{"id":71967,"date":"2023-06-22T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/?p=71967"},"modified":"2023-06-17T07:40:15","modified_gmt":"2023-06-17T04:40:15","slug":"what-is-universal-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/what-is-universal-design\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Universal Design? An Introduction to Universal Design"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you run a blog or online business, you’ll want to make sure that your site aligns with the latest design standards. These include accessibility principles that apply to all websites. However, you may be wondering: what is universal design, and how can I use it on my WordPress site?<\/strong> \u2699\ufe0f<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, universal design is a straightforward concept. Basically, it’s about creating websites that are accessible to users with different abilities and needs. Once you understand how it works, you can incorporate it into your site to create a more inclusive user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In this post, we’ll take a closer look at universal design<\/a> and its relation to web accessibility. Then, we’ll show you how to make your WordPress site more “universal”<\/a>. Let’s get started! \ud83d\udc68\u200d\ud83c\udfeb<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\t \t\tAn introduction to universal #design \ud83c\udfa8 for web #development<\/a>\n\t\t \t<\/div>\n\t\t \t
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What is universal design?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

WordPress is a user-friendly platform that enables you to create a custom website without having to learn code. However, it’s important that every page on your site follows key design principles, such as universality. So, let’s start by answering the question, what is universal design?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udc49 In web development, universal design is the practice of creating websites that are accessible<\/a> and usable by all users, regardless of their physical and cognitive abilities. However, you could also say that universal design takes into consideration users from different geographical and cultural backgrounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to understand exactly what is universal design, let’s have a look at web accessibility. In theory, every website should provide equal access to its content. This means that even users with visual impairments or other disabilities should be able to interact with a site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)<\/a> were created to help web developers and site owners conform to these standards. WCAG also prioritizes inclusion<\/a> in web design, addressing issues such as age, language, computer literacy, geographic location, and culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, universal design incorporates both accessibility and inclusion. This means users should be able to access and interact with the site (including anyone with disabilities) and understand the content (regardless of their linguistic background).<\/p>\n\n\n

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How to implement universal design in WordPress<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now that we know what is universal design, let’s look at how to implement it on your WordPress website. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Use translation-ready themes<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Enable keyboard navigation<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Avoid difficult language and nuances<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Add alt text to images<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Use sufficient color contrast and clear fonts<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n
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    1. Use translation-ready themes \ud83c\udfa8<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    As mentioned earlier, part of incorporating universal design is ensuring that users can understand the content, even if they speak a different language. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you must manually translate your site<\/a> into multiple languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Creating a multilingual WordPress<\/a> site is quite easy. However, before you get started, you’ll want to make sure that you’re using a translation-ready theme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There are plenty of free themes that offer this feature. If you’re browsing the WordPress Theme Directory, you can click on the Feature Filter<\/em><\/strong> button and select Translation Ready<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n

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    Click here<\/a> to open up the WordPress Theme Directory with the Translation Ready filter applied.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
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    It’s important to note that choosing a translation-ready theme will not automatically make your site available in other languages. However, the theme will be coded in such a way that it enables its various elements (like buttons and headings) to be translated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You might also want to select RTL Language Support<\/em><\/strong> as a feature filter. This will enable you to translate your theme into a right-to-left language like Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \ud83d\udca1 If you’re in need of a such a theme, check out Neve<\/a>. It’s one of the most popular themes in the directory overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Once you’ve chosen a translation-ready theme, you can easily translate your site using a plugin like TranslatePress<\/strong>. This tool integrates with Google Translate, so can set up automatic translation using your Google API key.<\/p>\n\n\n

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