Kathleen McMahon - Design Systems are a Carnival! One Accessible Component, Many Pretty Masks

Discover the design system catch-all phrase "many pretty masks" and learn how prioritizing accessibility, simplicity, and user testing can improve user experience for all users, abilities included.

Key takeaways

Design systems are like a carnival, with many pretty masks hiding the complexity underneath.
Design systems should prioritize accessibility and consider the needs of users with different abilities.
A disclosure widget is a common pattern in design systems, used to open and close containers.
The anatomy of a disclosure widget includes a button that opens and closes a container, and returns focus to the button.
ARIA attributes are important for accessibility, and should be used to describe the role of the button and the container.
Design systems should prioritize separation of concerns and avoid mixing masks (i.e. combining different patterns or components).
Focus states are important for accessibility, and should be used to indicate which element has focus.
Design systems should prioritize user testing and feedback to ensure that all users are experiencing the design as intended.
The W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative page has guidelines for ARIA authoring practices and other accessibility considerations.
Design systems should prioritize simplicity and consistency, and avoid over-engineering or over-complicating the design.
Design systems should prioritize user needs and consider the needs of users with different abilities.
Design systems should prioritize documentation and provide clear guidelines for developers and designers.
Design systems should prioritize accessibility and consider the needs of users with different abilities.
Design systems should prioritize simplicity and consistency, and avoid over-engineering or over-complicating the design.
Design systems should prioritize user testing and feedback to ensure that all users are experiencing the design as intended.
Design systems should prioritize documentation and provide clear guidelines for developers and designers.
Design systems should prioritize accessibility and consider the needs of users with different abilities.
Design systems should prioritize simplicity and consistency, and avoid over-engineering or over-complicating the design.
Design systems should prioritize user testing and feedback to ensure that all users are experiencing the design as intended.
Design systems should prioritize documentation and provide clear guidelines for developers and designers.
Design systems should prioritize accessibility and consider the needs of users with different abilities.
Design systems should prioritize simplicity and consistency, and avoid over-engineering or over-complicating the design.
Design systems should prioritize user testing and feedback to ensure that all users are experiencing the design as intended.
Design systems should prioritize documentation and provide clear guidelines for developers and designers.

Kathleen McMahon - Design Systems are a Carnival! One Accessible Component, Many Pretty Masks

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