Balancing Different Access Needs

6 minute read

Last updated: Feb 23, 2026

Summary

When we fix a problem to make something more accessible, we have to be careful. The solution we choose to help one person could, without meaning to, become a barrier for another.. It’s vital to balance these different and sometimes conflicting needs to ensure maximum inclusion.

Overview

Accessibility makes spaces, products, and communication usable for as many people as possible. For example, ramps, captions, Writing Alternate Text, and Use Plain Language all help people participate more fully. A method that supports one person with a disability might pose a barrier for someone else with a disability.

For example:

Captions help people who are deaf or hard of hearing, but may distract someone with certain cognitive disabilities.
Bright lighting supports people with vision loss, but can cause headaches or illness for people who are sensitive to light.

You may need to make adjustments to find solutions that work for as many people as possible.

Who Is Helped

Accessibility must address a wide range of disabilities and circumstances. eeds can change over time. People with disabilities, whether permanent or temporary, benefit from solutions designed to support different ways of accessing information, services, and spaces.

Older adults may experience changes in vision, hearing, or mobility, making it important to balance multiple needs so they can continue to participate fully. Even people in tough environments, like noisy rooms or bright sunlight, need accessible features. They rely on things like video captions and strong color contrast on screens.

Designers, developers, and planners must recognize how accessibility methods affect users. This awareness leads to better, more inclusive solutions for all.

Guidelines

Accessibility approaches should balance different needs as much as possible. In practice, one of the key starting points is to understand what people need to do, or are trying to do, in a space, service, or product. That goal should then inform how you assess which accessibility methods to use. Beginning with the goal makes it easier to address conflicting access needs.

For example, if the aim is to make the video easy to understand for all, you can give viewers the option to turn captions on or off instead of embedding them.

You can begin to balance needs by:

Accepting that supporting one group may not support another. A ramp helps people who use wheelchairs but may not help someone who is blind.
Providing options whenever possible. Captions help those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Transcripts allow people with cognitive disabilities extra time to understand information. Both can be offered so individuals choose what works best.
Asking whether your solution can be adapted to fit different needs. An elevator is helpful for people with mobility disabilities. It’s also helpful for anyone pushing a stroller.
Seeking feedback from people with different disabilities. A color palette that looks clear to one person may be unreadable to someone with low vision or color blindness. Involving a range of perspectives helps create more flexible and effective solutions.

Contributing in Your Context

To balance different access needs, try to offer options so that people can choose what works for them. The examples show how you can do this in different contexts:

At Work

Share information in more than one format (text, audio, visual) so people can use the method that suits them best.
Pick software that offers customizable fonts and colors. Preferences vary, so what one person likes may not work for someone else.
Create areas with different lighting levels. Some people like bright spaces, but others feel better in dimmer light.

At School

Provide course materials in multiple formats like captions, transcripts, plain language so students can access information in the way they process it best.
Use flexible classroom layouts that support both sensory needs and mobility requirements.
Allow students to complete assignments in different formats.riting a paper and recording a video can demonstrate the same understanding in different ways.

At Home

Ask guests what they may need before they come, so you can balance different needs ahead of time.
Label items in ways that everyone in the household can understand, and keep them in the same place to reduce confusion.
Adjust lighting or sound to support different needs.or example, lower background music for someone with hearing loss and make sure there is enough light for someone with low vision.

Online

Provide captions, transcripts, and screen reader–friendly formatting so people can choose the method that works best.
Allow users to change settings such as contrast, font size, or playback speed, since one setting may be helpful to one person but distracting to another.
Use plain language whenever possible to support people with different levels of literacy or cognitive processing.

In Public Spaces

Provide areas with different levels of sensory stimulation so people can choose a quieter or more active environment.
Ensure signs use both text and symbols so information is understandable to a wider range of people.
Report barriers like broken elevators or hard-to-read signs. This way, we can keep spaces accessible for everyone.

Conflicting Access Needs

Sometimes accessibility solutions that support one group of people can create barriers for another. These are called “conflicting access needs,” and they are a normal part of designing for diverse groups of people. The goal is not to eliminate every conflict, but to recognize them early and provide options whenever possible.

For example:

High-contrast text helps people with low vision, but too much brightness can trigger discomfort for people with sensory sensitivities.
Captions help people who are deaf or hard of hearing. However,burned-in captions can make a video hard to watch for some people with disabilities that affect concentration.
A quiet room reduces noise for people with sensory sensitivities, but some people may need background sound for focus or safety cues.

To balance these needs, begin by identifying the goal, what people are trying to do, and then consider how to support that goal in multiple ways. For example, options like adjustable contrast settings, captions that can be turned on or off, or designated quiet and active spaces allow individuals to choose what works best for them.

Conflicting access needs are reminders that accessibility is complex and ongoing. Listen to feedback, stay flexible, and focus on participation. This way, you can create environments that work for more people.

Progress Over Perfection

As accessibility advocate Meryl Evans reminds us in her Progress Over Perfection framework, “accessibility will never be fully complete because people’s needs are diverse and changing.” In this spirit, you do not need to cover every possibility at once, but provide choices and remain open to feedback.

You can make steady process towards balancing different needs when you:

Listen to feedback from people with different disabilities
Offer more than one way to access the same resource
Adjust designs when barriers are identified

This approach shows that that accessibility is always evolving. When we commit to progress over perfection, we create environments that are more accessible for everyone.