We often get entangled in conversations about the fine details of interface components on the web. How do we design that button? How do we choose the right icon? How do we find the best typographic pairing? As it turns out, most users won’t even notice if buttons change, or icons get replaced, or web fonts don’t load. Before we start designing pixels, we need to design to eliminate ambiguity, minimize errors and maximize clarity. We need to design keeping in mind all the different people using all the different devices in all kinds of environments — who just happen to land on our websites or use our apps.

In this talk, Vitaly Friedman, the creative lead of Smashing Magazine and a UX designer working on EU Parliament’s websites, will dive into design patterns for accessibility and inclusive design. We won’t be covering fundamental things such as accessible colour palettes or legible font sizes — instead, we’ll look into how to design by focusing on users’ priorities, and allowing universal access to content for everybody. We’ll explore how to use design KPIs to drive better design decisions, and what design patterns we can use to support accessibility, inclusive design and user privacy.