As someone who spends most of my time designing, building, or navigating digital content, I’ve realised something consistent: the moments when a tool frustrates me are usually the moments I realise it was designed for someone else. Someone with different habits, shortcuts, needs, and limitations.
Those little frictions, sometimes tiny, sometimes day-breaking, remind me of a simple truth: the digital world wasn’t built with all of us in mind. And when assumptions go unchallenged, they quietly turn into obstacles for the people they overlook.
Insight: the way we think about accessibility needs to change
Accessibility often starts from the idea that some people have limitations while others do not. Those who don’t face certain barriers often see accessibility as optional, an extra step, an inconvenience, or something to “get to later”. But for people who live with those challenges every day, accessibility isn’t an enhancement. It’s the right to move through the world with dignity, safety, and practical convenience.
And yes, convenience is a human right. We just experience it differently. Each of us connects with the world in unique ways, which is why diverse voices must shape the systems we build. I had a little fun with that word “con-nect”, but the point is real: how we connect to ideas affects how we design for one another.
Difference is a spectrum
Let’s be clear: preferences and needs aren’t the same. But they sit on the same spectrum because design choices either make us comfortable or make things usable. The reason one developer loves VS Code while another can’t touch it is the same reason some people gravitate to certain colours while others literally can’t distinguish them without assistance.
Liking green more than pink isn’t the same as being colour-blind or deaf, but all of these differences affect how we interact with design. From the outside, what looks like “preference” can actually be an access need. Survival, not taste.
Where design choices make or break accessibility
Many designers treat preferences and needs as interchangeable, but the stakes aren’t the same. A theme-colour toggle is a preference. Screen-reader compatibility is a necessity. Yet they both live on the same continuum of choices.
Accessibility can be as simple as giving users control over their interface or as critical as ensuring someone can use the software at all. To design well, we have to start with the basic understanding that humans experience the world differently, and design should make space for all of those differences.
Practical Tip: Make someone’s life easier this week
That’s it. Really.
Start by listening to the pain points people share and respond with small, actionable improvements. It doesn’t even need to be a big thing. If you work in software, and someone didn’t understand how something works, don’t dismiss it. Check whether the documentation explains it clearly, and if it does, ask why they couldn’t find it.
Often people don’t know where to look because they don’t know that they can. This applies far beyond code. The goal is simple: make the spaces you move through a little easier for someone else.
Here’s what I’ve published recently:
It’s FOSS
Open Source Never Dies: 11 of My Favorite Linux Apps That Refused to Stay Dead
A tour of classic Linux tools that disappeared and returned as next-generation revivals. Why they’re back, what’s new, and why they deserve a place in your workflow.
→ https://itsfoss.com/new-gen-linux-apps/Mission Center vs. Resources: The Ultimate Linux System Monitor Showdown
A practical comparison of two of GNOME’s best system monitors, looking at usability, performance, and which one fits your workflow best.
→ https://itsfoss.com/mission-center-vs-resources/
Explore more of my work
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Catch you in the next Roll Out!
— Roland L. Taylor
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