Designing tomorrow: The crucial role of accessibility and WCAG

Accessible services will shape the future

A person seen form behind, sitting in front of a laptop screen with her hands on the keyboard. Photo.

Words

Linda Norlén

As many as 1.3 billion people worldwide live with significant disabilities. Still, accessibility is often treated as something that can be deprioritised. This can lead to people being prevented from participating in activities, excluded from the job market, having an inferior service experience, or finding it difficult to perform certain tasks. By raising awareness and involving people with disabilities in the design process, we can both create better products and challenge misconceptions about the breadth of those affected.

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Accessibility benefits everyone

According to the World Health Organisation, approximately 16% of the world's population lives with significant disabilities. That is around 1.3 billion people globally, making them the world's largest minority group.

But we all have different abilities in terms of motor skills, vision, hearing, speech, and cognition. Moreover, at different times in our lives, these can be impaired either permanently, temporarily, or based on the situation we are in. For instance, one may have a permanent motor skills impairment due to the loss of an arm, a temporary one due to a strain injury, or a situation-based impairment while carrying a child.

When we create services that are easy to use for a person with a permanent disability, we also provide a better service for those with temporary or situation-based impairments. Accessibility is, therefore, important for everyone, and by helping those with the greatest difficulties, it becomes better for all users.

“When we create services that are easy to use for a person with a permanent disability, we also provide a better service for those with temporary or situation-based impairments.”

Linda Norlén

Senior Digital Designer, Stockholm

The EU Web Accessibility Directive and WCAG

The EU Web Accessibility Directive is a piece of EU law that applies in all EU countries. It aims to make public sector websites and mobile applications more accessible to everyone. The law is based on EN 301 549, the European standard for digital accessibility, which is used to measure the accessibility of websites, mobile apps, and more. The standard is based on WCAG 2.1 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), the global standard for web content. However, it will most likely be updated to WCAG 2.2, which has now been released.

For Europe’s private sector, the European Union has formulated the EU Directive 2019/882, commonly referred to as the European Accessibility Act. This directive applies to industries such as e-commerce, banking, e-books, and electronics. The enactment of this legislation is planned to take effect from June 28, 2025.

We can help you turn directives into excellent products and services

We understand that the topic can be challenging to grasp. We have certified accessibility experts who can help your organization understand what measures must be taken. Contact us to see how we can help you with digitalisation and accessibility.

Get in touch

Want to know more about accessibility?

Reach out to our experts - digital designers Linda Norlén and Gaia Möller. Gaia also holds a CPACC (Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies) certification.