Although these two strategies are not mutually exclusive, their objectives have slightly different focuses.
Accessibility strives to make an existing product usable for particular disability groups.
This may come in the form of retrofitting or assistive technologies and may be specific to each type of disability. For example, television accessibility needs to be approached differently for the visually impaired and for the hearing impaired. The aim of Universal Design is to design products that accommodate the broadest range of users regardless of age or ability. This approach calls for design that is usable for a broad range of end-users without alterations or accommodations for accessibility. There will always someone who cannot use a product.