Guidelines
Universal design principles
- Last reviewed
- 6 August 2026
- Owner
- DesignOps
Apply the 7 universal design principles when designing DfE services to create products and services that work for as many people as possible.
About the Universal design principles
The universal design principles help teams design products and services that work for as many people as possible.
They were first developed for architecture and product design, but they also help teams design accessible digital services.
Use these principles alongside WCAG and the Cognitive Accessibility Guidelines (COGA) to create accessible and inclusive products and services.
Universal design principles
The 7 principles:
Equitable use Flexibility in use Simple and intuitive use Perceptible information Tolerance for error Low physical effort Size and space for approach and use
Principle 1
Equitable use
Provide equal access to DfE products and websites to everyone who wants to use a service.
You should:
avoid cluttered layouts use the correct language for people with disabilities not exclude anyone not disadvantage or stigmatise anyone make the design appealing to all users ensure users can access with assistive technology
Principle 2
Flexibility in use
Not all users will use your service in the same way. People need different settings, preferences, and adaptive ways of working.
You should:
allow users to change settings to suit their needs ensure pages can reflow allow for high contrast use responsive units for text allow users to work at their own pace avoid timeouts or allow users to extend
Principle 3
Simple and intuitive use
Users want to be able to navigate products and websites with ease. When content is hard to understand, it makes it harder for users to move through a service.
People with English as an additional language, are new users, have learning disabilities, low literacy, and memory issues could all have issues with products and websites which are not simple and intuitive.
A person's background, language, or experience should not make it difficult for them to understand how to use a service.
You should:
write in plain English provide descriptions for acronyms avoid jargon be consistent in positioning components avoid unnecessary complexity provide effective prompting and feedback on task completion accommodate a wide range of literacy and language skills
Principle 4
Perceptible information
Users perceive content in different ways. Not everyone reads blocks of content visually, or watches videos. This could be because they're blind and cannot view the video but can read the transcript with a screen reader.
People who are deaf cannot hear the audio in a meeting, but can follow the conversation by using captions.
Think about the different ways in which users may perceive content.
You should:
provide captions and transcripts for meetings and videos provide alt text for all images not use colour alone to provide information use colours that contrast sufficiently
Principle 5
Tolerance for error
Provide a way for users to avoid errors, or if they do make them, provide clear information and a way to fix them. Clear content, which gives information on how to do a task, and hint text in a form, can minimise the chance of an error occurring. This avoids frustration and repetition which can be difficult for many people with disabilities.
When you design DfE services, think about where users are most likely to cause an error to occur. You should ensure that things are in place to avoid or rectify these errors.
You should:
allow copy and paste allow password managers provide a forgot password functionality use the check your answers provide an error summary for every error provide specific error information provide help
Principle 6
Low physical effort
DfE products and websites should be easy to use, intuitive, and allow users to navigate and interact without fatigue.
Clear, simple, easy-to-read content ensures users do not experience cognitive load. Creating robust products means that people can use our websites with ease on their preferred input device.
When websites are not fully accessible, some users will try to use alternative methods. For example, some people with RSI (repetitive strain injury) who use Dragon, will stop using speech recognition and reach for a mouse to navigate. This can cause further pain and discomfort.
You should:
make mobile components reachable make services speech recognition accessible provide full keyboard accessibility reduce cognitive load minimise repetitive actions
Principle 7
Size and space for approach and use
Make sure users have the tools they need to use a product or website, and those tools are easy to find and access. Buttons and other elements should be big enough and spaced out so that people with limited mobility can use them easily.
Design elements and components should be simple to reach, click, or select, no matter what device or input method someone is using.
You should:
provide enough spacing between elements provide sufficient target size for clickable or tappable components use full-width buttons on mobile where possible ensure all elements are speech recognition accessible provide responsive viewports that adapt to users preferences