By Caterina Lucia Valentino
Designing for the “average” audience leaves too many people out. Caterina Lucia Valentino explores how designing for the edges and switching from a compliance to connection mindset, can turn friction into flow and create stronger, more effective messaging for everyone.
In the high-stakes world of professional messaging, we are taught to hunt for the “persona“. An idealized, “average” stakeholder. Best practice suggests designing for the “centre,” believing that if a message satisfies the majority, it’s good enough.
The hard truth is that designing only for the stereotypical centre excludes all potential clients who live with a visible or invisible disability. If your communications are inaccessible, you are effectively hanging a “Closed” sign on your door for one-fifth of your potential audience. To win in a competitive landscape, communicators must turn this diversity friction into flow ensuring messaging is accessible to the total market segment rather than ceding it to the competition.
Design for the edges: clear the static
The “edges” represent the diverse spectrum of human capability, spanning permanent disabilities, temporary injuries and situational hurdles. Think of these as atmospheric interference in a broadcast. If your communication isn’t strong enough to cut through the static at the edges of your range, your message won’t just be “fuzzy”; it will be totally silent.
Communicators who embrace inclusive design create a signal everyone hears better. This is known as the Curb-Cut Effect. Originally designed for wheelchair users, sloped sidewalk cutouts revolutionized travel for parents with strollers, travelers with luggage and delivery workers.
In communication, these digital “curb-cuts” create a seamless experience regardless of a user’s physical, mental or environmental state:
- Closed captions: Essential for the deaf community but used by millions to watch videos in silence.
- High contrast & large type: Vital for the visually impaired, but a relief for an aging CEO with digital eye strain.
- Plain language: Necessary for those with cognitive disabilities but preferred by every busy professional who lacks the time to decipher jargon.
The mindset shift: from compliance to connection
Moving from a mindset of legal compliance to one of inclusive design is the difference between meeting a requirement and building a human connection.
If compliance is the floor, inclusive design is the sky.
The flow audit
| The compliance question (the floor) | The inclusive design question (the sky) | The goal |
| Is this font size legal? | Can a tired parent reading this on a dim phone screen at 2:00 a.m. understand it instantly? | Visual clarity |
| Do we have a transcript? | Does our transcript capture the tone and nuance for someone who can’t hear the audio? | Equitable experience |
| Is there alt-text? | Does this description convey the same brand story to a blind user that the photo conveys to a sighted one? | Narrative inclusion |
| Is the website keyboard accessible? | Could someone navigate this entire journey with a broken wrist or while holding a crying infant? | Seamless interaction |
Below is a 60-second accessibility audit. Consider using it as a quality-control lens for your messaging. By applying these checks, you ensure your story is more than statistically impressive and is crystal clear for every stakeholder.
The 60-Second Accessibility Audit
A checklist for communicators to turn friction into flow.
- Visuals & Typography
- [ ] The Squint Test: If you squint at your layout, is the information hierarchy still clear?
- [ ] Color Independence: Are you using more than just color (like icons or bold text) to highlight errors or links?
- [ ] Contrast Check: Does your text-to-background ratio meet at least 4.5:1?
- [ ] Line Breathing Room: Is your leading (line spacing) at least 1.5x the font size to prevent eye fatigue?
- Digital Infrastructure
- [ ] The “Tab” Test: Unplug your mouse. Can you navigate your entire page using only the Tab and Enter keys?
- [ ] Heading Logic: Are your H1, H2, and H3 tags in a logical nested order, or did you pick them based on font size?
- [ ] Functional Alt-Text: Does your alt-text describe the purpose of the image (e.g., “Quarterly growth chart showing 20% increase”) rather than just the appearance?
- Content & Language
- [ ] The “Front-Load” Check: Does the first sentence of every paragraph contain the most vital information?
- [ ] Jargon Sweep: Have you replaced “leveraging synergies” or “utilizing paradigms” with plain, direct language?
- [ ] Clear Destinations: Do your buttons say exactly what happens next (e.g., “Open PDF” instead of “Click Here”)?
Resource: WCAG 2.1 SC 1.4.3 & 1.4.1, WCAG 2.1 SC 2.1.1, WCAG 2.1 SC 1.1.1
The business case: the purest form of editing
For a communicator, inclusive design isn’t just about “doing the right thing”, it’s about market share, brand equity and technical optimizatio
Accessibility is the purest form of editing. It forces one to prioritize hierarchy, strip away jargon and clarify calls-to-action, ensuring your message survives any environment.
By designing for the “messy reality” of human experience, you eliminate micro-frustrations and create a path of least resistance. This results in more elegant, persuasive communication that resonates because it respects the user’s time and unique perspective.
Communicators stop building for a flat, idealized world and start designing for diversity and stop fighting against “the edges” and start using the edges to sharpen the centre.
*Gemini assisted in creating the outline for this article.
About the Author
Caterina Valentino (she/her) is a post-secondary educator and former senior healthcare executive with a passion for building inclusive, resilient organizations. Her expertise spans diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), organizational culture and the often overlooked but critical role of middle managers in driving internal communication and change.
With leadership experience across acute, long-term and community care sectors, Caterina brings real-world insight to the classroom and consulting work. She’s earned post-grad micro-credentials in communications, accessibility and inclusion, community engagement, journalism and emergency management, threat and response planning. Connect with her at caterina.l.valentino@gmail.com.
Return to the April Edition 2026 Issue of Communicator
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