Accessibility is often seen as a moral imperative in web design, yet many well-intentioned designers still produce sites that exclude users. This article explores the paradox of good designers creating bad websites, and offers a practical framework—rooted in Jakob Nielsen's usability heuristics—to help designers recognize accessibility issues during the design process rather than relying on memory. Below, we answer common questions about this challenge.
Why do good designers sometimes create inaccessible websites?
Designers are inherently good people—they never intend to exclude users. Yet, despite their best intentions, many websites remain hard to read, navigate, or use for people with disabilities. The problem isn't malice; it's cognitive overload. Designers are expected to juggle countless guidelines, from visual design to interaction patterns, plus accessibility rules. With so much to remember, even the most conscientious designer can overlook a contrast ratio or a missing label. Additionally, the pressure to launch quickly and the lack of built-in accessibility checks in many design tools further contribute to the gap. The result: designs that inadvertently exclude, even when crafted by talented, caring professionals.
Is web accessibility really a life-or-death issue?
Yes, and this is a critical point. As Aral Balkan argued in This Is All There Is, even seemingly mundane designs—like a bus timetable app—can have life-or-death consequences. A poorly designed app might cause someone to miss their daughter’s fifth birthday party (a life event) or the final goodbye to a dying grandmother (a death event). Accessibility isn't just about convenience; it's about ensuring equal access to life’s milestones and urgent needs. When a website or app fails a user with low vision or cognitive differences, it can directly impact their health, safety, and emotional well-being. Therefore, designers must treat accessibility as a fundamental requirement, not an afterthought.
What is the main barrier preventing designers from making accessible designs?
The primary barrier is the sheer volume of information designers need to recall. Web design encompasses many disciplines—typography, color theory, UX patterns, responsive layout, performance—and accessibility adds another layer of guidelines (WCAG, ARIA, etc.). With dozens of success criteria to check, it's easy to miss something. Human memory is fallible; designers can't be expected to remember every rule at every moment. This is why relying on recall alone causes exclusion. The solution isn't to memorize more but to make the necessary information visible and easily retrievable during the design process. By integrating accessibility checks into the workflow, designers can recognize issues as they arise instead of hoping they remember later.
How can Jakob Nielsen's usability heuristics help improve accessibility?
Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics, created in the 1990s, offer a time-tested framework. The key heuristic for accessibility is #6: “Recognition rather than recall.” Originally applied to users—so that they don't have to remember information across different parts of an interface—we can apply it to designers themselves. When designing, the information required to produce an accessible design should be visible or easily retrievable. For example, instead of memorizing color contrast ratios, a tool could flag insufficient contrast in real time. This shift turns accessibility from a recall-heavy task into a recognition-friendly process, reducing errors and making inclusive design more manageable.
What does “recognition rather than recall” mean for designers?
For designers, “recognition rather than recall” means structuring the design environment so that accessibility cues are always present. Instead of expecting a designer to remember all WCAG criteria, we provide prompts, checklists, and visual indicators within the design tool. For instance, a palette selector could show contrast warnings, or a component library could highlight missing alt text. This approach lowers cognitive load and catches issues early. The idea is inspired by Nielsen’s heuristic but applied to the creator’s workflow. When designers can recognize a problem instead of having to recall a rule, they are far more likely to fix it. This is the essence of the proposal: make accessibility information visible at the point of creation.
What resources can help designers remember accessibility guidelines?
Several resources can embed accessibility into the design process. The book A Web for Everyone by Sarah Horton and Whitney Quesenbery is an excellent starting point, offering practical advice on designing accessible user experiences. Checklists from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) provide concise references. Modern design tools like Figma and Sketch have plugins that check contrast, focus order, and more. Additionally, heuristic evaluations (like applying Nielsen’s #6) and inclusive design personas can serve as reminders. The goal is to shift from memorizing a long list to having tools and frameworks that prompt recognition. By integrating these resources into daily workflows, designers can consistently create more inclusive products without overwhelming their memory.