Inclusive design in practice

Now that you‘ve explored the basics of inclusive design, you’re ready to consider how the principles apply to an example scenario. In this tutorial, you’re going to imagine that you are planning to build a community library, just like the one in Out of Circulation.

When you’ve worked through the example scenario, you’ll evaluate a game that you enjoy from an inclusive design perspective.

Imagine a neighborhood library. Many people immediately think about books when they think about libraries, but libraries also serve as critical access points for other community services.

The services that a library provides can be:

• Linked to the physical building of the library — for example, a free meeting space for community events, or access to on-site specialists for advice and support.
• Separate from the physical space of the library — for example, digital subscriptions to newspapers and other resources.

A library is a useful example to work with because you can use it to explore a wide range of different user needs.

Tip: As you explore this scenario, record your ideas and thoughts in case you want to refer back to your notes later.

First, identify potential users of the library so that you can consider their potential needs and barriers that those users might face. Take a moment to think about your local community. Who are the potential users of a library? What sort of tasks or goals might they want to complete?

These potential users and their goals are called user stories. Examples of user stories for a community library include the following:

• A young person with low vision who is completing a research assignment for school from home.
• An unhoused person who needs to use a computer to complete and submit an important form.
• A single parent and their young child who both want to find entertainment media.
• A local author who is hard of hearing who wants to organize a free literary festival.
  

The user stories that you defined may be similar to these examples or quite different — well-designed experiences, spaces, and services are often strongly influenced by the specific details and demographics of the communities that they serve.

For each of the examples here, we included specific details to help you identify barriers for those users. If you haven’t included similar details in your own user stories, add some now.

Check your understanding

The exercise that you’re currently completing is designed to help you develop your understanding of inclusive design in a practical context. But what is the very significant limitation of this exercise? Continue to the next step for the answer.

The details of these library users all came from your head. They’re based on assumptions and guesses rather than actual needs within the local community.

Even if you have a clear sense of what members of your local community need and care about most, you could craft much more useful user stories by:

• Asking actual community members about their experiences and needs — this should be your top priority.
• Finding data on users’ evaluations of existing community spaces and services in the local area.
• Exploring evaluations of library services in other communities with similar demographics in order to get a sense of what worked well and what didn’t.

Your user stories will help you complete this specific exercise, but it’s important to keep their limitations in mind at the same time.

Consider an event space at the library where the local author from our example user stories could hold their festival. What questions could you ask to identify potential barriers that might exclude the users that you defined in your user stories? Take a few moments to think through this yourself and record your thoughts before reading on.

Potential barriers in the event space

Here are some examples of questions that you could ask in order to identify potential barriers to avoid for the event space:

• How can the physical space of the room support clear communication for a wide range of different people with diverse needs?
• How can we create an environment that is easily navigable by people who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids, whether they are attendees or speakers?
• How can we equip the room so that people who can’t attend in person are able to participate digitally? What resources would we need to support this during the event?

Note: This isn’t an exhaustive list — don’t worry if you have different examples!

Potential barriers to the digital catalog

Now you’ve considered the physical space for the event, try a digital example. Think about the library’s digital catalog. What questions could you ask to identify barriers that might exclude the users that you defined in your user stories from making use of this resource?

Tip: Don’t worry about the technical details if you’re unsure of them — this is a high level thought exercise. Note down any questions that you want to research later.

When you remove barriers for users who experience disability or exclusion on a permanent basis, this also often benefits a range of people with different situational or temporary needs too. For example, consider the user story of the single parent with a young child who wants to visit the library. Design requirements for the building that meet the needs of someone who uses a wheelchair are also likely to help a parent moving through the library with their child in a stroller.

Consider the following building design requirements:

• Clear building signage
• Elevator access to all floors
• Strong color contrast between the walls and floor and around door frames

How many different users can you think of who might benefit from these requirements?

Tip: You might find the example persona spectrum in the Microsoft Inclusive Design Toolkit manual (pages 41 and 42) useful if you’re struggling to think of any example users.

Scenario exercise conclusion

This scenario exercise has given you the opportunity to begin to apply inclusive design principles to a practical situation. The exercise has significant limitations, as you found out, but it's the first stage of your journey towards creating a game with an inclusive design approach.

Next, you’ll apply what you’ve learned about inclusive design so far to a game that you enjoy. Record your evaluation in your choice of format.

Caution: This exercise uses the same user story approach as the library scenario that you’ve just worked through. Its purpose is to help you begin to apply what you’ve learned so far to a game. You can complete this exercise independently — that’s helpful for a quick exercise in a self-paced online course, but it’s also a significant limitation.

Remember, don’t act on assumptions. You’ll identify and address barriers most effectively when you work directly with actual players with a wide range of different needs, including players with permanent disabilities.

Before you begin

Think about a game that you have played. Take some time to identify its:

• Type and genre.
• Target players.
• Platform(s) and required hardware.
• Key features and mechanics.

Evaluate the game

Now you’re ready to complete a high-level evaluation of the game from an inclusive design perspective:

1. Play the game a little to refresh your memory, if it is still available to you.

2. Identify one to three potential players and define user stories that include a situational, temporary, or permanent user need.

If you need a little help, you can adapt the following examples:

• A player with dyslexia.
• A player in a shared bedroom, which could be very noisy or require playing in silence.
• A player who has low vision and uses a screen reader (a tool that reads aloud content that is on screen).

3. Think about how each of your chosen players might experience the game. Would they be able to engage with the whole experience? What potential barriers can you identify just by considering the user stories?

Here are some tips to help you identify potential barriers:

• If you’re not sure whether something would be a barrier or not, note it as a question as you did for the library scenario. The purpose of this exercise is to consider the game with an inclusive design mindset, not to create a comprehensive checklist of issues.
• If you’re not sure whether there’s anything in the experience that potentially addresses these points of exclusion, check yourself or search for details.

4. Choose one or two of the potential barriers that you’ve identified. If the game’s creators addressed them, which other players might also benefit?

5. Before you finish up this exercise, note down any other thoughts or questions you have so that you can return to them later.

This exercise is one way to become more aware of potential barriers in games. As you develop your understanding of accessibility, you’ll be able to evaluate games more comprehensively.

You’ve just considered a game that other creators made; take a moment now to refocus on your own work. Designing more inclusive experiences can be an overwhelming challenge, especially if you’re at the start of your learning journey or working on solo projects. Remember that you don’t have to be perfect — no one is!

As a creator, you’ll learn and grow with each project you work on. Think of inclusive design as an invitation to users to engage in your experience, play your game, or use your app.

Crafting a compelling invitation to your game requires you to:

• Consider the perspectives of a wider range of users and find out their actual needs rather than making assumptions.
• Identify how you will meet those needs as part of your core design process.
• Provide choice so players can engage with your game in the way that works best for them.

If you’re doing these things, then you’re working towards more inclusive design. It’s a journey, not a single destination.

In this tutorial, you worked through a practical example of inclusive design in practice and completed a high-level evaluation of a game that you enjoy. Next, you’ll build on that foundational knowledge as you learn more about accessibility.

Extend your learning

If you’d like to learn more about inclusive design in practice, the Microsoft Inclusive Design Toolkit activity cards and support cards are a great resource to help you develop your understanding of inclusive design through practical exercises.