We like to separate things into neat boxes:
- Accessibility for disabilities,
- Usability for convenience,
- Performance for speed.
But the ultimate question for a project should be: Can a human reach, read, and use what we built?
The box-model, while it is the foundation of the web, as a thought model is faulty.
A dark-only theme that becomes unreadable in daylight is just a “usability issue”?
A bloated page that never loads on a weak connection is just a “performance issue”?
A flashing animation that distracts people is just a “usability issue”?
All of them disable access and therefore, all of them are accessibility issues?
It doesn't matter what box you pick because the box doesn't exist.
We’re All Temporarily Abled
Most people think of web accessibility under the prism of "helping people with disabilities". This creates a soft boundary of them/us. But "true accessibility" is about everyone!
It's Inclusivity!
Because, in reality, we are all abled only for a timeframe.
Can a user with tired eyes, a dim phone screen or just under direct sunlight can access a well-build site better than one with a screen reader?
You have 20/20 eyesight and can read the stylish tiny text but tomorrow?
You have a fast laptop now, but next month you’ll be stuck with poor signal on a slow device trying to open a 10MB web page.
In all those moments, you are temporarily disabled, not by your body, but by design choices that didn’t consider your situation.
Inclusivity isn’t only about a fixed group of users with disabilities. It’s about developing and designing for variability. For human conditions that shift with age, environment, attention, or technology.
The modern developer should have a unique mantra:
“No matter who you are, where you are, or how you access it, you can use it.”
The Broader Responsibility
If a website is not screen reader friendly, too heavy for slow networks, too dark for daylight, too flashy for concentration, or too rigid for older devices, it’s not inclusive.
It’s tunnel-vision design. Assuming the world will always meet the developer’s setup.
Inclusivity is humble. It recognizes that everyone becomes disabled, even if only for a moment.
So when we design for inclusivity we’re not checking a box.
We’re simply future-proofing our humanity—making sure that when it’s our turn to be the one “disabled to access,” we’ll still be able to see, read, and connect.
“Develop like everyone’s ability expires tomorrow, because in some way, it does.”
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