Able

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Designing a gamified platform for Accessibility education and awareness

In 2021, I had the opportunity to work on a really cool project with The Accidental Ally, a startup dedicated to demystifying and simplifying accessibility for product teams. The project, titled "Able," aimed to address the critical issue of inaccessible design in web, products, spaces, and content.

Role

Lead Designer

Collaborators

The Accidental Ally
Intuit
Karmishtha Krishna

Skills

Research
Conceptualisation
Design
Usability testing

Duration

6 months

Process

Discover : Understanding the Problem Landscape

The first phase focused on understanding the challenges surrounding accessibility through deep research

User Interviews

I conducted interviews with people from diverse backgrounds with motor and cognitive disabilities. Their feedback highlighted critical issues:

Existing resources are too complex and overwhelming, particularly the dense nature of the WCAG guidelines.
Accessibility advocates expressed a strong desire for peer communities where they could share experiences, exchange knowledge, and find support. Research showed existing organizational structures rarely provide dedicated spaces or resources for building these vital support networks.

Personas

Based on interview insights, I created fictional personas to represent core users. For example:

Looking at existing resources

Examined platforms like WCAG and WebAIM, finding them content-heavy, intimidating, and often treated as mere checklists. This revealed a clear need for a more user-friendly and engaging approach.

Define

Synthesizing insights into actionable goals

Root Cause Analysis

Using the “ 3 Whys “ method, I identified the core issues :

Accessibility is perceived as a technical hurdle rather than an opportunity for innovation.
Learning resources fail to connect with real-world scenarios, creating a gap between theory and practice.

I synthesized the research findings into clear goals and problem statements.

Accessibility complexity

How might we simplify dense guidelines for beginners?

Lack of Engagement

How can we make accessibility learning interactive and motivating?

Corporate Adoption

How might we integrate accessibility training into corporate culture effectively?

Ideate

Designing solutions with Impact

I led ideation workshops to brainstorm solutions addressing the core problems, exploring various directions with a focus on user engagement and practicality.

Concept Prioritization

Ideas were evaluated based on their potential value and implementation effort. Gamification and Community learning emerged as high-impact, feasible solutions, achievable within the timeframe. I studied successful platforms like Duolingo for inspiration and incorporated elements of the Octalysis Framework for gamification

Key Ideas Explored

Gamification

Introduce a level system and badges to motivate learning and track progress.

Community Forums

Create a space where users can share insights, ask questions, and learn from each other.

Corporate Integration

Design customizable modules for companies, aligning with their unique accessibility needs.

Design

Bringing the vision to life

Feature prioritisation

Information Architecture and wireframes

Created an intuitive information architecture and user flow to reduce cognitive load for users.

Developed wireframes emphasizing simplicity and usability, including key screens for onboarding flow, learning dashboard, and community hub

The grayscale wireframes also helped me to identify areas of low colour contrast and make changes wherever necessary.

Visual design

SF Pro was selected as the primary typeface for its clean, modern, and highly legible design, ensuring accessibility for diverse users, including those with dyslexia.
The colour palette featured Azure Radiance (#007AFF) to convey trust and confidence, complemented by neutral tones for high contrast and readability.
Minimalist UI elements, such as buttons and toggles, were designed with intuitive interactions and consistent styling to create a seamless experience.
The logo, ABLE, embodies the project’s mission of accessibility and empowerment, symbolizing the transformation of barriers into opportunities.

Prototyping

Using Figma, I created prototypes incorporating accessibility best practices: high contrast, clear typography, and screen reader compatibility.

Testing

Validating with real users

I conducted continuous, iterative testing with 15 participants, including people with disabilities and accessibility advocates.

Key Feedbacks and Adjustments

Clarity of Gamification

Users appreciated the gamified elements but wanted clearer explanations for earning points and badges. In response, I added tooltips and onboarding tutorials.

Community Engagement

Participants valued the community aspect but requested moderation features to ensure constructive discussions.

Able

The final Outcome, a platform for Inclusive learning

Final thoughts

This project was developed during my 6 month Internship / Graduation project at The Accidental Ally, and later received valuable validation through a test run in Intuit's Accessibility Champion program. The prototype garnered positive feedback, with users reporting enhanced understanding of accessibility principles and increased motivation to implement inclusive practices. While the 6-month development timeframe necessitated focusing on core functionality over comprehensive content creation and integration frameworks, we successfully established a robust foundation that companies can build upon with personalized content.

The project presented significant challenges, particularly in simplifying WCAG guidelines while maintaining their integrity and ensuring the platform itself remained accessible. These challenges transformed my perspective on accessibility, cementing my understanding of it as a fundamental design principle rather than an optional feature. The successful test at Intuit validated our approach and demonstrated the platform's potential for broader corporate adoption, while reinforcing that building effective accessibility education requires both a strong foundation and the flexibility to evolve with organizational needs.

This was my Graduation project at the National Institute of Design. To know more about this project in detail, check out the entire documentation of the project here:

Link to Document

Impact and Reflections

Designing for change

The WCAG : Milestones and Challenges

While the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) mark a crucial step toward digital inclusion, their implementation often focuses too heavily on compliance rather than genuine inclusivity. The challenge lies in transforming these technical standards into intuitive, user-centered design practices that naturally incorporate accessibility principles.

Able : A community driven approach to Accessibility

Able is a platform designed to democratise accessibility education and engagement.

Key features include:

Intuitive, user-friendly design
Progressive learning system with trackable levels
Community-driven knowledge sharing
Integration with corporate accessibility initiatives

The platform bridges the gap between theoretical guidelines and practical implementation, making accessibility a collaborative, engaging journey.

The team and my experience

I spent six months at The Accidental Ally, a startup by Gayatri Kini focused on demystifying and simplifying accessibility in the tech space. As part of my Final Bachelor's project, I worked under Gayatri and alongside Karmishtha Krishna, Sneha Arvind and the Dream Team—Rohan, Roan, Dasheill, Rojene, Laith, and Maddison—who all brought their lived experiences with disabilities into our design process.

It was an eye-opening experience, not just in terms of designing accessible solutions but in understanding how inaccessibility is a design flaw, not an inevitability. Working closely with the team, co-designing solutions, and interacting with accessibility advocates from companies like Intuit changed the way I see design. It was a fun, challenging, and deeply rewarding six months that reinforced my commitment to making tech truly inclusive.

Overview

Digital accessibility is a core design principle.

Disability isn't a personal flaw but often a result of unmindful design choices.