{"id":28788,"date":"2025-04-16T16:43:06","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T15:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.systra.com\/ireland\/?post_type=expert_insights&p=28788"},"modified":"2025-04-17T15:12:49","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T14:12:49","slug":"human-factors-and-accessibility-designing-beyond-protected-characteristics","status":"publish","type":"expert_insights","link":"https:\/\/www.systra.com\/ireland\/expert_insights\/human-factors-and-accessibility-designing-beyond-protected-characteristics\/","title":{"rendered":"Human factors and accessibility – designing beyond protected characteristics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Human Factors (HF) is often thought of as \u2019all about the individual\u2019; what they do, how they feel, why they did or didn\u2019t do something.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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However, this only matters with the added context of where individuals sit within a wider system. In application HF is much broader. It considers how people interact with their working environment, with other people, with technology and within their organisation. Our Human Factors<\/a> team are experienced in working with different user groups to identify and capture their wants and needs from the system in which they sit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This article reports on a \u2019Design for Accessibility\u2019 piece of work that the UK HF team presented at a Design for Safety event at Heathrow Airport (London). It also discusses how HF can go even further in supporting accessibility and inclusion, by thinking beyond the protected \u2019known\u2019 characteristics and questioning existing constraints that prevent a wider demographic of people from performing certain tasks or job roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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WHAT IS ACCESSIBILITY?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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When it comes to people, there is no such thing as \u2019normal.\u2019 Historically, accessibility has been a term used to describe the systems, products and services that are designed to be usable by those with disabilities. In this context, disabilities have been thought of by designers as a personal health condition. With this approach, design solutions can easily be viewed as \u2019inclusive\u2019 or \u2019exclusive\u2019 , with inclusive design being where we want to get to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Taking a forward-thinking approach, accessibility relates to a mismatch between an individual and an interaction. Whether that be in the workplace, using public transport, grocery shopping or changing a fuse at home. This definition allows us to explore how any one person can experience a mismatch at one time in their life and promotes that accessible design is good design for all (Figure 1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cBy designing for someone with a permanent disability, someone with a situational limitation can also benefit. For example, a device designed for a person who has one arm could be used just as effectively by a person with a temporary wrist injury or a new parent holding an infant\u201d – Microsoft Inclusive Design<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 1. Permanent, temporary and situational impairment (Microsoft Inclusive Design, 2022)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION (EDI)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Using the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF) EDI guidance definitions, equality is concerned with fairness, diversity is concerned with representation, and inclusion is concerned with involvement. The CIEHF guidance describes how taking a HF approach can help to mitigate some of the specific EDI challenges arising from the protected characteristics defined in the UK\u2019s Equality Act (such as Age, Disability, Gender Reassignment, Pregnancy and Maternity). Not only this, but the guidance outlines how more can be done to look beyond protected characteristics (such as socio-economic backgrounds), to recognise \u2019hidden disabilities\u2019 (such as colour blindness) and to recognise capability loss (such as dexterity, mobility and reach).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As HF specialists it is important that we continue to push the agenda on thinking beyond protected characteristics, to get a truer representation of the requirements for end users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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INSTILLING EMPATHY IN DESIGNERS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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It can be challenging to empathise with users whose attributes, and the experiences attached to them, are so different from our own; but the biggest step change is to acknowledge that they exist. We need to challenge our assumptions, inform our clients and encourage designers to explore the \u2019unknown unknowns\u2019 at the earliest stage in the design lifecycle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For the Design for Safety event at Heathrow we put together an empathy toolkit for stakeholders. The purpose of the toolkit is to enable stakeholders to quickly understand the difficulties faced by people with accessibility mismatches and how early consideration and intervention can mitigate the risk of exclusion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The toolkit includes: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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