Accessibility
Accessibility is about designing inclusive products, services and environments that people with disabilities can use. Physical and digital accommodations are essential to promote equity and create a society usable by all.
Accessibility refers to the ability of people with disabilities to access and use technology, products and services. It is central to the design and implementation of systems: everyone, regardless of their abilities, should be able to use them and benefit from them.
A legal requirement and a design responsibility
Accessibility is not just a legal requirement – in Europe, the European Accessibility Act has applied to many digital products and services since June 2025; it is also a moral obligation. Designing inclusive systems means considering, from design through testing, the needs of people with visual, auditory, physical or cognitive impairments.
Providing multiple ways to access the system
One of the key principles of accessibility is to provide multiple ways to access and interact with the system. No single channel should be the only way to get a piece of information or complete an action.
For sight
Alternative text for images and audio descriptions for visual content make them accessible to people with visual impairments, as does a heading structure that screen readers can navigate.
For hearing
Captions for videos and transcripts serve people with hearing impairments, and anyone viewing content with the sound off.
For motor abilities
Keyboard shortcuts, voice commands and large enough targets make the system usable by people with physical impairments.
Making use and navigation easy
Another important aspect of accessibility is ease of use and navigation. It relies on an intuitive, easy-to-understand interface with clear and concise instructions, and on feedback given to users as they interact with the system, such as error and confirmation messages. Plain language and predictable flows help people with cognitive impairments in particular.
Testing with the people concerned
Testing is essential to ensure accessibility. Testing the system with people with disabilities makes it possible to identify issues and address them before release. This usability testing is complemented by automated testing tools, which only detect part of the issues: contrast, missing attributes, structural errors.
In summary
Accessibility is an essential dimension of systems engineering. Considering the needs of people with disabilities, providing multiple ways to access and interact with the system, designing an intuitive interface and testing for accessibility: these four practices make a system usable by everyone.