Streaming service platforms for the visually impaired.

I believe that universal design is one of the most important considerations when creating products and services.

With the European accessibility act coming into effect on the 28th of June 2025, I decided to dedicate my thesis to better understanding the world of accessible design.

Literature Review

The World Health Organisation report that at least 2.2 billion people around the world have a vision impairment.

People watch an average of 19 hours of online video content per week, a number that has increased by 8.5 hours in the last four years.

Accessibility standards have existed on the web since 1999 with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0

Universal design is defined as “the process of producing a single product that can be used by people of all abilities and in a variety of contexts.”

The principles of inclusive design are split into five areas, people, diversity, choices, flexibility and convenience

An online survey of over 3,000 disabled people found that 80% of respondents were still under-served by streaming services

Problem Statement

How might we improve the user experience of all streaming video platforms so that individuals with visual impairments have easier access to accessibility tools and audio-described content?

User Surveys

67% of respondents were legally blind, while the other 33% described their impairment as severe.

69% of the people I surveyed had difficulty finding and activating accessibility features.

75% of the people that took part in the survey had two or more video streaming subscriptions, making it difficult to remember where to find accessibility settings whn movng between them.

Stakeholder Interviews

I conducted interviews with many people in the visually impaired community to better understand their struggles from multiple points of view.

Gerry Shanahan

Voice of Vision Impairment Member

Gerry is blind, is a vocal member of the VVI and an advocate for digital inclusion and universal design. He thought me about some of the day-to-day struggles he faces.

Colin Eyre

User Experience designer

Colin is an experienced designer who has spent his career working with accessibility advocacy groups and charities. He has years worth of experience developing solutions for accessibility challenges.

Joe Lonergan

National council for the blind of Ireland

Joe works with the NCBI in training their members on how to adapt to life without sight, and how to incorporate technology as a tool to help you keep a high standard of living after losing your eyesight.

Further steps to identify my solution

Create Personas

User Journey Maps

Stakeholder Mapping

Opportunity Redefinition

SCAMPER

Stakeholder Ideation

Design solution and testing hypothesis

I chose to design a solution for the inconsistent placement of controls on the video player across different streaming services.

By redesigning the digital video player to implement accessible design heuristics, improved controls and presenting it as a new standard for all platforms, we can improve the viewing experience for most users of web-based video.

Combining previous research with an analysis of the current streaming platform’s video players, I learned that the biggest pain points were inconsistent layouts combined with difficulty accessing controls.

Taking these as inspiration for my design, I created a new interface for a video player that would work with visually impaired individuals, not against them.

The video player looks basic, by design, but makes subtle changes to help those without vision.

Each corner has been assigned a specific task, and every button extends to the very edge of the screen. This means that a person without vision can drag a mouse to the corner and know that they will activate what they need.