Accessibility, Usability, Universal Design
Three related concepts, each with its own focus, and what they add up to.
What it is
Accessibility, usability and Universal Design all play their parts in what a person can do and take part in. In the book Participation, my colleagues and I set out how the terms are conceptualised and how they relate to each other.
The first figure stacks them: accessibility innermost, usability around it, and Universal Design as the outermost circle. The second shows how each concept brings a different focus, and how together they make up the conditions for participation. I use them in teaching to ask of any project: which layer is this design actually working at? The honest answer is often only the inner one, with the outer two left to chance.
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References
- Hedvall, P.-O., Ståhl, A., & Iwarsson, S. (2025). Accessibility, usability and universal design – still confusing? Harmonisation of key concepts describing person-environment interaction to create conditions for participation. Disability and Rehabilitation, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2025.2491831
- Hedvall, P.-O., Ståhl, A., & Iwarsson, S. (2022). Tillgänglighet, användbarhet och universell utformning. In V. Denvall & S. Iwarsson (Eds.), Participation (pp. 151–181).
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