About this site

How do we plan a graphic design project to help ensure it is as accessible as possible for the intended audience? What special considerations do we need to make for accessibility across various media, including digital, print, and environmental applications?

And how does our desire to communicate effectively with people of varying abilities and potential impairments translate into specific design decisions?

Accessible design is for everyone. It is about designing for users who are outliers or edge-case scenarios. When we design for those groups, we are designing for those who are disabled, we are designing for some of our parents and grandparents, and we are designing for those we may have never met or considered. Ultimately, we are also designing for ourselves, as we define the level of accessibility that we will eventually come to experience as our lives change in unexpected ways.

Why does this guide exist?

This handbook is part of a broader initiative devoted to fostering accessibility in the Canadian design community. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), aims to make the province accessible to people with disabilities in key areas of daily living by 2025 (the year of this writing). In Manitoba, nearly all websites need to be accessible to those with disabilities. Other provinces are following suit.

There is an urgent need to provide Canada’s design sector with the information, guidelines, education, and tools required to make accessibility a key measure of success for every project. Ensuring accessibility is not just a matter of legal compliance. Accessible design improves people’s quality of life. It helps organizations compete by delivering superior services. It builds further empathy into our relationships with clients and their stakeholders. And it helps designers pursue the ideals that likely influenced them to choose their careers in the first place. We hope that this handbook will help move our profession closer to the day when careful consideration for accessibility is an integral part of everything we do.

There is an urgent need to provide Canada’s design sector with the information, guidelines, education, and tools required to make accessibility a key measure of success for every project.

A note on tooltips

For readers who may be less familiar with design terminology and concepts, words with a dotted underline have supplemental background information provided on click.

The Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD) fosters a strong, supportive community within the field of Canadian design. It serves as a platform for designers to exchange ideas, educate and inspire one another, and establish professional standards, ultimately advocating for the value of design.

RGD was created by Ontario government legislation to grant designers, design educators, and design managers that pass certification for the right to use the designation ‘RGD’. RGD Certification offers clients more assurance in hiring an experienced and qualified professional committed to the highest ethical standards. Certified RGDs have documented levels of relevant, professional education and experience, along with demonstrated competence in design, strategy, business, accessibility, research, and ethics.

Representing 4,700 designers, managers, educators, and students, RGD advocates on behalf of the profession, communicating the invaluable contributions of graphic designers to commerce, culture, and society. RGD programming includes the annual DesignThinkers Conference, the bi-annual Creative Earners National Survey, the So(cial) Good Design Awards, the DesignThinker of the Year Award, a Student Awards Program, a Mentorship Program, extensive virtual professional development /resources for Members, and more.

For more information about RGD, visit rgd.ca

About this site

This site was created by Mangrove Web, a digital agency based in Canada and the United States that builds inclusive websites for organizations driving transformational change. Mangrove worked with the RGD to bring the original AccessAbility 2 handbook to the web. You can download the PDF but we the goal for this site is to provided updated, relevant content related to design and accessibility.

This website was a collaborative effort among many, many people. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of this project, including the following fine folks.

• Hilary Ashworth, RGD
• Marcella Bechtel, Mangrove Web
• Andrew Boardman RGD, Mangrove Web
• Julian Brown RGD, On the Chase
• Chae Clarke, Mangrove Web
• Laura Font, Mangrove Web
• Karin Heinsch RGD, RGD
• Maiya Holliday, Mangrove Web
• Michelle Hopgood RGD, Hopgood Creative
• Daniel Lamb RGD, Mangrove Web
• Isabella Marchena Associate RGD, RGD
• Shelby Neville, Mangrove Web
• Karen Niedzwiecki RGD, Mangrove Web
• Wendy Tabor RGD