Inclusive Design: How Can Technology (Not) Exclude People?

Technology can be both a bridge and a wall. On the one hand, it opens up a world of services, communication, and knowledge to users; on the other, it can effectively bar entire social groups from accessing it. Inclusive design is the digital industry’s response to this contradiction: a methodology for creating products and services that takes into account the broadest possible spectrum of users—regardless of their abilities, age, skill level, or hardware capabilities.

What is inclusive design?

Inclusive design is an approach that assumes that the creation of digital products should take into account the diversity of human needs as early as the concept stage, rather than as costly revisions at the end of the process.

The key point, however, is that we’re not just talking about adapting the interface to the needs of people with disabilities — area this methodology also takes into account differences resulting from age, culture, educational level, and even situational context (e.g., using a smartphone with one hand or being in a noisy environment).

The key principles of WCAG 2 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), on which this methodology is based, are:

• Perceptibility — information and interface elements should be accessible through various sensory channels (sight, hearing, touch),
• functionality — the product must be usable regardless of the preferred method of interaction (keyboard, voice, touch, assistive device),
• Comprehensibility — content and processes should be understandable to people with varying cognitive abilities,
• Reliability (compatibility) — solutions must function properly with assistive technologies and across various platforms.

It is also worth distinguishing between inclusive design and the concept of universal design—while the latter aims for a single solution that fits everyone, inclusive design embraces a variety of approaches and encourages the consideration of minority perspectives, which, without a conscious effort, remain invisible to most design teams.

The Scale of the Problem: Who Is Excluded from the Digital World?

The extent of digital exclusion in Poland is alarmingly widespread. Data from the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate indicate that nearly 56% of Poles—or about 14.5 million people—lack basic digital skills. In the 55–74 age group, this percentage reaches as high as 82%, which translates to approximately 7.2 million seniors who remain outside the digital ecosystem of services, information, and communication. By comparison, the EU average in this area is about 63%, which places Poland well below the European standard.

At the same time, a lack of access to technology is not merely a matter of convenience—it leads to actual social isolation, hinders access to health care services (e-prescriptions, telemedicine), creates difficulties in handling official matters, and deepens a sense of marginalization.

It is worth remembering, however, that digital exclusion does not have a single face. Globally, more than 1.3 billion people live with some form of disability, accounting for approximately 16% of the world’s population. People with disabilities are more than 50% more likely to face barriers in accessing digital services than people without disabilities. At the same time, assistive technology is becoming essential for many of them to function in daily life—more than half of the users of such tools say that without them, they would not be able to maintain their current lifestyle.

Standards and Law: WCAG and the European Accessibility Act

The response to these challenges is growing regulatory pressure. The foundation of digital accessibility is the previously mentioned WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), published by the W3C. In October 2023, WCAG 2.2 was released, introducing nine new success criteria that primarily address the needs of people with cognitive disabilities, limited mobility, and mobile device users. The standard defines three levels of conformance: A (minimum), AA (most commonly required by law), and AAA (maximum).

However, the key regulatory breakthrough was the European Accessibility Act (EAA), which in Poland is known as the Polish Accessibility Act (PAD) —pursuant to a law passed by the Sejm on April 26, 2024—which took effect on June 28, 2025. The directive imposes an obligation to ensure digital accessibility on a wide range of private entities: online stores, e-commerce platforms, mobile apps, online banking, e-books, and self-service terminals. Organizations that fail to adapt their products to the EAA’s requirements face financial penalties, and consumers gain the right to pursue their claims in court.

In practice, implementing WCAG 2.2 standards means, among other things, more visible navigation elements for keyboard users, simpler login processes for people with cognitive difficulties, and mobile interfaces that are better adapted to physical limitations.

Thanks to these regulations, accessibility is no longer an ethical choice but has become a legal requirement and a condition for participation in the digital market.

When Technology Intentionally Excludes Users: Dark Patterns

Design can be exclusionary not only through negligence but also through deliberate design. Dark patterns are interface patterns that intentionally exploit users’ cognitive limitations to coerce specific behaviors—such as consenting to data collection, purchasing a subscription, or waiving consumer rights. Typical examples include countdown timers for promotions that do not reflect reality, clearly labeled “Buy Now” buttons juxtaposed with barely visible opt-out options, or marketing consent boxes checked by default.

Fortunately, regulators are taking an increasingly firm stance on this issue as well. In mid-March 2026, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) announced work on using artificial intelligence to automatically detect dark patterns—the agency has already analyzed the source code of 100 websites that employ these practices, using this data to build training models for algorithms that detect manipulative interface elements.

AI as an Ally of Inclusivity — and a Threat to It

Artificial intelligence is making a growing impact in the field of accessibility. AI-based tools are already capable of automatically generating alternative descriptions for images, providing live captions, translating sign language, personalizing interfaces to meet individual user needs, and analyzing entire websites for accessibility barriers and suggesting specific fixes.

Voice assistants like Siri and Gemini are also key tools that have become essential for people with limited mobility or vision, enabling them to maintain independence in their daily lives—such as making calls, sending messages, or checking information—without using their hands or looking at a screen.

However, this same technology carries the risk of exacerbating inequality. Advanced AI systems require specialized digital skills, good hardware, and high-speed internet—resources that are precisely lacking among the groups most at risk of exclusion. Algorithms trained on data generated by dominant demographic groups may be less effective at recognizing speech with accents and may have difficulty understanding older adults or people with speech impairments—thereby embedding biases right at the heart of seemingly neutral systems. Designing inclusive AI therefore requires not only good code, but above all, a conscious selection of data and the active inclusion of marginalized groups in the process of testing and co-creating solutions.

Design Thinking and UX as the Foundation of Inclusivity

Inclusive design is not a separate methodology—it is a natural extension of the user-centered approach, as practiced, for example, throughdesign thinking. The central element of both is empathy: a deep understanding of the user’s needs, limitations, and life context before designing any solution.

Instead of designing for the statistically “average” person, an inclusive designer deliberately seeks out edge cases—a blind person, a senior with trembling hands, a migrant who speaks a foreign language—knowing that solutions for these so-called edge cases almost always improve the experience for all users.

A methodical combination of design thinking and an inclusive approach to UX — from empathy, through problem definition, idea generation, and prototyping, all the way to testing — translates into real-world projects in the IT sector, which is why user-centered design is not only an ethical value today but also a strategic foundation for successful digital products.

In practice, implementing inclusive design means testing with truly diverse groups of users—not just with a homogeneous design team. It also means conducting systematic interface audits, making iterative improvements based on feedback, and building design systems that incorporate accessibility rules from the outset. Organizations that consistently apply these principles see a reduction in customer support costs and an increase in user satisfaction—not necessarily because they “did the right thing,” but because they created a product that simply works better.

How Should We Train Inclusive Designers?

Inclusive design requires skills that combine technical knowledge with humanistic sensitivity: an understanding of WCAG standards, the ability to conduct UX research with diverse groups, the ability to prototype and test iteratively, and, above all, a willingness to question one’s own assumptions about who the “typical user” is. Awareness of barriers and the ability to eliminate them are becoming key competencies for today’s designers and developers.

One response to this demand is the postgraduate UX Design program atcurriculum , available atPJAIT, which combines knowledge in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) with practical workshops on planning user research, interface prototyping, and evaluating digital products. The program emphasizes building a UX portfolio under the guidance of mentors and experts with many years of market experience, and students learn to align the user’s perspective with business goals—which is exactly what responsible, inclusive design requires. In the face of growing legal requirements and a changing market, skills in accessibility and UX are no longer an optional addition to a resume, but a prerequisite for professional success.

Every design decision is incredibly important today. Choosing the font size, color contrast, navigation structure, and how long an error message is displayed—these are decisions that determine who can use the product and who will hit a wall. Inclusive design doesn’t eliminate these choices, but it ensures they’re made consciously, taking into account the full spectrum of human abilities and limitations.

Technology is neither inherently inclusive nor exclusive. It is a tool that embodies the values and principles of its creators. When creators—programmers, UX designers, product managers—consciously choose empathy as the foundation of their work, technology becomes a space where no one has to be left behind.