Diversity in photos

The photos used on your website, brochures, or other materials speak volumes. Do your photos exclude people? If you only show traditional families everywhere, you might be excluding independent single women. Examples matter.

  • Pexels, a great start for finding inclusive photos.
  • CreateHerStock, photos of women.
  • Genderphotos.vice.com, gender Spectrum Collection, beautifully colorful photos. Please read the usage terms carefully. There are valuable tips included.
  • TONL, lots of delightful everyday photos available for purchase individually, but they are definitely worth it.
  • Rawpixel, many options to search by size or image type.

Normal is diverse

Jenefer Hom shares Airbnb's journey in the realm of illustrations. Definitely worth taking a moment to read through.

Where to find participants?

We're happy to find participants for you, of course. Would you prefer to do this yourself? Here are a few starting points:

  • Oogvereniging, for people who are visually impaired or blind. For an overview of organizations in Europe, check the European Blind Union.
  • Slechthorend Amsterdam, a source of knowledge about and for the hearing impaired. From apps to outings, from acoustics to dizziness.
  • Ieder(In), a network of organizations for people with disabilities or chronic illnesses.
  • Stichting Lezen en Schrijven, advocates for everyone struggling with reading, writing, arithmetic, and digital skills.
  • Seniorweb, for seniors and digital skills.
  • Hersenstichting, 1 in 4 people has a brain disorder...
  • Organizations providing social work have a lot of practical experience and encounter a wide variety of people. Approach an organization in your area.
  • Buro Ervaringskracht, a wonderful group of people with very special experiences that they share openly.
  • Gebruiker Centraal is always a good source of information regarding inclusive design.

Cognitive bias of a designer/researcher

Being aware of your biases is already a big step. However, eliminating your own biases is very difficult. Here are a few tools that help with dealing with your biases, also known as bias:

52 UX cognitive biases cards, developed by Stephanie Walter and Laurence Vagner

Another lens, a method for daily use. The method was co-developed by Airbnb to combat discrimination on their platform.

Denken in beperkingen, an app with short introductions to various limitations. Provides clear guidance on what to apply and what not to apply as a designer.

Cards for humanity, a practical tool for inclusive design. Can be integrated with Figma.

Inclusive personas

Highly recommended are the accessibility personas by Mark Boys-Smith and Alicia Crowther. Not based on limitations but on ways of living. Such as Colin "clear" or Serina "straight-forward".

Watch the videos; they touch your heart.

What does it mean to struggle with reading, writing, or remembering things? People with an acquired brain injury, people with intellectual disabilities, people experiencing stress, and those who left school early due to various circumstances may all face these challenges. Meet these people by watching the videos.

Then, think about how you can make your service accessible, understandable, and sometimes even simpler...

  • Meet Marie van Driessche, she explains how to design for people who are deaf, and actually for everyone:-) 
  • Meet people who struggle with reading and writing. Video by the Foundation for Literacy and Writing.
  • E-learning about people with invisible brain injuries.
  • Page with plenty of material about invisible brain injuries, including autism.
  • Meet people with mild intellectual disabilities and see how well they manage. Part 1 and Part 2.
  • Ikon has produced the series Buitenspel, which includes a segment about Rinne Oost, who is hard of hearing and slowly losing her sight, and Stephanie, a former homeless youth with debts.

Test it yourself

To what extent does your website or app comply with WCAG? How digitally accessible is the website or app? You can have this extensively tested by a research agency. But above all, start testing it yourself. You can do this for example with:

  • NVDA screenreader, free only available for windows
  • PAC2024, test your PDFs for accessibility
  • Colour Contrast Analyser, for easy contrast testing
  • Your keyboard, leave your mouse behind and everything still works? Tab, Shift tab, space, enter...
  • Headingsmap, add on in chrome, useful to very quickly view alternate texts. Or discover that they uncalculate of course.
  • List of testing tools for apps, from Appt