Is it possible for everyone around the world who require your products and services to access your website? In my opinion, it won’t be possible unless your website has an inclusive design. The inclusive web design process is not restricted to certain interfaces or technologies. This design process aims to make your website usable by as many people as reasonably possible, without additional adaptations. The mainstream focus for this approach is design for disability and it considers different aspects of human diversity like ability, language, culture, gender, and age.

Inclusive design is the process of designing websites, applications, browsers, tools, and every other digital product by considering the website access needs of everyone who is permanently or temporarily disabled. The disabilities that affect accessing web pages include auditory, cognitive, neurological, physical, speech, visual, photosensitivity, and combinations of these. Other limitations like slow internet connection,  limited bandwidth, device limitations, and situational disabilities are also considered. 

The important elements of inclusive design are the right team behind the design decisions and user involvement in the design process. The initial and most important consideration for inclusive design is accessibility. I.e; designing products, devices, services, or environments that are usable by people with disabilities.

The key principles of inclusive design are:

1. Equitable: This principle provides equivalent experiences to all users. It doesn’t mean that the website needs to look the same and work on every device. Instead, the inclusive design is for offering different user experiences with equally valuable outcomes. Making real users participate in the research and testing phase will help to achieve this feature.
2. Flexible: To make the inclusive design flexible, the designer needs to consider questions like who, how, why, what, where, and when the website is used.
3. Simple and Intuitive: The website is for providing necessary information to the visitors. So, it needs to be designed as simple and intuitive without making it complicated.
4. Informative: Making an inclusive web design informative means, providing clear site navigation to your users. This feature enables users to interact and achieve their goals on your site.
5. Preventative: The preventative principle refers to minimizing the errors made while designing. A website without errors will be more trusted and deliver a better experience.
6. Control: The user will have the privilege to customize the website according to their preferences. For example, a browser enables users to customize the theme, colors, and sizes, etc.
7. Content Priority: Primary important while creating a web design is provided for content and layout. This needs to prioritize the core information, features, and tasks.

Next, we can find some important tips for inclusive web design. They are:

• Plan a clear visual hierarchy
• Make buttons and other interactive elements big enough to tap
• Use a larger font size in all areas of design
• Use high-contrast color combinations
• Avoid any unintentional, personal biases
• Include consistency in design patterns, labelling, text alternatives, language, formats, etc.