UX/UI Design: Understanding Content Strategy and Improving Accessibility

Accessibility, Visual Design, Content Strategy, Web Usability

There are many different parts to UX/UI design and different approaches. As I learn more about web design and development, I discover more about each of these experiences and skills that I may need in the future. It is important to understand the difference between the two designs and relevant topics.

Both UX and UI are important in designing a website and need a thorough comprehension to make a better experience for the user.

Improving Accessibility in UI Design

As I've journeyed into web design and development, I have found exciting elements that I never thought about when browsing a website. I have worked on making content accessible to all learners and universal design for learning, but I didn't think about how the mechanics of a website also needs to be accessible. I read the article by Kelly Gordon, "5 Visual Treatments that Improve Accessibility", and it gave me some key insights into designing a website better with some helpful advice.

One of the tools she gives helps to check color contrast on a web design because there needs to be a higher contrast ratio between text and background for users with low vision. The website, Accessible Colors, shows if it passes compliance and it will give you options to make it better. The only issue I had was I'm not great with hexadecimal colors so I needed to reference when looking through colors.

The other piece of advice was putting visual clues in addition to color so readers that may have color issues can still use the site. I liked the idea of putting the design in grayscale to see if the design is still understood. If I still understand it, then the visual cues work for all people and make the design more accessible.

It seems like the best advice is to always test your design with other people to get outside opinions because not everyone sees as you do. In continuing this journey and taking a web design class, I've learned that getting that user feedback is vital in design because revisions can always be made and updated.

Understanding Content Strategy in UX Design

Before this article, "Content Strategy 101", I did not know there was a difference between content strategy and content tactics. Content strategy by definition is "the ongoing practice of planning for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable, and effective content about a particular topic or set of topics", while tactics are more about content creation. The article gives four phases of content strategy that make content data-focused, an ongoing process, and specific to the user.

After following this process, I can see how the content strategy could be a full job with the creation aspect only one part of it. There are many different roles that people need to fulfill and content cannot be a leftover thought. Many users will stop using a site if the content does not stay accurate and updated despite it being beautifully designed. I would like to see more of this information available on how to address issues in websites already created and starting from the beginning of the web design.

The author of the article put many links into the article that makes it easier to delve further into content strategy and find good resources to use such as content audits, roles and responsibilities, and research methods. There are further articles and tools to use that make give a better understanding of the four-step process for content strategy. I would love to learn more about this role and see a possible career in the future.