Accessibility is an essential aspect of digital design for both legal and ethical reasons. However, designing experiences that integrate seamlessly with assistive technologies is a tricky and often daunting task for designers trained in aesthetics, typography, and composition. Only in the last few decades has technology allowed people with disabilities the democratic access to information possible today. However, one of the biggest barriers those who require assistive technology (or other accessibility accommodations) face, is a lack of understanding on the part of product design teams to adequately meet the needs of a wider audience (or at the very least avoid design patterns that discriminate against those using assistive technologies).

Resources like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines offer robust rules and guidelines but often blur the line between accessible design practices and accessible development practices while serving to intimidate designers and product managers with esoteric language—and superfluous snippets of HTML.

My senior thesis is a question of communication design and business strategy charading as a problem of User Experience and User Interface design. I hope to communicate the principles of Universal design in a clear, engaging, and well organized manner.