and how to design with them in mind.
• Understand the importance of creating designs that are accessible to all, laying the groundwork for more technical accessibility approaches.