As per W3C’s quick reference to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, a solid understanding of the four principles of accessibility is paramount in order to best support the needs of all users. These four principles include:

1. Perceivable– “Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive”
2. Operable– “User interface components and navigation must be operable”
3. Understandable– “Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable”
4. Robust– “Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies”

For more detailed information about each principle and what you can do to design with these principles in mind, click on the links above.

Using the four principles of accessibility, it is important that we design for the disability first–instead of as an afterthought. One way to do this is by using Design Thinking. View Elise Roy’s TED Talk below to learn more about this particular strategy.