{"id":13119,"date":"2021-10-04T14:38:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-04T13:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/?p=13119"},"modified":"2026-01-16T12:56:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T12:56:04","slug":"creating-user-personas-to-improve-accessibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/creating-user-personas-to-improve-accessibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating user personas to improve accessibility"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\tDebbie Race<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Accessibility plays an important role in our Sage values of \u2018being human\u2019. As a business, we work hard to consider the real needs of people in everything we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To better understand customer needs, especially when it comes to accessibility, user personas are one of the tools that help us inform the development and designs for all our products and services.   In this article we explain what an accessibility persona is, how we have created these at Sage, and the benefits (and limitations) of using these to create accessible experiences. Read on to find out how our Sage teams apply these personas to our strategies to make all our products and services more accessible to all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are user personas?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

User personas, sometimes known as customer personas, are tools that help businesses better understand their customers and their needs. In their simplest form, they are fictional characters based on user \u2018types\u2019 that provide insights on people\u2019s needs and goals.

The concept originated from a book called the Inmates are Running the Asylum by Alan Cooper<\/em>, first published in 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book talks about how, at the time, our lives were in the hands of the tech industry, and that software engineers were making all the decisions when it came to their products and services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book theorised that engineers did not think in the same way as the users that they were writing the software for. After all, how could they?

Cooper introduced the concept of personas to help us overcome a common problem of referring to the abstract concept of \u2018the user\u2019 – which encompasses everyone and implies that all users have the same needs. He coined the term \u2018elastic user\u2019 to demonstrate the idea of a user \u2018who must bend and stretch\u2019 to adapt to the needs of the moment, rather than what they themselves, require.

Based on this theory, our goal at Sage is to design software that will, instead, bend and stretch and adapt to the needs of the user. While personas give us knowledge and insights to cater for those needs, we also need to consider how users with accessibility needs factor into these discussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many development teams are unsure how to design for users with accessibility needs, which is why we have introduced ways of working at Sage that allow us to empathise with users who require different levels of accessibility. Accessibility personas form part of the work we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are accessibility personas?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Accessibility personas are personas with specific access considerations. These personas have disability inclusion specifically in mind. Although users with disabilities may have the same goals, they have different needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accessibility personas can help us consider the varying cognitive, motor, visual, and auditory needs of users. They can also help us identify common barriers and frustrations, allow us to see things from different perspectives, and support us to build empathy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why we created accessibility personas<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of our key values at Sage is being human – prioritising empathy, care, and strong connections with our colleagues and customers. This means that we put people at the heart of our product design, inclusive to those with varying abilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have made a pledge that all native cloud products by Sage should comply with WCAG 2.1 AA by 2025, and have created an accessible design checklist<\/a> which our team follow for every project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, accessibility personas help us give users with accessibility needs a face and a voice. We want to link our accessibility guidelines to the needs of an actual person, rather than just a tick box on a checklist. Using personas in our design and development allows us to do the right thing and make our products accessible to everyone, whatever their ability, by better understanding their individual challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How we created accessibility personas<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Working with an accessibility designer, we identified key areas that we wanted to be represented by a persona. We looked at physical, developmental, behavioural, sensory, and age-related disabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We conducted desk research using books and articles, and by reviewing existing accessibility personas. Here are some great resources that we found useful in getting started:<\/p>\n\n\n\n