"Because we're products of a system that excludes certain people, it's surprisingly easy to do the same. Unless we've experienced exclusion or someone has pointed it out to us. Gradually, this exclusion seeps into design, and not only through inaccessible interfaces. Ableist design shows up in the user needs we forget to anticipate, who we don't invite for user research, and how we deprioritise tasks of a project."
"Before looking for solutions, we need to understand the context we design. 20 years after the French disability law of 11 February 2005, I found myself wondering why accessibility still needs defending. Maybe, like me, you've been thinking that: Progress in accessibility is painfully slow. 100% accessibility is an illusion. Capitalism prioritises money over people anyway. This must be the eight-thousandth time you've reported a heading level issue."
Designers inherit societal systems that exclude certain people, which causes exclusion to seep into products and processes. Ableist design appears in neglected user needs, uninvited participants in user research, and deprioritised project tasks. Accessibility progress remains slow despite legal frameworks, and full accessibility is often treated as unattainable while capitalism prioritises profit over people. Perfectionism and systemic pressures push teams to favour profitability over usefulness. Understanding the systems, their manifestations, and where they apply enables practical actions to reduce exclusion. Small, intentional steps can improve accessibility even within constraining systems.
Read at UX Magazine
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