Guides

Well-designed animations can enhance comprehension (such as a graphic showing a step by step process), prompt users as they interact with an element (such as a button), or just be purely decorative.

Providing accessible authentication helps everyone log in easily to websites and apps without having to remember or transcribe login information.

While carousels are a popular component on websites, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that they are an ineffective method of displaying content – with few people looking beyond the first one or two slides.

Colour plays a massive role in creating memorable experiences and communicating messages to our users. As designers, we have a responsibility to ensure the choose colour combinations we choose are accessible, while also being conscious of our visual identity.

Data tables are tables that are used to represent tabular data, with rows and columns of related information. Putting data in a table makes it easier to understand for many users.

Imagery is a vital webpage component, that can help us create a smooth flow of content and aid comprehension for many users, for example, people with learning difficulties often better understand complex information in a visual format.

Links and buttons are some of the most fundamental web content elements we have. If we want a user to interact with something, we use a link or a button to make that happen. It’s safe to say there are millions of these elements on the worldwide web. So, if these elements are implemented incorrectly, they become one of the most severe barriers to accessibility.

Sometimes, the best way to present information is in a list. In fact, it’s one of the most powerful methods we have to help our users read most efficiently. Nielson Norman Group studies showed: “We observe readers gravitate towards bulleted lists with fervor. Web readers want to digest content quickly.”

Navigation isn’t just limited to the top-level navigation menu. From an accessibility perspective, we should also consider how a user moves from one page to another, and navigates within a page itself.

Overlays are used for a variety of reasons, for example to show a larger version of an image, a notification asking for input such as login details or a method to deliver contextual information.

A clear and logical page layout is essential for users of our digital products.

Personas bring a product’s users to life through a set of fictional characters. They are rooted in research with actual users, and as a result are very effective at creating empathy within a project team for our members.

User stories were originally developed for agile software development. Nowadays, we use them more widely, and any discipline can make use of them.

Captions make it possible for someone to understand a video when they can’t hear the soundtrack properly. That might be because they’re in a noisy place, they’re Deaf, or something has temporarily affected their hearing.

When we design a page of content it should be organised into sections, each with its own heading. These section headings are often styled bigger and bolder by a designer to make them easier to scan.

The main reason we use session timeouts is because of security. For example, if a user has been entering their personal details, or they are logged into online banking but there has been no activity for a set period, we need to know if they are still using the page. If they have been distracted, forgotten to log out, or discontinued their journey but left their browser window open, they may be vulnerable to abuse or fraud.

Sometimes we want to highlight a word or phrase in our content so readers don’t miss it. Common ways to do this include adapting the size, colour, style or weight of the typeface. Which to choose depends on the situation, because some of these may not always be appropriate.

User stories are one of our first, and most crucial opportunities to bake accessibility into a project. Originally developed for agile software development, nowadays we use them more widely across our digital projects and disciplines.

User testing helps us evaluate how easy a design is to use, and whether it meets the needs of its audience.

What WCAG is, containing explanation in simple terms what each success criteria requires.

Writing accessible content for the financial services industry is challenging, and as our reading age shows, we’re often way off the mark