Timeless inclusive design techniques for a world of agentic AI

Surely some revelation is at hand; Jony Ive is back. To die-hard Apple fans like me, this is akin to the second coming.

A legendary designer with a rich history creating products that just work, he's taking over design at OpenAI. And thanks to a recent lawsuit, the details of the ear-worn device that Jony is working on are in the public domain.

Many (by which I mean Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI) are describing it with passionate intensity as a breakthrough new category, a paradigm-shifting moment on a par with the launch of the iPhone.

The IO device will be powered by AI agents and enable users to do anything they can do with a traditional desktop computer – perhaps even more (if you believe the hype but, realistically, probably quite a lot less).

This begs the question – how do we design for this new paradigm? Surely we'll need to rethink everything?

Well, no, actually.

It's not just legendary designers that are making a comeback; some legendary old design techniques are now more relevant than ever.

AI agents are just another user

Progressive enhancement and inclusive design allow us to design for as many users as possible. They are core components of user-centered design.

The word "user" often hides the complex magnificence of the human being using your product, in all their beautiful diversity. And it’s this rich diversity that makes inclusive design so important. We are all different, and use things differently.

While you enjoy that sense of marvel at the richness and wonder of your users' lives, there is no need to feel it for AI agents. These agents are essentially just super-charged "stochastic parrots" (to borrow a phrase from esteemed AI ethicist and professor of Computational Linguistics Emily M. Bender) guessing the next token.

But for better or for worse (for worse) these agents are now using our computers, and we do need to accommodate them as users.

Another AI tech CEO prone to passionate intensity is Dario Amodei (CEO Anthropic) who insists that if we're going to usher in a new age of abundance, a post-work world where our needs are met entirely by “machines of loving grace,” then these machines will require "all the 'interfaces' available to a human working virtually, including text, audio, video, mouse and keyboard control, and internet access."

The point is, this radical new computer will only be successful if it can interact successfully with the digital services its user needs it to. And that means your website needs to be keyboard and screen reader accessible!

Old ideas for a new world

Every breakthrough since we learnt to make fire has been built on what came before. Isaac Newton said he could only see so far because he was "standing on the shoulders of giants".

The techniques and approaches needed to enable this new wave of agent-powered AI devices have been around for a long time. But they haven't always been used. In our desire to ship the shiniest features, we often forget to make our products work for people who rely on accessibility features.

And because these groups are marginalized and often under-represented, their voice isn't heard.

But now we have a trillion dollar AI arms race, and it will only be successful if the AI agents can navigate our websites, apps, and digital services.

A successful audio-only computer will, by necessity, build on all of the work that's gone into making it possible for a diverse array of users using a diverse array of inputs (e.g. keyboard, touchpad, mouse, eye-tracker) and outputs (screens, screen readers, braille displays) to access digital products and services.

This AI arms race can raise the bar for everyone, and help ensure that products for the few become products for all.

This must be for everyone

Much of the innovation around inclusive design that our audio-only computer will benefit from has taken place on the Web platform.

The web was built on top of existing internet protocols, and was successful because it was free and open source. Sir Tim Berners Lee created the web for everyone.

The web is powered by some fundamental ideas that make delivering inclusive experiences possible:

• semantic HTML – markup describes its content
• the separation of concerns – HTML for content, CSS for design, JavaScript for interactivity
• ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) – a suite of web standards for augmenting web pages to make things more accessible to everyone.

It's just that "everyone" now includes robots.

I, Robot

In Isaac Asimov's inaugural robot novel Caves of Steel he explains that robots "must live as they, think as they, be as they." Any self-respecting AI agent is going to need to effectively use the tools we use.

So I wasn't surprised at all to see OpenAI discussing their desire to acquire Google Chrome, or Perplexity's eye-watering $34.5bn cash offer. The big tech companies and AI Labs are racing to integrate their agents into our web browsers.

If these robots are to serve us, they need to be able to pick up and use our tools.

AI agents need to browse the web. They need to use your search field and booking form. They will tab, click, swipe and tap their way through your website.

They will benefit greatly from the accommodations we make for diverse users when we practice inclusive design.

Inclusive design FTW

Inclusive design goes by many names – Universal design, Design for all – but the idea is the same. It means considering as many users as possible in the design of your product.

We can only build digital products and services that are genuinely inclusive by following these principles:

1. apply accessible design patterns

2. use accessibility testing tools

3. test frequently with your keyboard and screen reader

Patterns are things like adding a "skip to content link" and implementing form validation in a way that makes it easier to recover from errors.

Alongside patterns, there are a wealth of freely available accessibility testing tools that can tell you if your product is meeting necessary standards.

We talk so much in our industry about user-centered design, but all too often we subconsciously think of ourselves, or people like us, as our core user, and assume that all users use their devices the same way we do.

It's essential to make your digital product work with keyboard and screen reader, and the best way to ensure it does is to use these yourself.

Progressive enhancement? Enhanced progressive-ness

Progressive enhancement is about building on a strong, accessible foundation to ensure the widest-possible breadth of support.

On the web, it looks like:

• Starting with semantic HTML that works without JavaScript
• Adding CSS for styling, ensuring content is readable if styles fail
• Layering JavaScript for interactivity, ensuring it degrades gracefully if scripts aren’t supported

This ensures everyone – people who use screen readers and AI agents alike – can access your content.

In an iOS app, it might look like harnessing the shiniest new features (such as on-device LLMs) but falling back to a base-level experience for users that don't have the latest device.

Agentic AI, audio-only devices, and users with diverse needs all benefit from a product that doesn’t lock the core experience behind assumptions about technology.

Summing it all up

AI agents are certainly novel, possibly even paradigm-shifting, but they will be using your product like any other user.

And like every other user before them, they will only succeed if the digital products they touch are built on solid, inclusive foundations.

So it is heartening to think that the blank gaze of these AI agents will actually help us raise standards for everyone. In designing for them, we will design for people who are all too often forgotten or ignored.

I hate to admit it, but maybe Sam and Dario are right? Maybe AI will be for the betterment of all. I certainly hope so.

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