Universal Design Principles

[music] Hello all, welcome back to our course on digital accessibility. Today we will discuss about uh the popularly known universal design principles. So just to give you a quick summary of what is about to uh be discussed in this session. We've been talking about these three terms universal design uh inclusive design and accessibility. There may be a fine line between all three of them and we will discuss each one uh one by one. Accessibility as a term we have discussed quite in detail in some some of the previous sessions. So what accessibility is it's an attribute of a design or a product or a system that that means a quality of it that makes an experience uh open to all or the interface open to all. So basically it's an adjective right uh universal design principles or the term universal design is a design or refers to a design that works for everyone in all scenarios and in every uh contingency or constraint. So it is more a noun and in order to achieve uh this universal design there are certain principles which are more of a checklist whether uh these aspects are available in your uh design makes it universal or not. However, there are some limitations of this approach which we will also discuss. So primarily there are seven principles of universal design and uh based on this image you might be noticing that all of these are primarily tangible interfaces or products or spaces. That is because these principles were developed by initially by uh architects as well as product designers early in the mid70s mid60s when they were innovating in the domain of product design and uh inclusive spaces and all of those in order to uh make them more universal universally accessible by a majority of people. So the examples or the term or the wordings may directly be relevant for uh physical products or physical spaces but I assure you that this definitely set the tone for accessibility in general and I will also talk about uh the in design principles or accessive accessible design principles which are PUR principles at the end of this lecture which are basically inspired from these seven universal design principles. So what are these universal design principles? First is equitable use. The other is the second is flexibility in use. Third is simple and intuitive. Fourth is perceptible information. Fifth is tolerance for error. Sixth is low effort. And seventh is size and space for approach. We will talk about each one in a little bit more detail. So the first is equitable use. What's what is the meaning of that? So design is useful uh and marketable to people with all kinds of abilities. I think based on our previous interactions, we have established that in some sense. For example, a website that is accessible to everyone uh including people who are blind and using screen reader technologies or automated doors which um you know are sensor based and basically doesn't require any uh kind of specific sensory interface to it. Right? So it can just open as soon as you show up in front of the door. It is um accessible or equitably useful by people who are wheelchairclad, who are blind, who are short-heighted, who are very tall or uh even who don't have fingers to you know press some buttons etc. So automated doors is a very good example of equitable equity of use. So and this image also shows a very interesting example that uh so there is this wider um pathway in a metro passage and uh also there are slimmer pathways because we also need to do resource or space optimization. So we cannot keep one may argue that why not keep you know all of the passages as thick. So because it will allow a person without wheelchair also to pass through and with wheelchair also to pass through. That is the ideal definition of equitable uh use. But we also need to have a resource optimization approach. So mostly you would see and this is also very commonly seen in uh Delhi metro in other metros around the country around the world that there are special passages which are wider for wheelchair access and uh other such users. So the meaning of equitable use is that your design or your product or your system is useful to a diverse set of people. The second is flexibility in use. So a design which accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities can be termed as flexible. Right? For example, a museum that allows visitors to choose to either read or listen to the description of the contents which are there in the display case. So many a times now it is also becoming common to use uh braille in the description plates. Uh then another uh example of flexibility in use is this ambidextrous scissors. So ambidextrous means that a lefthanded person as well as a right-handed person can use the scissors comfortably without um uh you know hurting their hand and also they are able to cut uh the paper or whatever they want to cut. So maybe so far you might not have realized that actually it is very difficult the standard big scissors where you have one small hole and one big hole. This kind of scissors it is actually very difficult to and they also have this uh slant kind of a design where this portion of your uh um palm kind of fits. So if you try to use it with your left hand, it's not as comfortable, right? And uh you may not be able to exert similar amount of power or pressure uh in order to cut um u you know paper or any other uh material that you are cutting. Right? So uh an ambidextrous scissor is something which allows you to use either hand and thus enables flexibility in use. So all of these I'm sure you are noticing that universal design principles are really kind of all of them are adjectives. They are a checklist that whether okay if your solution is able to offer flexibility check if your solution is presentable or marketable to a diverse set of people equitable check. Right? So it's more of a checklist more of a guidelines uh in order to come up with more um accessible solutions or more inclusive solutions. So the third is uh simple and intuitive that your design needs to be simple and intuitive easy to understand. So the use of the design is easy to understand regardless of the user's prior experience or knowledge or language skills or current concentration level. So when we say all of this what kind of peoples we are able to accommodate? We are able to accommodate people who may have language issues. We are able to accommodate people who are beginners. So that there is a smaller uh uh you know beginners or children or uh people who are less techsavvy or they are not aware about uh using uh any new technology. So same here uh that they don't have the knowledge of it, they are ignorant about it or unaware about it which is also many a times a very big chunk of people or their current concentration level. So the the uh design is simple and intuitive. Intuitive means that it appeals to your um innate understanding that you don't need to do a lot of cognitive processing. A lot of focused energy is not required in order to understand what it's asking you to do. So uh so for example people who are not able to focus easily like we have discussed right ADHD people or people who have other cognitive disabilities or limitations can also benefit if your design is simple and intuitive. So for example, intuitive app interfaces with lesser text, bigger buttons, fewer choices and easier feedback systems. Right? So this image is just an example where uh the signifier is easily identifiable. The button is easily approachable and clickable. It is easy to identify that where the button is. It is easy to understand what the button is telling me to do. So all of these systems uh all of these aspects of a system makes it simple and intuitive. You can look at different color schemes in order to make it uh more approachable or attractive to the user so that they don't miss uh pressing the button if it is important to press the button. The fourth is perceptible information. What it means is that your design is able to communicate necessary information effectively to the user. These two terms are key in this um point uh regardless of the ambient condition or the user sensory abilities. So the moment we say that uh regardless of the user's sensory abilities of course we are talking about a diverse set of disabilities but the moment we say that regardless of the ambient conditions so in the previous session we spoke about uh temporary and situational disabilities also remember. So the moment we say that regardless of ambient condition. So if somebody is in a loud um you know airport or a railway station despite the noise they are able to listen to um the necessary information in an effective manner. Right? So for example emergency systems they have to definitely look at this aspect and for example a fire um a multi-ensory fire alarm. So it's not just audio feedback but it is also a very bright visual feedback as well. So that people who are hard of hearing or unable to hear can also um you know understand that there is an emergency situation or there is a fire alarm blaring and they can um they can evacuate the location or whatever follow the drill. Right? So what other situational disability it can help? Can we think about it? So nowadays I'm sure you might be aware that nowadays it is becoming very common for people to wear noiseancelling earphones. Noise cancelling earphones many a times almost imitate a hard of hearing situation. Many of times you are just right next to them. You're trying to you know uh tell them shift or whatever move and but they don't listen. and they because they they're unable to um listen uh that information. So for them also this multi-ensory uh kind of feedback system can be helpful. The fifth is tolerance for error. So what this means is that your design should minimize hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions. So we are all humans, we commit mistakes many a time. So [clears throat] the system should be able to give us the opportunity to correct our mistake. Right? So it is very essential that in our systems or in our designs we incorporate undo uh options. We incorporate um uh going back to the previous step options. We incorporate erase or delete options because otherwise it is very difficult. other aspect uh of um uh you know tolerance for error is something which I'm sure you all might have noticed with your interaction with computer interfaces is uh when you try to install a new program or run a new exe file. It always asks you couple of times. So it'll ask you are you sure uh you want to do this? Uh then you click then there are two options yes or no or okay or cancel or proceed or whatever. Then you proceed and then again it'll ask you are you sure? So, so that there is a minimal toler uh minimal chance of um entering or doing it by mistake because many times uh I'm sure you are aware that these exe files are can be corrupted and can corrupt your systems also. Then another very interesting example um can be when um you know uh this uh KBC uh used to happen and uh I think uh this uh the host Mr. Bachan used to ask are you sure of your answer lock right so they so this is something which is like a tolerance for error that you don't by mistake enter or give a wrong answer right another very popular type of interface which allows for tolerance for error where uh once you commit an error it can be um you know very hazardous or can have very bad con consequences is say for example when you're transferring money uh to another bank account. So whenever you add a beneficiary or something it will ask you to enter the account number twice. So the chances of entering the same number wrongly with the same type of error is almost close to nothing. And there have been wrong a lot of research about it that if it is a 12digit number committing the same error twice. So for example I missed seven here but committing the same error twice may not be. So I may re-enter it wrongly but uh having the same error is very unlikely. So this is also something which accounts for tolerance for error. The six is low physical effort. So any design that can be used efficiently or comfortably with a minimum of fatigue which is like a physical fatigue uh is allowing for low physical effort. So all of these uh doors that open automatically uh uh for people with a wide range of physical characteristics can come under this automated taps or dispensers where you just present your hand and it dispenses based on a sensor feedback. Then the seventh is size and space for approach or use. What it means is that the uh that appropriate size and space is provided for reaching to the intended interactive part of the product and manipulating it. opening. For example, if you look at this image, so opening the door requires that people of different um capabilities are able to reach for the handle and then the kind of effort it requires to u uh to open it, the strength it requires, they are able to use it and it also has a space to open. Uh so all of that. So for example, another very interesting example can be um the space in front of an ATM machine because it is intended to be standard in front of and then uh worked on. Then another um another interesting example from a digital application domain can be uh like if you have decently sized buttons because the the uh finger surface will not become very small. Right? So average size of finger is roughly the same across all races humans. So but uh if the button is decently sized you can uh press it but for example if it is too small very much smaller than your finger it is difficult to press it and locate it and press it. So but then uh which kind of interfaces use this universal access principle reversely in order to avoid pressing of the button. So can you think about it? So it is also a very common thing actually. So I'm sure you might all have experienced these advertisement pop-ups which come. So they have that very small cross at the top of their which is very small. So and it's also not bold. It's very like merging with the background. So basically they don't want to you to see it. They want you to see the ad completely. they don't want you to find that cross button. Many times you are trick trying to press with your thumb but you're not able to do it. So all of these uh aspects are there. So but in order to have your product or your design more universally approachable and accessible uh you have to ensure that uh for example buttons need to be of appropriate size so that that they can be pressed their space around it. they are not placed in some very corner of the screen so that uh you're almost touching the border of the screen and you are unable to really uh catch hold of the button. So all of those aspects you also have to think. So let us now uh try to understand what is the difference between universal design and inclusive design. So principles of universal design are as we discussed all of these seven principles are more attribute based. They are all adjectives. It's more of a checklist. Right? Principles of inclusive design are actually process based. So we will actually discuss the principles of univers inclusive design in the next session. And uh meanwhile we will again discuss these differences at the end of the session with principles of inclusive design. Principles of universal design focuses on design of one solution for all. Uh while principles of inclusive design include diverse people at all stages of the process. Principles of universal design can be implemented on various products and services and principles of inclusive design are actually a methodology or a philosophy rather and can be incorporated in the mindset. So let us now move uh and talk about accessibility in digital design which is the course itself but we will talk about the POR principles which are digital accessibility principles. So these principles were developed by WAG or W3C which is worldwide web consortium and uh they these principles are uh primarily used for digital access access related products and they will make more sense uh with uh an understanding of principles of universal design because they are derivative derivative of those seven principles. So uh these pur principles are basically uh development of these web accessibility. So these D pou principles or uh accessibility principles have been developed um as per the W CAG guidelines or basically web content accessibility guidelines WAG. Uh this has been developed by W3C which is the worldwide web consortium. You can look it up. And uh uh so the web accessibility guidelines are basically divided under these four heads which are again if you see they are perceivable, operable, understandable, robust. So P O UR is the abbreviation for it. If you see these are also adjectives. Adjectives. And thus they mean to communicate attributes of a design. So they define design attributes. Okay. And uh if they are considered at the start of the design process, you can find it easy to implement them. uh but if it is more of a afterthought then it may be difficult to code it may be difficult to edit your code after it may be difficult to package it as part of the interaction or experience design itself. So the most of the adjectives or the principles uh or the principles of universal design as we discussed earlier in the session have also been more of design attributes and as we'll discuss each one of them separately you will understand that they are either derivative direct derivatives or they are like combination of few of them chunk grouped together. So basically this is the abbreviation P O UR. It is very popular in princ uh in digital accessibility and they are called as principles of accessibility particularly for digital interfaces. So it stands for perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. We will talk about each of these terms now separately in order to understand what they mean. So P stands for perceivable. What is the meaning of that? So perceivability of any information means that the user can identify content and interface elements by means of their senses. Right? But um I as we have discussed in previous sessions there may be several sensory limitations which are possible and they may not just be permanent limitations. There may be situational or temporary limitations as well when we are talking about our senses. We are not always able to use all of our senses to their best capacity. So how do we make the information perceivable effectively to all our users or a wider range of users? One way of doing it can be multi-ensory information display outputs or feedback system. Basically we are talking about uh tactile, we are talking about audio, we are talking about visual, we talking about virotactile and even in visual there can be color blindness related limitations. There can be low vision, there can be a spectrum of limitations, right? So having options to increase text sizes, having options to uh increase or decrease the volume, having options to uh access screen readers, to engage with the content, all of those aspects fall under perceivable. So maybe new and other new emerging technologies may also include cues, sensory cues for smell or taste. This is so far not explored a lot but haptics is definitely quite well explored uh domain under the perceivable category where we are looking at both input and output uh devices pertaining to haptics or tactile interaction which is other than. Of course in terms of visual and audio we are all familiar with different kinds of uh models both input and output but perceivability pertains to output devices. So one is communication of information and communication of information and also feedback feedback sharing feedback with the user. So what falls in information category and what falls in feedback. So feedback is always after a reaction to your input or reaction to um you know a task getting complete or a task getting incomplete right. So uh anything um which is happening after a conditional aspect is considered a feedback. So in case of fire the alarm blar that is it's a feedback right but if there is an information then it's not in case it is always present. So for example since we're talking about a railway station so the information of arrival and departure of different trains is information. It is always being presented in different formats. So either in audio or in in those like bigger uh displays with the train number and everything then there is a feedback system that in case something happens then there is a alarm or something like that. In digital spaces, if you think about any application, then there is a set of landing page has a set of information which is like a communication of information bit. After you complete so and so and so task, maybe you want to purchase something, you want to pay for something on your payment app, the you receive like that tune, right? Ting titting ting ting and then the tick so that you know that okay the payment has gone through. So now this is a feedback. O stands for operable. Operability means that a user can successfully control buttons, navigation and other interactive elements of related to your device or interface. So operability is more associated with input devices. So all all of the different kinds of input devices you are able to see what are the different uh ways you you can interact with an input device. It can these are all majorly tactile. So touchpad or keyboard or uh mouse or this gaming controller or joystick. Other input devices can be voice control uh or voice to text, speech to text control. So voice input, voice search, all of those things. U stands for understandable. That means the content which is presented it is definitely like perceivable. I'm able to look at it or hear it. But am I able to understand it? Right? So here comes the simplicity, the intuitiveness part of the universal design principle that we discussed. So can you think about what is the difference between perceiving something and understanding something? So perceiving is just receiving the information that your senses are like sensors and your brain is like the processing unit of a laptop or a uh in like an electronic system and your eyes, your ears, your nose, your touch uh sense of touch are all input devices, right? So many times it does happen that we are receiving the information say for example I suddenly start speaking in Japanese you will be able to hear what I am saying that is you are able to receive the information and probably effectively if you are not hard of hearing you are able to hear what I'm saying but are you able to understand what I am saying probably not if you don't know Japanese uh definitely you won't be able to understand uh so so that is the difference between perceiving and understanding so it is like perceivability is talking about from a digital design perspective the output devices operability is talking about input devices understandability talking about the processing unit or our cognitive senses. So here we need to look at the consistency of our communication, the presentation format, the predictability of the design elements, the usage patterns, learnability curve, how concise is the information so easy to understand it's whether it's simple or not, what is the tone of the uh TTS for example. Is it rude? It is all of those semantic aspects fall under understandable. So users should be able to comprehend the content and learn learn the content and uh not just the content the usage learn the usage and remember the usage of an interface. This is also important otherwise they will not come back to your uh uh product right. So the learnability curve has to be low it's called learnability curve if it is too steep. So basically how much time one person is taking to learn how to use a um device or a application or a software application. If it is too steep it is a problem. If it is it taking if it's taking too long too much effort then it is a problem. The fourth stands for R stands for robust. So robust means that any information technology is I firstly compliant with standards and is designed to function on all appropriate platforms. So responsiveness falls under the robust category. uh it is compliant with the uh ethical the legal all of those uh standards and so that you know that it is trustworthy. It is robust to use. It is not the website is not failing. It's also it is also compliant with the standard industry technological compliances which is state-of-the-art that so and so um program should should not fail after so and so usage or because of um limited bandwidth internet bandwidth etc. So all of those aspects need to be looked at. So users should be able to choose and then of course the robustness uh the responsiveness of it that it is designed to function on all appropriate platforms. So users should be able to choose the platform they choose to interact with. Uh so some people may be more comfortable with a smartphone, some people may be more comfortable on a laptop or bigger interfaces like tablet etc. So it is very essential. So this is what all these PO UR principles stand for. We will uh in this session uh have spoken about universal design principles and then we went on to discuss the POR principles or poor principles of digital accessibility and uh you can refer to W CAG website and they have a lot of resources uh related to core principles particularly and then there is also interaction design foundation which can also to u make you aware more in more depth about core principles and how universal design principles have played a role in shaping poor principles. In the next session we will talk u further about how these principles can be applied. What are WAG guidelines? How they are bifocated under these principles and uh so WAG guidelines is also a very long checklist. So we will discuss all of that in the next session. So thank you for joining. See you again next time. >> [music]