In discussing ethics and design, there are at least three different levels for us to consider. The first level has to do with professional behavior in daily business interactions. The next level deals with specific professional expertise needed in such areas as accessibility, usability, consumer safety, and environmental practices. This leads us to the third level, which is about overall professional values —a broader framework of moral principles and obligations in life.

PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR
In your design career, how do you define ethical conduct and where do you turn for guidance? Ethical guidelines can be found on the following organizations’ websites:

• American Institute of Graphic Arts
• Graphic Artists Guild
• Industrial Designers Society of America
• Society of Graphic Designers of Canada
• Australian Graphic Design Association

As you read through these various guidelines, you will see that some of them focus on specific ways to exhibit integrity and respect in your daily business interactions with clients, suppliers, and other designers, while others address much broader issues and present fundamental ethical principles. Guidelines for daily business interactions tend to include such things as:

• Respect other designers in fair and open competition
• Be honest when you are describing your professional experience and competencies
• Avoid any type of conflict of interest
• Acquaint yourself with each client’s business and provide honest and impartial advice
• Maintain the confidentiality of all client information
• Eliminate any form of hidden compensation or kickback
• Maintain commitment to the development of innovative work of the highest quality
• Reject all forms of plagiarism ethics and social responsibility
• Acknowledge authorship of others who have collaborated with you in creating a design

These codes describe recommended behavior for association members. Typically, however, adherence is voluntary. Such guidelines can be helpful in avoiding misunderstandings and disputes between designers and clients, and they can be very useful in educating new designers who are just entering the profession. AIGA also publishes guidelines for ethical practices related to the purchase and use of fonts, software, illustrations, and photography. Pamphlets on these topics are included in the “Design Business & Ethics Series.” They can be downloaded as PDF files from the AIGA site.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE
Depending on your design discipline and the nature of your client’s business, you may need to be aware of additional responsibilities and legal obligations in the following areas.

UNIVERSAL DESIGN AND ACCESSIBILITY
Places, products and services should be universally accessible to people of all ages, abilities, and physical conditions. You’ll want your creative work to reduce barriers and be welcoming to everyone. This means that your designs should facilitate mobility, communication, and participation in civic life. In fact, some aspects of these moral obligations to the public have been written into law in the U.S. and other countries, such as Japan and the U.K.

For example, if you are working in the U.S. and you are designing a physical space, your project may be subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which is a civil rights act that affects private businesses as well as governmental organizations. ADA requirements are of particular importance to industrial designers, interior designers, and architects. They apply to new construction as well as to alterations.

• The U.S. Department of Justice has published a set of “ADA Standards for Accessible Design” on its site.

If you are designing electronic products or digital services in the U.S., you need to be aware of Section 508 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. It’s of particular importance to user interface designers, and software and hardware developers. This law requires electronic and information technology purchased by the U.S. government to be accessible for people with disabilities. It sets accessibility and usability requirements for many websites, video equipment, kiosks, computers, copiers, fax machines, and the like that may be procured by the government, thereby affecting all such products in the American market.

• Much more information about Section 508 is available here