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IAAP Accessible Design Overview
A self-paced course designed to raise and recognize accessibility skills to help designers to embed accessibility in their processes by understanding universal design principle and web accessibility standards.
Introduction to the Course
Whether you’re designing an app, building a prototype, or mapping out a user journey, welcome! This course is designed to help designers across disciplines (UX, UI, content, and visual) create inclusive experiences that work for everyone. Accessibility isn’t some optional layer; it’s the foundation of great design. As a designer, you have the power to shape that experience from the start.
This course focuses on integrating accessibility into each stage of the design process. From understanding disabilities and inclusive principles, to applying accessible color, structure, and interaction patterns, each module builds essential skills to help you create inclusive digital products that reflect human diversity.
What is the Problem?
Many digital products unintentionally exclude users by overlooking accessibility. This affects:
- People with disabilities using assistive technologies
- Individuals experiencing temporary or situational impairments
- Older adults and those encountering cognitive or sensory disabilities
Design has the power to include or exclude. This course shows you how your design decisions can empower users by removing barriers from the beginning.
What is this Course About?
This course explores accessibility as a creative design discipline. You’ll learn:
- How disability and human diversity impact digital use
- Design practices that support screen readers, keyboard navigation, and other assistive tools
- How to accessibly structure content, color, typography, images, and forms
- Best practices for inclusive interaction and feedback
- How to test and advocate for accessibility within your team
Accessibility is not just compliance. Accessibility is caring, thoughtful design that works for everyone.
Who is this Course For?
This course is ideal for anyone involved in creating, designing or managing digital products and services, including:
- Designers for UX, UI, content, visual, and interaction
- Designers working in agile, product, or cross-functional teams
- Designers shaping user experiences at any level of fidelity
- Design leads or accessibility advocates building inclusive design culture
- Teams designing mobile, desktop, or web products
Before You Begin: Start with the Fundamentals
Before jumping in, we recommend completing the Fundamentals of Accessibility module. That foundational course introduces key concepts like:
- What accessibility is and why it matters
- Types of disabilities and their impact on technology use
- How assistive technologies work
- Why accessibility benefits all users
- Legal and ethical frameworks for inclusive design
- Core standards and guidelines: WCAG, ATAG, UAAG, and COGA
- The POUR principles of accessibility: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust
With this foundation, your work in this course will be more impactful, grounded in empathy, and aligned with global best practices.
Course Structure
Module 1: Accessibility for Designers – A Comprehensive Overview
- Lesson 1: The Designer’s Role in Digital Accessibility
- Lesson 2: Designing for Assistive Technologies and Multimodal Interfaces
- Lesson 3: Clear Structure and Navigation
- Lesson 4: Color and Contrast for Accessibility
- Lesson 5: Typography and Readable Text
- Lesson 6: Accessible Forms and User Input
- Lesson 7: Accessible Images and Multimedia
- Lesson 8: Accessible Interaction and Feedback
- Lesson 9: Accessibility Testing and Evaluation
- Lesson 10: Putting Accessibility into Practice
Module 2: Understanding Disabilities Through the Design Lens
- Lesson 1: Overview of Disabilities in Digital Accessibility
- Lesson 2: Visual Disabilities
- Lesson 3: Auditory Disabilities
- Lesson 4: Motor Disabilities
- Lesson 5: Cognitive and Neurological Disabilities
- Lesson 6: Situational and Contextual Impairments
- Lesson 7: Applying Inclusive Design: Bringing it All Together
Module 3: Accessibility for UI Designers
- Lesson 1: The Role of the UI Designer in Inclusive Interaction Design
- Lesson 2: Designing for Multimodal Access
- Lesson 3: Perceivability and Structural Hierarchy Across Modalities
- Lesson 4: Color, Sound, and Redundancy in Information Encoding
- Lesson 5: Typography, Semantics, and Interpretability
- Lesson 6: Icons and Labeling for Multimodal Interfaces
- Lesson 7: Interactive Components and Feedback Across Input Methods
- Lesson 8: Voice, Gesture, and Haptic Interfaces
- Lesson 9: Responsive and User-Controlled Environments
- Lesson 10: Managing Motion, Time, and Sensory Load
- Lesson 11: Supporting Overrides, Personalization, and Custom Styles
- Lesson 12: Documenting and Scaling Accessibility in Design Systems
Module 4: Accessibility for UX Designers
- Lesson 1: Introducing Accessibility into the UX Design Process
- Lesson 2: Defining Problems Inclusively
- Lesson 3: Designing Flexible Flows and Tasks
- Lesson 4: Designing for Usability and Accessibility Together
- Lesson 5: Wireframing with Accessibility in Mind
- Lesson 6: Accessible Navigation and Information Architecture
- Lesson 7: Writing and Designing for Feedback, Errors, and States
- Lesson 8: Collaborating Across Teams to Support Accessibility
- Lesson 9: Inclusive UX Design Habits
- Lesson 10: Accessibility for UX Writing Overview
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Understand how inclusive design addresses real-world disability and diversity
- Apply accessibility principles throughout the design lifecycle
- Create accessible layouts, content structures, and navigation patterns
- Design clear and usable forms, images, color schemes, and typography
- Support multimodal interaction through assistive tech-friendly design
- Evaluate design accessibility through manual and automated testing
- Collaborate with developers on accessible implementation
- Integrate accessibility into your team’s workflows and systems
With billions of people relying on accessible design, your role is critical. Let’s design experiences that welcome everyone.