Accessible Brand Design
What is Accessible Design?
In this digital world, people initially look to the internet and social media for information, so it’s essential that visual communication is intentionally designed to allow as many people as possible the basic right to access that information. With 1 in 6 people in Australia living with a disability*, it’s so important (in fact it’s a legal requirement) to make sure everyone has access to information, products and services.
Design elements like font choice, text size, colour contrasts, line spacing, text justification and more, can either help or hinder people with varying levels of visual, neurological or cognitive abilities.
“Vision Australia estimates there are 453,000 people in Australia who are blind or have low vision [and] projects this number will grow to 564,000 by 2030.” **
“Worldwide, 285 million people are visually impaired. Of these, 39 million people are blind and 246 million people have low vision” ***
( * Australian Institute of Health and Welfare ** Vision Australia *** World Health Organisation)
Why should I bother with accessibility?
You might think that visual accessibility concerns are only required if your audience is blind or elderly, but there are many people who live with low vision, colour blindness, cataracts, glaucoma, dyslexia and more.
While some organisations will have legal obligations to comply with accessibility guidelines, it’s beneficial for all businesses to pay attention to their visual communication.
The greater the usability of a website and marketing materials for everyone, the more that all users - with or without a disability - will stay on a site - which is great for SEO and sales, and is just good business:
If more people can access your social media content, more people will take action
If more people can understand and navigate around your website, the longer they will stay on your site which is not only great for SEO but has a greater potential to result in a sale
If more people have a positive experience with your business, they’re more likely to leave a great review and refer you to others.
If more people have access to the information and services they need, they’re less likely to take legal action
Your reputation as an inclusive and professional organisation will grow
If more people feel included and welcomed, well that leads to a better world all ‘round!
Poor design results in a bad user experience. If viewers have to think too much or need to try too hard to navigate your website, they will click off and go somewhere else.
Just like a brick and mortar shop needs to have ramp access and handrails so that anyone of any ability feels welcome and safe, so too a company’s brand needs to be accessible so that as many people as possible have access to the products and services they’re looking for.
Examples of social media graphics with and without accessibility taken into consideration
Pre-Designed Canva Template
After some design changes have been made to make it more accessible.
The first graphic is a pre-designed template that I found in Canva (not my design!). The purpose of this template is for an Instagram post, viewed on a mobile device. I’ve made the following design changes to help make it more readable and accessible, which you see on the second graphic:
Moved the image area over to the right to allow for more ‘text’ realestate
Changed the teal text to yellow to improve colour contrast with the background
Reduced the amount of text in the graphic to only what is needed - all other information can be included in the post caption
Used 2 blocks of text to help viewers absorb small chunks of information more easily
Clear call to action using large text
Change the call to action to a website because it’s easier to remember than a phone number, and used ‘CamelCase’ to help people with low vision scan text.
Let’s make a change!
If you’re creating content for your own business, or someone else's, make sure that you think about viewers who may be living with low or impaired vision who are looking for your exact product or service. Whether or not they can read or perceive your marketing will cause them to either take action, or simply scroll on by. Making your content clear and easy to read will help those viewer find the information they need.
Apps like Canva and Wix which give you creative control are great, but without the proper design fundamentals, you might just be creating a bunch or pixels that only a limited number of people can take action on. Think about your font choices, text size and colour contrasts.
Or contact me! I can take a look over your current visual communications and let you know what doesn’t currently pass the accessibility guidelines, and how it can be improved.
An accessible world is a better world!