How can visual communication techniques improve accessibility for people with disabilities?

1 Why visual communication matters for accessibility

Accessibility is the degree to which a product, service, or environment can be used by as many people as possible, regardless of their abilities, preferences, or needs. Accessibility is not only a legal requirement, but also a social responsibility and a business opportunity. By making your visual communication accessible, you can reach a wider and more diverse audience, improve your reputation and credibility, and enhance your customer satisfaction and loyalty. Moreover, you can benefit from the advantages of visual communication, such as attracting attention, simplifying complex information, stimulating emotions, and facilitating memory and recall.

3 How to use visual communication principles to enhance accessibility

Visual communication principles are guidelines that help you create effective and appealing visual content, as well as improve accessibility. Proximity, alignment, repetition, contrast, and hierarchy are some of the principles that you can use to enhance accessibility. Proximity groups related elements together and separates unrelated elements apart to create order and connection. Alignment aligns elements along a common edge or center to create harmony and structure. Repetition repeats visual elements to create unity and consistency. Contrast uses contrasting elements to create emphasis and interest. Hierarchy uses different elements to create levels of importance and sequence. All of these principles can help people with cognitive or visual impairments identify, follow, scan, recognize, remember, focus, pay attention, prioritize, navigate, and understand the content.

4 How to use visual communication tools to improve accessibility

Visual communication tools are software or applications that help you create, edit, and share visual content. They can also help you improve accessibility by providing features and functions that enable you to apply the visual communication techniques and principles that you have learned. For example, Canva is a web-based graphic design tool that allows you to create and customize various types of visual content, such as posters, flyers, logos, infographics, or social media posts. It offers a range of accessibility features like color contrast checker, alt text editor, caption generator, and accessibility templates. PowerPoint is a presentation software with features like accessibility checker, alt text editor, caption generator, and slide layout options. Adobe Spark is a web-based storytelling tool with voice-over narration, text-to-speech, caption generator, and accessibility themes. These tools can help make your content more accessible and inclusive.