EF Education First l 2022 -
Inclusive design at EF
Inclusive design is not a project but a mindset and a methodology, something that continuously grows and evolves as the world does.
Developing and introducing Inclusive design at EF
Integrate inclusive design practices into company processes and tools
Drive a cultural and mindset change within the organisation
My role
As a designer I believe we have a responsibility to create experiences that are usable and welcoming to our users. During my accessibility work with our design system I took a deep dive into the larger concept of inclusivity. At EF we want to open the world through education, why not make sure we are opening the world for everyone?
Background
To start I established goals to help focus our efforts and to get the ball rolling. These focused on digital accessibility, representative content and inclusive language.
To help adaptation and global organisational change I focused on mindset change, incorporating inclusivity in our process, and providing inclusive tooling.
The process
To begin I educated my team on inclusivity and accessibility and opened up for conversations. We challenged old mindsets and assumptions. This is still ongoing and something I’ve extended to the entire organisation through online sessions and our projects with different businesses.
Mindset
Image showing 3 examples of motor disabilities, used to educate on different kinds of disablities.
Inclusive processes
Through internal workshops we explored how inclusivity can look like in our internal process. The results were incorporated into our Design Thinking framework and we continuously work on ensuring inclusivity is natural and important part of each project.
Inclusive Tooling
I’ve audited and updated our design system to ensure all our components meet WCAG 2.2 AA standards and continue to work with our developers to make sure we are supporting our designers in creating more accessible experiences.
Internal guidelines on inclusive language in forms.
Guidelines on inclusivity in digital experiences, inclusive language and content were created in collaboration with our DEI team to support our goals for inclusivity.
Through various workshops with the DEI team we brainstormed and created actionable guidelines.
When launching this online session as well as in person workshops were held to help educate on the importance of inclusivity, who’s responsible (spoiler alert: everyone) as well as introduce the guidelines and updated tools. Main touch points:
Webinars and in person sessions to educate and start a conversation around inclusivity
Inclusive design guidelines incorporated into our global design guidelines and processes
Updated Design system to support inclusivity and accessibly in our components
INtroducing INclusive design
In-person sessions were held in our main offices in Boston, London and Zurich,
Inclusive design guidelines incorporated into EF’s internal brand guidelines.
in the works:
Inclusive photography guidelines
I learned
Change takes time, especially in a global organisation. But plant the seeds anyway and they will grow (but maybe painfully slow).