Bridging the Gap: How Design Awareness Can End Exclusion
The Paradox of Good Designers and Exclusionary Sites
Designers, by nature, are empathetic and well-intentioned. No designer consciously sets out to create barriers that prevent people from reading text, using a device, or understanding a service. Yet, all around us, we encounter websites and apps that leave users frustrated, confused, or unable to complete basic tasks. This isn’t a matter of malice; it’s a gap between intention and execution. Why do inclusive designs remain elusive despite the best of intentions?
Why Accessibility Matters: More Than Just Convenience
The first question critics often ask is whether accessibility truly matters—whether it’s life-or-death. The answer, as Aral Balkan eloquently argued in his essay This Is All There Is, is a resounding yes. Every digital product we design influences real-world events. A poorly designed bus timetable app, for instance, might cause someone to miss their daughter’s fifth birthday party. Or worse, it could prevent a person from saying goodbye to a dying grandmother. These are not hypotheticals; they are tangible consequences of design that overlooks diverse human needs.
We already know that not everyone sees, hears, thinks, or moves in the same way. Accessibility guidelines exist precisely to account for this diversity. Yet, despite widespread awareness, exclusion persists. Why?
The Root Cause: Information Overload
Designers are expected to master an enormous body of knowledge—typography, color theory, interaction design, content strategy, and, on top of it all, accessibility best practices. The vast array of guidelines, techniques, and standards can overwhelm even the most dedicated professional. When faced with so much to recall, even well-meaning designers inevitably forget or overlook critical accessibility requirements. The problem is not a lack of care, but a failure of memory and integration.
Recognizing the Challenge of Recognition
Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics, introduced in the mid-1990s, remain remarkably relevant. The sixth heuristic, “Recognition rather than Recall,” advises designers to make necessary information visible or easily retrievable for users. But we can turn this heuristic inward. What if designers themselves could use the same principle to simplify their own workload? Instead of trying to memorize every accessibility requirement, what if designers could recognize accessibility issues as they design—without needing to recall every detail from memory?
A Practical Solution: Designing with Recognition
To bridge the gap between good intentions and inclusive outcomes, we need a shift in design process. I propose applying Nielsen’s heuristic to the designer’s own workflow. The information required to produce an accessible design should be visible or easily retrievable at the moment of creation. In other words, make accessibility issues recognizable, not just recallable.
Embedding Accessibility into Tools and Workflows
This approach can take several forms. For example, design tools like Figma and Sketch now offer plugins that check contrast ratios, provide alt-text prompts, or simulate color blindness. Checklists and pattern libraries can be integrated directly into prototyping environments. Book references like Sarah Horton and Whitney Quesenbery’s A Web for Everyone—Designing Accessible User Experiences provide ready-made frameworks. The key is to place these resources where designers naturally look: next to their canvas, in their component libraries, and within their review processes.
By making accessibility information “visible when needed,” designers can recognize potential problems without having to pause, search, or recall guidelines. This reduces cognitive load and transforms accessibility from an afterthought into a natural part of the design process.
Implementing the Heuristic for Designers
To put this into practice, teams can adopt a few straightforward strategies. First, create a living style guide that includes accessibility annotations for every component. Second, use automated tools that flag contrast errors, missing labels, or keyboard trap issues during design review. Third, conduct regular accessibility audits using personas that represent a range of abilities. Finally, foster a culture where designers feel safe to say “I need help making this accessible” rather than “I already know everything.”
The goal is not to replace knowledge but to augment it with external memory—tools, checklists, and prompts that make the right choice obvious. When recognition replaces recall, designers are freed to focus on creativity and problem-solving, while still meeting the needs of all users.
Conclusion: A Call for Action
Good designers do want to build inclusive websites. The barrier is not a lack of empathy, but a lack of accessible memory aids. By embedding accessibility into our design environment, we can make sure that no exclusion happens by accident. Let’s turn the heuristic of “Recognition rather than Recall” from a user experience principle into a design process principle. The result? Websites that truly work for everyone—including the designers building them.