Accessibility guidelines
Christine Woolley
Industry standards, codes, and guidelines
Accessibility guidance for graphic designers is available in the form of industry standards, codes, and guidelines, such as the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada and the Association of Registered Graphic Designers (2019) GDC Code of Ethics, the International Council of Design (2020) Professional Code of Conduct for Designers and the American Institute of Graphic Arts “AIGA, the professional association for design” (1994) AIGA Standards of Professional Practice. The accordion below provides an overview of these industry Codes and indicates where the responsibility of ensuring accessibility in design is placed.
Furthermore, the Association of Registered Graphic Designers (2019) AccessAbility, A Practical Handbook on Accessible Graphic Design was developed to support graphic designers with planning graphic design projects to ensure they are as accessible as possible for the intended audience, and to fill a gap in design education and knowledge.
Professional design organizations are clearly placing the responsibility on the designer to ensure that graphic materials are accessible, but they are also acknowledging there is a need for tools, standards, and training to ensure designers have the skills and understanding required to consider accessibility in their projects (Association of Registered Graphic Designers, 2019).
If accessible design tools, standards, and guidelines exist but graphic designers aren’t considering accessibility in their designs, the design industry needs to investigate and understand the reason for this mismatch. Additionally, if graphic designers aren’t aware of design organizations, they won’t necessarily be able to find this information, and if they aren’t aware of accessibility or inclusive design as concepts, they won’t necessarily know to look for this information.