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Inclusive design makes technology smarter by starting with people who are often left out of default decisions, then using what they learn to remove barriers and create more ways to participate. A feature designed around one access need can also prove useful in other situations—but no single feature works for everyone, and inclusive design does not replace accessibility standards or testing.
What inclusive design means in technology
Microsoft describes inclusive design as a method that considers the full range of human diversity and includes and learns from people with varied perspectives. Applied to technology, that means treating differences in ability, context, resources, and experience as part of the design problem—not as edge cases to address after the main product is finished. Microsoft’s inclusive design resources explain the approach and show examples.
Microsoft Learn quotes Microsoft’s Inclusive video: “We define disability as a mismatch between the needs of the individual and the service, product or environment offered. Anyone can experience a disability. It is a common human trait to be excluded.” The idea is practical: a person can encounter a barrier because an interface assumes a certain way to see, hear, move, understand, connect, or interact.
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A design response created to address one barrier may be useful to people facing a different barrier or simply working in a different context. Curb cuts, remote controls, and easy-fastening shoes are familiar examples Microsoft Learn uses to explain how accommodations for some people can become broadly useful. The same pattern is possible in software, though it should not be treated as proof that every accessibility feature benefits every user.
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Live Captions as an example
Microsoft lists Live Captions among products developed using inclusive design toolkits. Captions can provide access to spoken content for people who are deaf or hard of hearing; they may also be useful when audio is difficult to hear or cannot be played. Microsoft’s example illustrates the potential for a design response to serve different contexts, rather than independently measuring its effects for every group. Microsoft’s examples page also highlights Copilot and Mesh avatars.
How inclusive design, accessibility, and usability differ
These ideas overlap, but they are not interchangeable. W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) describes accessibility as enabling people with disabilities to perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with websites and tools, and to contribute without barriers. Usability is concerned with whether people can use a product effectively, efficiently, and with satisfaction. Inclusion is broader: it can also involve access to suitable hardware, software, connectivity, digital skills, and economic circumstances. W3C WAI’s overview explains how the three concepts relate.
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- 90W Pass-Through Charging: Achieve optimal charging with 90W pass-through power to your laptop, supported by a total input of 100W, with the hub reserving 10W for operational efficiency. (Note: Wall charger not included.)
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- What You Get: Anker USB-C Hub (5-in-1, 4K HDMI), welcome guide, 18-month warranty, and our friendly customer service.
Addressing them together is useful, but a broadly inclusive process does not by itself show that a product conforms to WCAG or other applicable accessibility requirements. Conformance needs to be evaluated against the relevant standard and scope; involving people in design does not substitute for that evaluation.
What the design process looks like in practice
There is no single universal sequence established by these sources. A practical approach consistent with Microsoft’s guidance is to learn from people with varied perspectives, identify barriers in a real task and context, consider multiple ways to participate, and evaluate the resulting experience with users.
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- Sleek 7-in-1 USB-C Hub: Features an HDMI port, two USB-A 3.0 ports, and a USB-C data port, each providing 5Gbps transfer speeds. It also includes a USB-C PD input port for charging up to 100W and dual SD and TF card slots, all in a compact design.
- Flawless 4K@60Hz Video with HDMI: Delivers exceptional clarity and smoothness with its 4K@60Hz HDMI port, making it ideal for high-definition presentations and entertainment. (Note: Only the HDMI port supports video projection; the USB-C port is for data transfer only.)
- Double Up on Efficiency: The two USB-A 3.0 ports and a USB-C port support a fast 5Gbps data rate, significantly boosting your transfer speeds and improving productivity.
- Fast and Reliable 85W Charging: Offers high-capacity, speedy charging for laptops up to 85W, so you spend less time tethered to an outlet and more time being productive.
- What You Get: Anker USB-C Hub (7-in-1), welcome guide, 18-month warranty, and our friendly customer service.
- Involve affected people early. Include people whose needs are likely to be missed in default assumptions during discovery and evaluation, rather than asking for feedback only after launch.
- Identify the barrier in context. Look at what the person is trying to accomplish and where the interaction fails—for example, whether essential information depends only on sound or whether an interface assumes a particular input method.
- Develop options. Consider ways to make the interaction perceivable and operable through different modalities or input methods, while preserving a coherent experience.
- Evaluate with users and standards. Test whether people can complete the task, and assess applicable accessibility requirements separately. Treat the findings as product-quality information, not a final compliance-only check.
Microsoft Learn recommends treating accessibility as an engineering and product-quality concern from the beginning of the product lifecycle. That makes it less likely that teams will discover fundamental barriers only after core interactions and visual systems are difficult to change. Microsoft Learn’s accessibility guidance discusses this lifecycle perspective.
What the evidence does—and does not—say about reach
Microsoft Learn reports that a Forrester Research study commissioned by Microsoft in 2003–2004 found that 57 percent of U.S. computer users ages 18 to 64 could benefit from assistive technology. This is a historical finding about that population and period, reported by Microsoft Learn; it is not a current estimate, does not describe users in other countries, and should not be generalized beyond its stated scope. The source supports the attribution and figure, but the primary study report and its sampling methods are not established here. Microsoft Learn’s accessibility page reports the result.
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W3C WAI identifies innovation, brand, market reach, and reduced legal risk as potential organizational benefits of digital accessibility. These are considerations, not guaranteed outcomes or a universal return-on-investment promise. Legal obligations vary by jurisdiction, so organizations need current local guidance for their circumstances. W3C WAI’s business case for accessibility describes the potential benefits.
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How to judge whether a technology claim is meaningful
When evaluating a product or design approach, look for evidence about the experience itself rather than relying on a broad claim that it is inclusive. Useful questions include:
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- 5-in-1 Connectivity: Equipped with a 4K HDMI port, a 5 Gbps USB-C data port, two 5 Gbps USB-A ports, and a USB C 100W PD-IN port. Note: The USB C 100W PD-IN port supports only charging and does not support data transfer devices such as headphones or speakers.
- Powerful Pass-Through Charging: Supports up to 85W pass-through charging so you can power up your laptop while you use the hub. Note: Pass-through charging requires a charger (not included). Note: To achieve full power for iPad, we recommend using a 45W wall charger.
- Transfer Files in Seconds: Move files to and from your laptop at speeds of up to 5 Gbps via the USB-C and USB-A data ports. Note: The USB C 5Gbps Data port does not support video output.
- HD Display: Connect to the HDMI port to stream or mirror content to an external monitor in resolutions of up to 4K@30Hz. Note: The USB-C ports do not support video output.
- What You Get: Anker 332 USB-C Hub (5-in-1), welcome guide, our worry-free 18-month warranty, and friendly customer service.
- Can people perceive and operate the interaction using relevant options such as keyboard, screen reader, captions, or alternative input?
- Were people with disabilities involved in discovery and evaluation, and is the nature of that involvement clear?
- Does the design hold up across contexts such as background noise, small screens, temporary injury, or limited bandwidth?
- Was accessibility considered throughout the product lifecycle, or deferred until late in development?
- Is the claim supported by a documented example or user evaluation, or is it only a vendor assertion?
These questions help separate a plausible design idea from demonstrated performance. A named example can show what a company says it built; it does not, on its own, establish how well that feature works for every user or situation.
Further reading
Microsoft’s Inclusive Design resources offer examples and toolkit materials. For a book-length introduction to universal design for web applications, see Universal Design for Web Applications by Wendy Chisholm and Matt May (O’Reilly, 2008).
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