Investigating the Intersection of Cultural Design Preferences and Web Accessibility Guidelines with Designers from the Global South

Research Background and Issues

• Problems or Challenges Identified by the Authors:

  • Cultural background significantly influences aesthetic preferences in web design, playing a critical role in accessibility design. However, current accessibility design guidelines (e.g., WCAG) generally lack consideration for non-Western cultural design preferences, particularly in areas such as typography and color schemes.
  • Accessibility guidelines are predominantly developed from design resources centered on Western and Global North perspectives, which may be unsuitable for or exclude the cultural needs of the Global South.
  • Designers from the Global South face numerous conflicts and challenges when integrating their cultural design elements into works that comply with accessibility standards.

• Significance:

  • The neglect of accessibility resources that consider the cultural design preferences of the Global South leads to cultural marginalization and diminishes the cultural characteristics of these regions, thereby impacting accessibility for individuals with disabilities.
  • Exploring the intersection of culture and accessibility design will help create more inclusive digital products and bridge the global design gap.

• Research Motivation and Related Work:

  • Although cross-cultural studies have revealed how cultural backgrounds influence design decisions, most research focuses on Western cultures. Scholars in accessibility research are increasingly paying attention to underdeveloped regions, but few studies examine how specific cultural backgrounds affect the implementation of accessibility design.

Solutions

• Proposed Solutions:

  • Investigate the cultural challenges faced by Global South designers in accessibility design and categorize these challenges into two levels:
    1. Design Level: Cultural conflicts involving typography rules, color schemes, image density, and white space.
    2. Social Level: Cultural barriers in interactions between designers and clients, developers, and broader society.
  • Provide targeted recommendations to address the cultural gaps in existing accessibility design resources, including customized guidelines and tool development.

• Innovations:

  • This is the first in-depth study exploring the intersection of Global South cultural backgrounds and accessibility design, systematically analyzing cultural dilemmas in the design process.
  • Proposes practical improvement directions, such as involving local experts to co-develop culturally customized accessibility design resources and incorporating culture-related courses into education.

• Implementation Steps and Key Techniques:

  1. Data Collection: Gather information from 10 Global South designers through design activities and semi-structured interviews.
  2. Data Analysis: Use Braun and Clarke's reflexive thematic analysis to extract key challenges and themes.
  3. Specific Improvement Measures:
     • Develop culturally customized typography and color scheme accessibility guidelines.
     • Integrate real-time, culture-specific accessibility prompts and plugins into design tools (e.g., Figma).
     • Enhance the inclusivity of educational resources by teaching cross-cultural accessibility skills through design schools, online tutorials, and knowledge-sharing platforms.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Findings:

  • Identified core issues in the conflict between cultural backgrounds and accessibility design, categorizing them into design-level and systemic challenges.
  • Proposed concrete recommendations for improving accessibility guidelines and tools to eliminate cultural barriers faced by designers.
  • Delivered three major contributions:
    1. Identified conflicts between cultural design preferences and accessibility design.
    2. Explained how cultural challenges faced by Global South designers impact the usability of their work.
    3. Provided practical recommendations for cultural inclusivity, advancing further HCI research.

• Strengths:

  • Breakthrough focus on the previously overlooked intersection of culture and accessibility, emphasizing the value of cultural diversity.
  • Offers highly targeted and practical guidance for addressing specific cultural design challenges rather than generalized issues.

• Experimental or Evaluation Results:

  • Experiments and interviews revealed the limitations of existing accessibility resources in the Global South.
  • Provided examples of specific manifestations of cultural and design conflicts, such as how automatic spacing settings for fonts and color contrast standards fail to meet the cultural aesthetics of regions like Indonesia and Iran.

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  • Due to the limited number and geographic scope of participants, the findings may not cover more detailed cultural nuances.
  • Future studies are encouraged to expand to more diverse cultural backgrounds and larger participant groups.
  • Subsequent research could explore how client cultural preferences influence accessibility design decisions and develop broader typography guidelines suitable for different languages.

This study holds profound significance in the field of cultural and accessibility design intersections, highlighting the need for design standards to accommodate both cultural diversity and accessibility requirements to achieve true global design inclusivity.