Designer Attitudes to Accessible Information Provision on a Bus Route Map: Focus Group Discussions

Abstract

Designers create information provision formats in the real world. They are commonly regarded as problem solvers. However, literature reveals that designers do not design information/products in an inclusive way and suggests various reasons for this. Designers continue to provide inaccessible information and seem not to consider various information users, especially vision and colour vision impaired people. Therefore, we implemented research to explore concrete factors and reasons why designers consistently continue to create inaccessible information even though previous researchers have already identified problematic factors. Focus group interviews were conducted with ten doctoral design students. It was revealed that these design participants have little knowledge of how to use design elements for target users, applied a subjective outlook for design selection, had a lack of design education and project experience, and used inappropriate information formats when searching for relevant information. Designers attitudes and values towards inclusive printed information practice were a particular focus of this study.