When the original window-based user-interface was first being developed by Palo Alto, the team was driven by the idea that applications must be easy to use, consistent and accessible to all of humanity. This is why every window that opened in all subsequent windowing operating systems, had a rather standard design, with a set of menu items and standard set of options under each. Boring maybe, but very predictable in terms of knowing where to look to find the information or piece of functionality you needed. It is also why there were alternative routes to access functionality, and why in well-constructed applications the user could change the screen-colors, font-size or language. It facilitated the use of screen-readers and other accessibility devices.

Nowadays, user interface best practice allows a heavy emphasis on flat designs, with free-form style and extensive reliance on color and imagery to convey meaning. It is all very compelling on first glance, but there is less ‘transfer of training’ from previous experience.

There is the inevitable struggle to discover where to look to find anything that happens to fall outside the very specific ‘workflow’ that the original designer envisaged. Worse, many of these designs exclude people with disabilities from using the application. In a recent survey of 100 websites, for example, the Disability Rights Commission found that 80% were next to impossible for disabled people to use. Are we losing our grasp of the fundamentals of a simple, predictable and usable designs? Have we forgotten the reasons for having a consistent and accessible user-interface across applications?

It can’t be ignorance of the rules of good interface design. Solid guidelines and usability practices are readily available. For example, the Human Interface Guidelines (HIGs) offer a guide to the developer for creating usable applications on a variety of platforms, as well as the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), explicitly aimed at improving web accessibility for people with disabilities.

Much of it boils down to following a few sensible rules and ideas that will make applications more universally accessible. Good UI design allows usage via keyboard alone, doesn’t rely on learning what icons mean, and has all necessary help for page-readers and people who need large print. It prefers function over style and image.

Where staff are required to use an application as part of their job, most legislative regions impose enforceable legal requirements for the user interface. This is not just for disability-access, but for workers faced with having to use the same interface for most of their working day. A good user-interface isn’t just an option, but a legal requirement.

It is surely better that developers get this right rather than let things drift to the point that the developer community face heavy-handed intervention from outside the industry?