By Hannah Flew – Learning Solutions Consultant, Enovation
In this blog, Enovation’s Hannah Flew redefines accessibility, highlighting its scope beyond physical accommodations to include everyday interactions and communication. She underscores the importance of inclusive design that supports both permanent and temporary challenges, demonstrating that accessibility benefits all individuals across various contexts.
Accessibility IS for Everyone
Many people when they consider accessibility mostly think permanent and physical, often being associated with ramps and parking spots. It is however much more than that, you just need to reframe how you have been thinking of it.
It’s more than the physical and permanent, it’s about how we write emails, design documents, deliver training, signage and communicate with the world around us.
If you pause for a moment to think about it, we all experience accessibility issues within our lives even though it may be temporary. So really we need to move forward with the approach that anyone at any time could need a little help.
My Vision Isn’t Perfect—And It Never Will Be
I’ve always been very short-sighted. Most of the time, I manage just fine—with glasses or contact lenses. The simple act of misplacing my glasses could ruin my entire day, I would not be able to read easily, drive, even make a simple sandwich with ease, thus turning my life for that time into near impossible to function.
Temporary impairments like these—whether it’s eye strain, a broken wrist, or recovery from surgery—are incredibly common. They don’t qualify as disabilities in the legal sense, but they can instantly make an inaccessible design frustrating or impossible to use.
Trust in a Stranger
Years ago, I worked in a cinema. A man, quiet, kind and from a disadvantaged background, would come in regularly and soon became clear he couldn’t read. Each time, he’d ask me softly to read the film listings to him and tell him how much he owed.
He placed his trust in me to give him the correct change, without ever fully saying why he needed help – relying on others is a massive barrier in itself, tied in why shyness, shame, stigma and it needn’t be, we all have needs and we would be wise to remember that.
In Ireland today, 21% of adults struggle with basic literacy, and 25% with simple numeracy. Many go out of their way to hide it.
Accessibility Helps Everyone—Not Just “Someone Else”
Think accessibility doesn’t apply to you? Think again, let’s bring it to the everyday:
- Have you ever tried typing with a sprained wrist or while holding your cat?
- Navigating your phone with one hand while carrying a coffee?
- Ever squinted at your screen in bright sunlight, wishing the text were easier to read?
- Ever watched a video on silent in a noisy café, relying on captions to keep up?
- Trying not to wake your child during naptime, so Airpods are in?
- Try to drown out noise with headphones while working from home?
These are everyday moments where accessible design makes life easier—not just for someone with a diagnosed disability, but for all of us.
Making things accessible isn’t a bonus feature. It’s just a good design.
What are some stats?
Let’s start with something small but often overlooked: colour. It can have a surprisingly big impact on daily life. You might wonder, how? Think about something as simple as crossing the street, reading a medication label, checking food expiry dates, or even choosing what to wear.
Around 4.5% of the global population is colour blind—that’s over 350 million people worldwide. The most common type, red-green colour blindness, accounts for about 99% of all cases.
Now of course there are different types of colour blindness:
In Ireland and the UK, the figures break down to about 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women.
Now imagine navigating everyday tasks—shopping, checking temperatures, coordinating outfits, understanding laundry labels, or identifying warning lights—when colours don’t appear the way they’re intended to. Even the most basic visuals, if not designed with accessibility in mind, can unintentionally create barriers.
The Rule, Not the Exception
Accessibility is about removing barriers. That is it. Content design needs to work for everyone, whether this is for someone in a wheelchair, neurodivergent or just someone experiencing a busy day.
If you are writing a document, designing a presentation, or creating a learning experience—begin with inclusion in mind.
- Use proper headings.
- Add image descriptions.
- Choose clear, legible fonts.
- Break up long blocks of text.
- Make it easy to read.
- Easy to navigate.
- Easy to understand.
Let’s stop waiting for people to say they’re struggling. It should be a forethought, not an afterthought.
Feel free to explore the first two blogs in this series, where we dive deeper into the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and outline how you can prepare to meet its requirements.
