Accessibility & Usability for All: Considerations for Product Development
How do you prioritize creating inclusive, user-friendly products–especially in a startup context where time-to-market, growth, and adaptability are key?
LET’S DISCUSS YOUR NEXT PROJECT
I was speaking on a panel at Startup Week Boston, when two interesting questions came up:
“What strategies and tools do you recommend for enhancing accessibility? And are there instances when accessibility might not be a priority?”
I could’ve spent the entire time breaking down these questions, but there wasn’t time for that, which is why I’m breaking them down further here. Accessibility isn’t often well understood in the startup ecosystem, and seldom gets the time it deserves.
What is Accessibility?
Accessibility refers to how well a product complies with legal standards and ADA guidelines (Americans with Disabilities Act). That means ensuring people with disabilities can use your product just as easily as anyone else. Meeting these standards isn’t just a good practice; it’s often a contractual requirement, especially for businesses that work with government or educational institutions.
Usability vs. Accessibility
In the world of product development, especially for startups, another term often comes up with accessibility - “Usability” While they might sound similar, they represent different concepts that are crucial for creating products that meet the needs of all users.
Accessibility focuses on meeting guidelines and standards, but usability applies to the overall user-friendliness of a product. It’s about how intuitive and easy the product is to use for the general population. Usability is tightly correlated to other metrics, like an NPS score, but doesn’t require adherence to specific regulations or laws,
Unfortunately, accessibility compliance alone doesn’t guarantee a product is user-friendly for users of assistive technologies. That’s where usability comes in. To ensure a product can be used to achieve its intended purpose by users that rely on assistive technologies, just checking the compliance box isn’t enough. Usability testing with native users of assistive technologies allow product teams to make sure that their products aren’t just accessible from a legal perspective, but usable from a human perspective as well.
Image of many people from different backgrounds with different abilities sitting and standing at a work table. [Photo by upklyak at Freepix.com]
The Start-up Dilemma
Many start-ups don’t prioritize accessibility when developing their initial products for valid reasons:
Cost: In the short-term, ensuring products are accessible is more expensive.
Understanding: Accessible development practices can seem elusive as requirements and guidelines change. Many founders don’t know exactly what needs to be done so they skip it all together.
Time: Startups want to move fast! Accessibility can just seem like another item on the to-do list (and one that can be skipped).
As a result, many startups choose to accept accessibility tech debt, postponing accessibility in favor of a faster launch.
In some situations, that might be okay. My co-panelist Aniket Warade, a senior industrial designer at PA Consulting, recommends a faster approach for hardware development where accessibility takes a backseat. Learnings from MVP iterations can help refine the final product before investment in accessibility is made. If your product is likely to change, or there’s ample opportunity to make updates before launching to the public, then waiting on accessibility may make sense.
However, for software development, the decision is more complex. Retro-fitting an existing UI to make it accessible is far more time consuming and difficult than building accessibility in from the get-go. So, if you anticipate contractual accessibility requirements, build as much as possible as you go.
If you’re building new software, consider your target audience carefully:
Are you pursuing clients that are likely to have accessibility requirements? If yes, prioritize accessibility from the outset to ensure compliance and keep opportunities open.
Not planning to work sectors that require accessibility? Or maybe time to market is highly critical? You may opt to build an MVP that lacks accessibility. Just remember to fully evaluate what might make sense to include in initial versions–it may be easier than you think! Your future self will thank your MVP self.
Understanding accessibility is vital for start-ups. By strategically considering your target users and their needs, you can build products that are not only user-friendly but inclusive. Whether you choose to prioritize accessibility from the beginning or lay the groundwork for future enhancements, being proactive will ultimately save time and resources in the long run.
LET’S DISCUSS YOUR NEXT PROJECT
We look forward to hearing from you.
