Do you see me?
13 Jun 2025
Published in: Member News
This year, the theme for Learning Disability Week (16th to 22nd June 2025) is 'Do You See Me?'. It focuses on challenging the barriers faced by people with a learning disability and celebrates the things people with a learning disability bring to society.
According to the UK Government, 1 in 5 people have a disability in our country. This could be anything from a visual to hearing impairment, to a disability that affects fine movement (motor) or a person’s memory and thinking (cognitive).
Taking into consideration all abilities, circumstances and environments helps to shape an accessible world. By prioritising inclusive design, you create communications accessible to everyone. This enhances user experience, boosts customer satisfaction, and expands your reach.
If you choose to shy away from implementing accessibility practices into your design and marketing, this means you’ll be excluding a significant portion of potential users, which is not only ethically problematic but also bad for business. Let’s do it right, first time!
Did you know, all public sector bodies must meet accessibility requirements of the Equality Act 2010 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995?
As a business owner or marketing team, you’re responsible for ensuring all your communications, products and services, can be accessed by all – regardless of ability or disability. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!
Practical tips for designing with accessibility in mind.
Typography
- When considering your typeface (font), keep it simple! Highly stylised fonts that don’t lend themselves to enough spacing between letters can cause people with dyslexia to experience a type of visual distortion.
- Choose a sans-serif font like Arial, Calbri, Verdana or Tahoma which are easier to read.
- Use font size 12pt to 14pt. For visually impaired users, increase the font size to at least 18pt.
- Increased line spacing within your work can enhance readability.
- Limit how many fonts and fonts variations (different weights such as Bold, Medium, Semi Bold) you use, and try not to use italics as this can make text very difficult to read, especially for people with dyslexia.
- Don’t use the underline feature unless it’s to show a link.
- Avoid using blocks of capital letters as this makes the text much harder to read.
Language and writing style
- Write in plain English with short, clear sentences and paragraphs.
- Use everyday words and avoid jargon, slang and figures of speech that won’t be familiar to your audience.
- Stay away from words with hyphens and uncommon punctuation. Consider adding a glossary for any terms readers might not know.
Colour
- Use colour combinations that offer sufficient contrast.
- Avoid black text on a white background and instead use an off-white or pale pastel coloured backgrounds that reduce glare.
- Steer away from using colour combinations that feature tints of the same colour.
- Consider your website and how the colours you use on screen work with one another by checking the contrast. UK charity, Scope, presents some additional information on the topic which can come in handy with this exercise.
Design and layout
- When considering your layout, apply best practice by aligning your text to the left without justification and avoid having multiple columns.
- White space is a good space! It helps remove clutter near text.
- Be sure to make use of headings in the appropriate way. For web accessibility, headings are usually ranked from ‘Heading 1’ to ‘Heading 6’. Organisations like Scope offer useful guidance on why heading tags are important for website accessibility.
- Keep paragraphs brief and break up long passages with short sentences, bullet points and tables.
Start shaping an inclusive brand today
Remember, designing for accessibility is not just about compliance and there isn’t a one-off fix, it’s a journey. Partner with an accessibility specialist who can guide you through every step of the way.
Inclusive design isn’t just the right thing to do – it grows your audience, shapes your brand and builds a better future.
Ready to take the first step? Book you FREE brand consultation.
TPSquared Limited Gravel Hill House Gravel Hill Wombourne Wolverhampton WV5 9HA
Call 01902 356280 or email hello@tpsquared.co.uk
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