When it comes to grabbing a reader’s attention, good design and accessibility are paramount. They make a viewer give that second look, and heightens the chance of the design’s message getting across. These tools even permeate through both digital and print texts, as well. Specifically, there are several key design principles that apply universally to the two types of texts. First, white space is essential to creating a powerful design. White space in a document breaks up different sections, which draws more attention to the paper. A lack of white space can also create a sense of clustering and over-stimulation. This may turn readers away from the document. For print and digital texts, white space can and should be utilized to create a better design. Furthermore, appropriately chosen and placed images are vital to good design, whether it’s for print or digital text. These images draw attention away from the words. Therefore, an irrelevant picture hinders the message being pushed and is essentially worthless. A color scheme is analogous to image placement. Colors can make or break a print or digital text since they are usually the main attention grabber. A set of colors greatly helps create the sense of unity in a design. If a poorly chosen scheme was used, such as one focused too much on contrast, the message of the text may be lost. Finally, alignment of the text within a document is a universally known design tool. The alignment can help aid the reader’s eyes across the page in the desired path and help with the unity aspect. Since print and digital texts each contain sections of text, alignment can be used in a similar way for both.
Good design will always have some commonalities with accessible texts, regardless of the medium. White space, as mentioned previously, is a commonly used tool in good design to create the overall balance of the document. However, white space also acts as a buffer between sections, cutting large chunks of text into smaller ones. This improves the readability tenfold and heightens the accessibility of the document. In a likewise fashion, appropriately-labeled section titles are both accessible and principals of good design. The headings allow for screen readers to introduce the topic to a disabled reader, while also clearly marking off sections and creating a sense of balance. Simple vocabulary is another key aspect of good design and accessibility. Simpler language lets readers think less of the sentences and more about the message, while also improving speedreading and the general flow of the text. In regard to learning disabled people, simple text allows them to understand the message in its entirety.
There are still parts of good design that clash with accessibility. Color scheme is most prominent in this case. For any reader who is blind or colorblind, a color scheme has no effect. Consequently, much like the article on accessibility said, color alone cannot be used to tell the message of the document. This would cause its accessibility to plummet. Reversely though, the color scheme is vital to a good design. It balances the document, highlights important parts with contrast, and creates the overall sense of unity needed to appease the reader. Therefore, there will always be some form of conflict between accessibility and good design in this aspect and a balance must be found.
This leads directly into the topic of a balance between good design and accessibility. Color schemes need to be used sparingly to avoid creating accessibility issues. Images, on account of those with sight issues or poor internet, cannot be the essential component of the text. Aspects like these need to be balanced delicately between good design and accessibility, or the entire message will be lost. This balance is largely determined by the audience a writer wishes to invoke. Different communities of people require different levels of accessibility, so the balance is constantly changing based on who the author writes to. As a result, there is no one tried and true method of universally balancing accessibility and good design. For each document, an author must find a new balance to create a truly effective print or digital text.