Inclusive design considers the full range of human diversity from the start of a project, not at the end. Microsoft's Inclusive Design toolkit frames it as solving for 'mismatched human interactions': the moments an environment fails a person. Inclusive design and accessibility overlap but aren't the same. Accessibility is specifically about disability and the standards that support disabled people. Inclusive design is broader: disability, language, age, culture, and situational limits (holding a baby, using a phone in sunlight, on a slow connection).
Kat Holmes' Mismatch is the standard introduction. It centres three ideas: recognise exclusion, learn from the people a design excludes, and solve for one to extend to many. The curb-cut effect (kerbs designed for wheelchair users that also help prams, luggage, and cyclists) is the canonical example. Worth handling carefully though: the wider benefit is real, but it isn't why curb cuts exist. Disabled people's access is the point.
Include disabled people in research from the start, not as a separate 'accessibility test'. Co-design with people rather than designing for them. Treat accessibility as a baseline, and be honest that designing for everyone isn't achievable. The goal is designing for a wider range of people than the default.
Inclusive Design 24 (#id24) is a free 24-hour online event for the global community. It celebrates inclusive design and shares knowledge and ideas from analogue to digital, from design to development, from planners to practitioners, and everything and everyone in between.
24-hour global event dedicated to promoting and learning website accessibility best practices for WordPress websites.
Australia’s annual conference on digital accessibility and inclusion, bringing together practitioners to share practical accessibility insights across design, development, content, policy, and strategy.
UX Scotland is a friendly international conference for anyone working in UX, UCD, HCD, Service Design or other digital specialisms.
UX Scotland 2027 is expected to include one or more accessibility-themed sessions but the full schedule has not yet been announced. Details will be published here closer to the date of the event.