A Visual Guide to WCAG
A clear, beginner-friendly introduction to web accessibility. Explore each WCAG 2.2 guideline with straightforward explanations, practical examples, and visual tips-designed to help anyone understand what accessibility looks like on the web. This guide is for learning and reference, not a substitute for the official WCAG standards.
6min read
Role
Designer
Timeline
2025
Team
Problem
As a designer, I found it especially challenging to translate the dense, text-heavy documentation into practical guidance for identifying visual accessibility issues. Spotting problems in layouts or interfaces was one thing, and linking them back to the correct WCAG criterion was another.
This gap between visual issues and written standards highlighted a need for a clearer, more approachable way to navigate accessibility requirements.
Research
Hypothesis
Having prior experience designing with accessibility in mind, I formed the hypothesis that if designers have accessibility resources that are easier to understand, they will be better equipped to make informed decisions when creating accessible designs.
Competitor Analysis
Accessibility resources competitor analysis
This confirmed the need for a visually-focused website designed for a broad audience, rather than one primarily targeting developers or accessibility experts
User Interviews
From conducting 4 user interviews, an anonymous content designer said "We usually end up relying on other companies' accessibility guidelines".
What might be the problem with that?
if the referenced company has accessibility issues, then you'll end up with the same problems!
this creates a negative feedback loop of widespread accessibility issues, resulting in a bad user experience
Insights
Various responsibilities a designer manages
Designers juggle many roles: branding, research, prototyping, UI, interaction design. and more, but accessibility often takes a backseat. In a typical 40-hour workweek, designers may only spend 1-2 hours on accessibility and frequently have to justify its value to their company.
My project targets designers new to accessibility who want to identify accessibility issues and create more inclusive products within the limited time they have.
Ideation
Early explorations
A/B Testing
When designing early ideations I was having trouble figuring out navigation style options. I decided to run A/B tests for different styles of navigation.
Navigation
Image visualization
Solution
Homepage
Viewing guideline/success criteria
Extra learning (principles/levels)
Reflection
Design processes
Design thinking in practice differs from classroom projects. Knowing which steps to streamline is key to sticking to the project timeline.
Design vs. development
Building what’s been designed requires distinct skills and significant time apart from the initial design phase.
Presentation
As part of my Interactive Media Arts degree at NYU, I presented this at IMA Capstone Week Spring 2025.