Best Accessibility

Best Accessibility Finalist

Universal Look & Feel

WIPO

Introduction

The Universal Look & Feel (ULF) design system, developed by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), powers all of our digital products and services. It combines principles, templates, components and best practices to ensure consistency, usability and inclusivity across WIPO’s digital ecosystem. More than 20 teams now rely on ULF as their single source of truth for design, development and content creation.

Accessibility strategy

Accessibility is at the heart of ULF. For WIPO, it is not a compliance checkbox but a digital responsibility. It ensures that everyone can access, use and trust our services. ULF meets WCAG 2.1 Level AA and international standards, embedding accessibility across websites, applications, services and communications. This is put into practice through:

Component-level specifications that enforce inclusive design
Role-specific guidance for publishers, developers and designers
Developer resources with standards, examples and best practices
Inclusive testing with assistive technology users and automated checks
Governance reviews that ensure consistency and accountability
A dedicated Accessibility Champion, taskforce and training programs
Awareness initiatives like quizzes and onboarding that make accessibility part of our culture

By embedding accessibility in the design system, WIPO makes it sustainable and scalable, fully aligned with our mission to serve innovators and creators worldwide.

Impact

This approach has delivered measurable results. WIPO has been recognized as having the most accessible intellectual property office website for two consecutive years.

Accessibility has improved usability, boosted traffic and reduced friction across user journeys. These improvements benefit people with disabilities, mobile users and those in low-bandwidth environments.

Within WIPO, accessibility is now a shared responsibility across more than 20 teams. It is supported by structured governance and validated by real users of assistive technology.

The Universal Look & Feel is setting a benchmark not only for IP offices but for the wider international community.

Timeline

Nominations will be open from Tuesday 13 May. If you have any questions about the nomination process, then check out the FAQs, or if your question isn't answered, please get in touch at community@zeroheight.com

13 May, 2025
Once the nominations are closed, we'll be collating the longlist and working through it to determine a shortlist. The shortlist will be determined by the team at zeroheight, and will be based on uniform judging criteria (which we will share in a month or two). With the shortlist creation, we aim to remove as much bias as possible and give everyone a fair chance across the board.

22 August, 2025
In September, the shortlist will be announced, including public voting! We'll notify all folks as to whether they made the shortlist. The judges will then individually judge each shortlisted entry. We'll also have public voting on each category live on the site!

15 September, 2025
Once all the judges and public votes are counted, we'll then be able to determine the winner for each category, based off a weighted compilation of votes.

3 November, 2025
In December, we'll gather the community together at an event in London to announce the winners live. We'll also be live-streaming the ceremony for those who can't make it. The live event will be invite only, but we'll offer the community a chance to apply for a ticket later in the year! We'll also post the results to the zeroheight site the day after the event.

December 2025 (TBA)