Inclusive design personas

Eight archetypal personas — four ability axes (vision, motor, cognition, hearing) across three permanence states (permanent, temporary, situational). WCAG audits tell you WHAT fails; personas tell you WHO breaks.

Why personas

WCAG line items name the failure mode; personas name the person. The same missed focus ring is "the audit didn't pass" to one team and "Jamal-the-parent typing one-handed at the breakfast table can't dismiss the modal" to another. The second framing routinely surfaces design fixes the first misses.

The eight personas

P1 Vision Permanent

TODO — low-vision power user

Day-in-the-life paragraph — pending owner curation per accessibility/personas.kmd § R3.

Tools they use
Screen reader (TalkBack / VoiceOver / NVDA), browser zoom 200%, OS high-contrast mode.
Design constraints they expose
Accessible name on every interactive element; no color-only cues; focus ring contrast ≥ 3:1.
Linked specs
themes/light-dark.kmd · policies/focus-management.kmd · accessibility/aria-roles.kmd
P2 Vision Situational

TODO — bright outdoor sun

Day-in-the-life paragraph — pending owner curation.

Tools they use
Phone outdoors in bright sun; OS auto-brightness maxed.
Design constraints they expose
Body text contrast ≥ 7:1 (AAA); accent ≥ 4.5:1; gradient-darken photos behind type.
Linked specs
themes/light-dark.kmd · themes/high-contrast.kmd
P3 Motor Permanent

TODO — keyboard-only power user

Day-in-the-life paragraph — pending owner curation.

Tools they use
External keyboard, switch device, head-tracker.
Design constraints they expose
Every flow reachable via Tab + Enter + Escape; visible focus indicator; no drag-only / hover-only paths.
Linked specs
policies/focus-management.kmd · navigation/back-behavior.kmd
P4 Motor Temporary

TODO — one-handed (broken arm)

Day-in-the-life paragraph — pending owner curation.

Tools they use
Thumb-only reach on phone; one arm in a sling.
Design constraints they expose
Touch targets ≥ 44 dp; primary actions in thumb zone; no swipes that conflict with OS gesture pill.
Linked specs
app-layout/safe-area.kmd · policies/single-hand-reach.kmd (forthcoming)
P5 Cognition Permanent

TODO — dyslexia + ADHD

Day-in-the-life paragraph — pending owner curation.

Tools they use
Reduced-motion preference, OS font scaling.
Design constraints they expose
prefers-reduced-motion: reduce honored; plain language in error messages; no timeout-based dismissals on critical content.
Linked specs
errors/user-facing-messages.kmd · motion/reduced-motion.kmd
P6 Cognition Situational

TODO — distracted parent

Day-in-the-life paragraph — pending owner curation.

Tools they use
Phone, frequently interrupted by child, conversation, doorbell.
Design constraints they expose
Auto-save on forms with ≥ 3 inputs; restore-where-they-left-off on app resume; undo window for destructive actions.
Linked specs
koder-app/behaviors.kmd § State persistence
P7 Hearing Permanent

TODO — Deaf user, LIBRAS L1

Day-in-the-life paragraph — pending owner curation.

Tools they use
LIBRAS interpreter, captions on, visual notifications.
Design constraints they expose
No audio-only feedback; captions on every motion clip with speech; LIBRAS overlay available where applicable.
Linked specs
voice/wake-word.kmd § Visual feedback · sound/vocabulary.kmd § R4 · services/ai/libras
P8 Hearing Situational

TODO — noisy café

Day-in-the-life paragraph — pending owner curation.

Tools they use
Phone on silent in a meeting; ambient noise washing out audio.
Design constraints they expose
Visual toast confirms every "sent / saved / error" action; vibration available as secondary channel.
Linked specs
errors/user-facing-messages.kmd · sound/vocabulary.kmd

How to use this page

When you review a UI, pick three personas — one from each ability axis you haven't tested today. Walk the flow as if you were them. The cards link to the specs whose tests should catch their constraints; if a test is missing, open a ticket.