Access by Design: A Guide to Universal Usability for Web Designers

Chapter 1. Fundamentals

For web sites to be functional, their content must be accessible and their functions operable—these are basic requirements. When we consider these requirements within the context of a universal Web, with its diversity of users and access technologies, several fundamental principles emerge to guide our efforts toward universal usability.

The most basic principle is to design simply. This applies to all areas where design is in the service of function. In The Elements of Typographical Design, Robert Bringhurst asserts, “Typography exists to honor content.” On the Web, design exists to enable access to content and functionality. Bringhurst goes on to say, “Typography... aspires to a kind of statuesque transparency.” The same ...