Redesigning A.B.L.E. with Accessibility at the Core
A.B.L.E.—Artists Breaking Limits & Expectations—is working to be a model for meaningful, accessible, and inclusive theatre in Chicago and beyond.
From its theatre ensembles for actors with disabilities to its expert-led accessibility and inclusion consulting services, A.B.L.E.’s website is essential for connection and communication. Still, it wasn’t serving its users as well as it could. LimeRed crafted new brand messaging, refreshed its brand identity, and redesigned its website with accessibility and user experience as key priorities.
Brand Strategy & Messaging
A.B.L.E. Ensemble has a strong mission and vision, but its brand messaging needed to be focused to connect with key stakeholders—actors, parents, clients, donors, and sponsors. Through collaborative workshops with its team and thoughtful surveys with its actors, clients, and community, we defined a brand personality rooted in support and joy that reflects the transformative experiences A.B.L.E.’s shows offer audiences. The messaging is direct, friendly, and easy to understand, supporting users with disabilities and their families and caretakers.
We also refined the tone and voice to reflect the organization’s empathy and expertise. Short, simple sentences and clear calls to action help easily guide users through the site.
Identity Refresh
We refreshed A.B.L.E.’s visual identity to reflect its team and community’s welcoming and vibrant nature. The design system is built to be simple, scalable, and accessible. We introduced a calm, rich color palette with high contrast ratios to help with readability and selected typefaces for legibility on screens and for people with learning differences. We didn’t change the logo, but we did resize the mark to be a little smaller so the balance was better, and it worked in more situations.
The typeface we used for the website is Readex Pro, one of Google’s typefaces made specifically for accessibility.
This new identity works across digital and print platforms and is flexible enough to adapt to different types of content, whether it’s a detailed resource or an upcoming show announcement.
Revenue-Generating & Accessibility-First Website Redesign
Accessibility was the foundation of our site redesign. The new A.B.L.E. website meets WCAG 2.1 AA standards, and every design decision was made with inclusive access in mind. We spent a lot of time upfront looking into the site’s current integrations, with the goal of simplifying them into one or two more manageable services, thus saving administration time and expense.
The site is designed for easy use, from consistent navigation and structured headings to a friendly mobile experience and skimmable layouts. We selected images and video b-roll from A.B.L.E.’s archive that showed A.B.L.E.’s warm, impactful, and human-centered work.
We also made sure every user has a clear pathway to find what they’re looking for—whether they want to join an ensemble, hire A.B.L.E. for workshops or consulting, or enjoy a past performance. We brought A.B.L.E.’s two paid consulting offerings to the forefront, giving them a clearer platform to attract new clients who want to improve accessibility in their organization. We also brought A.B.L.E’s video archive, which was buried in the previous site, to the front for visitors to rent, buy, or watch for free.
We created dedicated pages for each acting ensemble, making it easier for visitors to sign up for the program that works best for them. The pages also clearly explain how to volunteer, buy a ticket, donate, or support them in other ways.
We incorporated alt text and an intuitive visual hierarchy to support assistive technology users. We also tested and refined colors, icons, and interactive elements for clarity and consistency.
The result? A website that doesn’t just better reflect A.B.L.E.’s spirit—it actually works better for the people who rely on it most.
