Summary

This week you were introduced to the world of UX and UI design for accessible interfaces. You explored the differences and similarities between these two terms, and also learned about the eight golden rules of interface design.

As you saw throughout this week, the central concern of UX is the user. Everything relating to UX and all its subdomains is concerned with the user and how they navigate your service, website or application. The rules of interface design reflect this and are all informed by how easy it is for the user to engage with your design.

You also learned about the concept of accessibility and how this affects every single person in society. We all experience some form of barrier to accessibility at some point in our lives. Research into effective accessibility standards and guidelines has improved the lives of many people, and organisations such as W3C are striving for a digital world that is equally accessible to all.

You rounded off the week by hearing from design experts working in this field. You learned about the issues that they face and the awareness they are raising about the importance of good design practices. Through collaborative discussion you then gained deeper understanding of the issues relating to their work by comparing and contrasting the problems they are exploring.

Finally, you examined the impact of accessibility design in digital interfaces, and debated why we should bother designing in this way. Are we only designing in this way because we have to, or are we helping to address bigger societal issues about equality of experience? We hope that you have gained some nuanced insight into experiences that might not be similar to your own. Building understanding in this way is central to the UX mindset.

These issues are at the core of digital interface design. In understanding the terminology, social implications, and the impact that these concepts have on real people, you are now ready to continue into Week 2. You will examine some specific interface case studies and hear from the experts who were involved in their design. You will also learn more about the specific skills you need to embark on a career in UX and accessible interface design.

Have your say

Given all that you now know about UX and UI principles and the concept of accessibility in digital interface design, think back to a time when you were affected, either positively or negatively, by an interface.

• If your experience was a negative one, how do you think a UX informed approach would have helped?
• If it’s a positive example, what were the specific features that were clearly influenced by a UX approach?