Introduction & Ableist Bias in Visual Design

 

Introduction/ General Context

In this era of the visual digital landscape, visual communication's influence is undeniable, and from eye-catching social media images to complex graphics and charts, visuals have been significant in shaping our understanding of society or the world. However, if visuals are framed without considering accessibility, it can lead to creating unintentional barriers and reinforcing bias toward disabled society. For example, videos without the caption have been seen in recent periods with online education. Most online educational clips without captions can exclude people who are deaf and have issues with hearing, limiting them from understanding crucial materials or information. Moreover, YouTube has been criticized in past years for its inaccurate or poor captions on educational content, highlighting the barriers for users with hearing issues.

Accessibility and technology for blind people

Addressing Ableist Bias in Visual Design 

Ableism, which refers to discrimination against individuals disabled people, is widespread and can often be found in the design of digital content. Discrimination in visual design has led to the exclusion of people who do not fit into normal or default users. Most of the designs believe that users can understand information easily, see well and navigate content without any assistance. Those assumptions overlook the need for disabled people, further building reinforcement bias and exclusion of digital from them. For instance, in over-reliance on visual cues, designers often use visual cues like colours to convey meaning or interpret information. However, these can lead to discrimination against cognitive disabilities, like blind people or those with cognitive disabilities, which can affect the process of visual cues.