Short answer
Accessible Design focuses on technical standards and regulatory compliance for people with disabilities. Universal Design aims to create one solution that works for everyone. Inclusive Design is an approach that involves marginalized groups and creates varied solutions for different human needs.
Explanation
Inclusive Design, promoted by Microsoft Design, follows the principle "Solve for one, extend to many." For example, video captions designed mainly for people with hearing loss (a permanent disability) also help a passenger on a crowded train without headphones (a situational disability) or a parent holding a sleeping child (a temporary disability). It views disability as a mismatch between a person's abilities and the designed environment, not as a personal deficiency.
Common mistakes
- Treating accessibility as a technical checklist at the end of a project instead of adopting inclusion as a design mindset.
- Assuming there is an "average, normal" user and designing everything around that statistical fiction.