"Accessibility used to mean compliance. An installed grab bar, an added ramp, a resized font. But meeting physical standards is only half the challenge. The other half, the part that truly changes lives, is how design makes people feel. That's where emotional accessibility comes in. It's what Michael Graves taught us to do 40 years ago. We believe it is the next frontier of design: creating experiences that don't just accommodate users but also affirm, reassure, and delight them."
"When we talk about accessibility, we're really talking about belonging. And belonging is emotional. A product can meet every ergonomic and ADA guideline yet still make someone feel excluded and unhappy. Poor design like this eliminates a product's potential utility gain, if the experience of using it blocks adoption. Conversely, an object that's emotionally intuitive, clear, comforting, and joyful, invites people in before they ever touch it."
Emotional accessibility adds affective dimension to physical accessibility by shaping how products make people feel, fostering belonging rather than mere compliance. Physical measures like ramps and ADA-guidelines matter, but emotional cues determine adoption and social reception. Designs that are emotionally intuitive, clear, comforting, and joyful reduce stigma and invite use; poor emotional design can negate utility gains even when standards are met. Consumer expectations now include emotional inclusion alongside functional enhancement. Universal Design principles remain foundational, yet fully compliant products can still feel sterile and fail to connect, highlighting the need to design for emotional belonging and human response.
Read at Fast Company
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