Using Personas for Accessible Design

Abstract

Developers and designers can incorporate accessibility from the beginning of a solution’s design. One way is to create personas that are users with disabilities. Having a primary persona with a disability means that disability will never be far from developers’ and designers’ minds. Another way to keep accessibility present is including it in scenario design. Multiple benefits to involving characteristics of users with disabilities in persona and scenario development include saving time and money that would otherwise be spent remediating accessibility issues; making solutions available to all demographics; aligning with diversity and inclusion values; and minimizing legal risk.