Making sure that the organization’s vision, values, and operations are in line with a dedication to social responsibility and diversity required careful consideration of ethical issues during the Welcome House design process. Cultural sensitivity was my first ethical consideration. It is imperative that Welcome House respects cultural differences and connects with the varied communities it serves. In order to accomplish this, I used inclusive language, images, and design components that symbolise a range of identities, ethnicities, and backgrounds. To better serve the heterogeneous community that Welcome House supports, for instance, I included three language options in the design: English, Arabic, and Amharic.
Accessibility was the second ethical factor I gave top priority to. To make sure the website is useable by those with visual impairments, I used accessibility guidelines like WCAG 2.1. This involved selecting legible fonts, preserving suitable colour contrasts, and putting other design decisions into practice that improve the website’s usability for all users.
For sustainability considerations, I focused on minimizing the environmental impact while maintaining a user-friendly and effective digital presence. One key practice I applied was Image Optimization—compressing and optimizing image files to reduce the overall data load and speed up loading times, which in turn lowers the energy required for users to access the content. For the hero image, I made sure to reduce its size, contributing to faster load times and improved energy efficiency. Additionally, I adopted a minimalist design approach, using fewer elements and simpler layouts to promote faster loading and lower energy consumption. For instance, in the “HOW YOU CAN HELP” section, I opted for icons and simple frames instead of full images. I also avoided overly complex animations and only used essential interactive elements to ensure the website runs efficiently without unnecessary strain on devices or excessive energy use.