Last two weeks were a painful reminder I’m not doing my job properly as a designer. Oh, I solve problems and build aesthetically pleasing interfaces, but I often forget to take into account that some people need a bit more than that.
- I’ve sat next to a person on a plane who had considerable tremors (like in a Parkinson’s disease); working on a laptop was a challenge.
- One person contacted me saying he has trouble discerning particular colors on a screen due to his particular type of color blindness and an ill choice of colors conveying information.
- I heard another story about people with different kinds of visual impairment.
- I was in an audience with on-site sign interpreters and live captions for viewers with hearing problems.
Since I don’t know many people who have some kind of impairment and I’m not in daily contact with them, they easily slip out of my mind when building something. Writing this down will serve as a reminder. Blaming deadlines and too many simultaneous projects is not an excuse. This is my way of saying “sorry” for the slip and I’ll do a better job in the future.
Image credits: ektogamat