What is digital accessibility?
Digital accessibility is the set of design and development practices that make websites, apps and services usable by all people, including those with disabilities or temporary limitations. It does not concern only a minority, but improves the experience for everyone, making interfaces clearer, more readable and more inclusive.
Why consider older users as a priority segment
The largest group of users in the coming years will be over 65 and will have specific usability needs: presbyopia, reduced mobility, low digital familiarity, temporary or prolonged cognitive difficulties. This means that digital accessibility is not an extra, but becomes central to taking care of the experience of a category that traditionally delivers low engagement results if neglected.
Designing for older people means taking their perspective, instead of merely filling in a checklist. This approach is supported by the literature, which stresses that user research and understanding the needs of people with different abilities are fundamental to an experience that is accessible and better for everyone.
Beyond WCAG: technical accessibility and real experience
WCAG and regulatory standards (including the European Accessibility Act, which also applies in Italy) are fundamental, but they are not enough to guarantee an optimal experience.
There is no single way of using assistive technologies
Screen readers, magnifiers, voice commands or alternative keyboards are configured and interpreted according to individual habits. That is why it is essential to test different, real scenarios.
The value of testing with real users
Numerous sources stress that involving users with disabilities in usability tests makes it possible to highlight barriers that do not emerge from automated checks or simulations. Testing with real users is essential to understand how older people interpret flows, read content and react to interactions.
ARIA should be used with judgment
Adding ARIA attributes to all components does not automatically make them accessible. ARIA is useful only when it solves complex interaction cases, not as a universal fallback. If used without discernment, screen readers and assistive technologies can produce inconsistent or misleading experiences.
Typography and readability as a design lever
The choice of typography and spacing is a concrete lever for digital accessibility: highly legible fonts such as Atkinson Hyperlegible support people with low vision or difficulty decoding text. Fonts designed for dyslexia (such as EasyReading) are examples of typefaces designed for specific needs.
The false myth: “accessibility is too expensive (or ruins the UI)”
One of the hardest myths to die is that designing accessibly means increasing costs and sacrificing aesthetics. In reality it is often the opposite: accessibility becomes expensive only when it is added late, as a final patch on a product that was badly built.
If integrated from the start, many accessible choices coincide with good design choices: clear visual hierarchy, readable typography, correct contrast, well-designed focus states, understandable microcopy.
Integrating it at the technical and development level from the earliest stages therefore becomes essential, because intervening afterwards means increasing costs, introducing inconsistencies and compromising the overall quality of the experience.
And no, it does not “ruin the UI”: an accessible UI is not uglier, it is tidier, more readable and more solid. The problem is not digital accessibility, but a lack of visual and systems culture. A well-built design system makes it possible to comply with WCAG without sacrificing aesthetic consistency and attention to detail. Digital accessibility is not a creative limit: it is a quality accelerator.
When accessibility layers make the experience worse
It is often thought that digital accessibility can be “added” as a separate layer on top of the existing UI, through plugins, widgets or external scripts. This approach often makes the experience worse, because the additional layers can conflict with native interactions, produce incorrect readings from screen readers or introduce focus and keyboard navigation problems.
Accessibility does not work like an external filter: it has to be integrated from the design and development itself, in the components, in the flows and in the semantics of the markup.
Accessibility statement: obligations and transparency
In Italy, as provided by the Digital Administration Code (CAD) and AGID guidelines, all websites and applications of Public Administration must have an Accessibility Statement.
It is a public document that:
- describes the level of compliance with the WCAG 2.1 standards (AA or AAA)
- flags any inaccessible content and the alternatives available
- explains how to report problems or request support
To consult it, public administration sites usually provide a link in the footer or in the “Accessibility” section. The document contains practical information for contacting the body in case of digital barriers, ensuring transparency and accountability.
Case study: participatory design with older users
The study Situated Participatory Design describes how a participatory design method with older people and caregivers led to iteratively evolving the design of an assistive robot in a real-world context.
This approach made it possible to bring out aspects of the experience — such as daily use, social acceptability and real ways of interacting — that are hard to predict in a lab.
Concrete examples of inclusive design
Inclusive design is already an integral part of many successful digital experiences. When applied correctly, it does not add complexity, but makes the experience clearer, more predictable and more robust for everyone.
GOV.UK government design system
The UK government’s digital services platform is often cited as a benchmark for clarity and accessibility. Its strength lies in intentional simplicity:
- direct, intuitive language even for people with lower written comprehension skills
- consistent layouts that are easy to navigate, including by keyboard
- visible focus and screen reader compatibility built into the system
- content designed for mobile and slow connections
The result is an experience that works better not only for users with disabilities, but also for older people, non-native speakers and users in “unfavorable” contexts (unstable network, old devices, noisy environments).
Microsoft and inclusive product development
Microsoft has taken inclusive design to an industrial level, turning it into a working method and internal culture. An iconic example is the Xbox Adaptive Controller, designed with the direct contribution of gamers with reduced mobility.
- flexible, customizable inputs
- accessibility extended even to the packaging and unboxing
- modular design to adapt to very different physical abilities
It is not just an “accessible” product: it has become a UX case study and a powerful element of brand positioning.
Apple and personalization as accessibility
Apple integrates inclusive features right into the heart of the operating system, making them part of the standard experience. Some concrete examples:
- Eye-tracking to control the device with your gaze
- dynamic text and zoom to improve readability and use
- VoiceOver, a screen reader present on every device
- background sounds and audio features useful for focus and understanding
These solutions are not only for people with disabilities: they are used every day also by people who prefer different ways of interacting, or who have temporary limitations (tiredness, stress, distractions).
Airbnb and inclusive onboarding
Airbnb has worked on inclusivity by making the experience more complete for a global, highly diverse community. Among the most relevant elements:
- image alt text descriptions to make listings clear even to those who scan content with screen readers
- localized multilingual support
- dedicated filters to find accessible accommodation
This kind of inclusivity is not just ethical: it is clearly directly tied to conversion, trust and quality of experience.
Tools and resources for designing inclusively
Having the right tools helps spot problems before they become technical and cultural debt.
Testing tools
- WAVE – initial scan and visual issues
- axe DevTools – automated WCAG checks
- VoiceOver / NVDA – real tests with screen readers
- Color Oracle – color blindness simulation
Useful resources
- WebAIM Contrast Checker – contrast check
- Microsoft Inclusive Design Toolkit – method and workshops
- Google Fonts – readable, scalable fonts
- PlainLanguage.gov – guidelines for clear content
- Stark – plugin for Chrome and Figma to test contrast, accessibility and UI components, with documentation that is useful for developers too
A good starting point is to combine automated tools (WAVE, axe) with real manual tests (VoiceOver/NVDA): that is where the problems emerge that no plugin will ever manage to catch.
