Inclusive UX/UI
A strategic design research initiative presenting 10 evidence-based theses to craft digital interfaces that truly empower users navigating color blindness and dyslexia.
ROLE
Research & Strategy
Type
Academic Research
CONTEXT
UX/UI Research (2025)
TOOLS
WCAG 2.1, POUR
PROBLEM 01/06
COLOR BLINDNESS
~ 4 million people in Germany cannot distinguish certain color combinations reliably.
DYSLEXIA
~ 3.5 million people struggle with recognising and processing letters and words.
DIGITAL DEPENDENCY
Digital access is now recognised as essential for social participation (UN Convention).
DESIGN GAP
Most interfaces rely on color alone — failing users before the first interaction begins.
DESIGN APPROACH 02/06
Color blindness and dyslexia are often mentioned together but affect users in completely different ways. Color blindness disrupts visual perception of hue and contrast. Dyslexia disrupts the cognitive process of decoding text. Each requires its own design response — and both are frequently ignored.
01
RED-GREEN
MOST COMMON
Dichromacy
KEY FUNCTIONS
Protanopia red perceived as dark grey
Deuteranopia green perceived as light grey
Anomalies weakened perception, not absent
02
BLUE-YELLOW
RARER
Tritanopia
KEY FUNCTIONS
Tritanopia no blue perception at all
Tritanomaly blue appears pale or washed out
Genetic cause missing blue-sensitive cones
03
READING & WRITING
Dyslexia
KEY FUNCTIONS
Letter recognition b/d/p/q confusion
Slow reading, frequent spelling errors
Not a measure of intelligence
DESIGN Framework 03/06
The research is grounded in three established frameworks. WCAG 2.1 provides the technical standard. Inclusive Design provides the philosophy. Universal Design provides the product goal. Together they define what accessible digital design actually requires in practice.
WCAG 2.1
Perceivable, Operable, Understandable and Robust — the four principles form the minimum legal and quality baseline for digital content worldwide.
INCLUSIVE DESIGN
Designs for the edges of the user spectrum — if it works for the most constrained user, it improves the experience for everyone.
UNIVERSAL DESIGN
Products usable by the largest possible range of people — removes the need for specialist adaptations after launch.
10 DESIGN THESES 04/06
These 10 theses were synthesised by mapping the cognitive and perceptual impacts of both conditions against common UI patterns — identifying where the largest, most actionable gaps exist. Each curated thesis is phrased as a strict design imperative, not a mere guideline.
01
Use multiple information channels
Never rely on a single sense channel. Combine visual cues with text labels or audio — for example, subtitled video over audio-only alerts.
02
Don't rely on color alone
Pair color with labels, patterns, or icons to carry meaning. Links should be underlined. Charts should use shape, not hue, to differentiate data series.
03
Add text to color filters
Color swatches and filter chips must include a text label. Users with dichromacy cannot differentiate product colors without it — costing conversions and trust.
04
Combine color with symbols
Status messages — success, warning, error — must include an icon alongside color. A green checkmark is accessible; green alone is not.
05
Make CTAs unmissable
Buttons need size, placement, high contrast, border, and icon support. Visibility must not depend on color recognition alone.
06
Ensure high contrast
Minimum 4.5:1 ratio for body text, 3:1 for large text (WCAG AA). Avoid red/green and blue/yellow combinations entirely in critical UI.
07
Use clear typography and hierarchy
Choose legible typefaces at sufficient size. A strong, visible heading hierarchy reduces cognitive load for dyslexic users navigating a page.
08
Mark interactive elements clearly
Buttons, links, and inputs need bold borders or size changes — visual cues that go beyond color to signal interactivity.
09
Support flexible input methods
All functionality must be reachable by keyboard, mouse, voice, and screen reader. Disability type should never determine which features are accessible.
10
Design for consistency and predictability
Recurring elements must look and behave the same way throughout. Predictable patterns reduce cognitive effort for users with reading and processing difficulties.
Reflection 05/06
KEY RESEARCH INSIGHTS
The largest accessibility failures in current products are not edge cases — they are systematic design decisions made without color-blind or dyslexic users in mind. Removing those failures requires no new technology: only intentional choices about color pairing, typography, iconography, and label hierarchy. Most of the fixes cost nothing to implement during the design phase.
PRODUCT APPLICATION
These 10 theses remain abstract until they are stress-tested against real interface states — empty states, error states, loading states, dense data views. The next step is applying this framework to a live product critique or a redesign project where each thesis can be validated against actual user sessions.