UI accessibility is a complicated thing that requires you to think outside the box to consider all types of users. Here are 5 ways to do it now.
Last March, we shared an article about why we should all care about tech accessibility . We argued that accessibility was crucial because it democratized technology, making it available to everyone, from people with physical disabilities to individuals without technological knowledge. We said (and I quote) “(accessibility) can give us all a new sense of comfort, help us in the future and lead us to a new way of interacting with the world in incredibly sophisticated ways, without leaving anyone out”.
This article was published shortly before the pandemic fully hit us. After the Coronavirus began to spread around the world, the need for accessibility became more evident. As lockdowns forced us to turn to technology to work, study and maintain some semblance of normality in our everyday lives, many people struggled to make sense of this new digital reality. In addition to the challenges brought by the disease itself, many people also had to face new tools and digital environments without preparation or prior knowledge.
As the complicated implementation of these technologies in different areas demonstrates, many of the technologies that many of us take for granted present challenges for others. Of course, these problems were multifaceted and not just caused by the lack of accessibility of technology. But I'm convinced that if we all followed accessibility principles more closely, these new users wouldn't have had so many problems.
I'm writing this article – because we need to start solving the accessibility problem today. Naturally, this is not a problem that we will solve overnight, as it has many implications. But we have to start at some point, right. That's why I decided to share some essential accessibility tips for you, focusing on the part of digital technology that users interact with: the user interface.
Some of these things may seem basic, but they are the foundation of accessibility in UI Design , so it's always important to remember them. But before we dive into these five simple ways to make UI more accessible, let's revisit what accessibility means when applied to user interfaces.
What is UI accessibility?
In simpler terms, working on the accessibility of any product (digital or not) involves improving its usability to ensure that anyone can use it comfortably and without major complications. In other words, it focuses on ALL users and aims to provide the same user experience for everyone.
This means a lot of things, as making something accessible will make you think about how to make your user interface more understandable, intuitive, and hassle-free. This process will require you to think about users with low vision, blindness, hearing, cognitive or motor impairments, those with situational disabilities, and low or no technological knowledge.
UI accessibility is a complicated thing that requires you to think outside the box to consider all types of users. For this journey to be successful, you must remember the three main principles of UI accessibility:
- Clear: Interfaces should have clear layouts with distinct buttons, menus, and calls to action.
- Robust: an accessible product aims to serve the widest possible range of users, regardless of their particular conditions.
- Specific: The interface should take full advantage of the accessibility features available (i.e. on a mobile operating system).
With all this in mind, it's time to look at these suggestions for improving the accessibility of your UI.
Enjoy color and contrast
Color and contrast are at the heart of software design, so it's the best place to start thinking about UI accessibility. By combining the two, you can make your interface easily noticeable, even to people with color blindness or visual impairment. In fact, using color and contrast correctly suggests the appropriate way in which the user should approach the product, highlighting certain elements and even pointing out a proposed direction for navigation.
To achieve this effect, you must use very contrasting colors and allow plenty of white space to emphasize the resulting contrasts. You can use the most dramatic color contrasts to highlight your most important elements (buttons with your main CTA or menu items that provide access to support).
Also, remember that contrast isn't just about color. You can use contrasting shapes, sizes, and even fonts to achieve the same effect.
Pay attention to the visual hierarchy
It's highly likely that if you put enough emphasis on contrast and color, you'll end up with a balanced user interface with a clear visual hierarchy. This means that the elements have an organic relationship with each other, where the most important among them stands out at first glance while the secondary elements complete a coherent narrative map.
This narrative map is key here, as you use the positioning of different elements to generate specific meaning in your UI (i.e. you try to convey how you want users to perceive and use the interface). Some things you can do to achieve better visual hierarchy is to avoid overcrowding the different screens. Define the absolutely essential elements for each and build around them, but always try to be as economical as possible.
Also, remember that even with the best layout you can create, there will be people with visual impairments who will need help to better interact with your product. Make your content scalable and use an easy-to-read font to ensure they can also use your app, website, or whatever you're designing.
Use interactive elements wisely
Remember those early days of the Internet when web developers crammed in as many interactive elements as possible just because it was fun? Yeah, well that's the exact opposite of an accessible UI. Using too many interactive features just for the sake of elegance may give your product a nice look, but it can hurt its accessibility and make it difficult for people to engage.
Naturally, you'll need interactive elements to create richer user experiences – but you need to keep their use in check. So how can you decide whether an interactive element is worth including? Think about how useful this is for the end user. A small pop-up pointing to a chatbot can be great for less tech-savvy people to know where to look for help, but going overboard can also confuse them.
Therefore, interactive elements need to be relevant and timely, as they need to be present to improve the user experience and provide greater accessibility. Of course, the best way to find out if you're doing a good job with interactive elements is to test your product and get specific feedback on them – especially from potential users who might have some accessibility issues in the first place.
Allow users to resize their screens
I already mentioned this a little bit in the visual hierarchy section, but this is very important, so I'm explaining it a little more. People can use your product (an app or website) on different sized screens (and even in different orientations). This is why you must empower your product with adaptability.
Responsive design is the ultimate example of adaptability, so you should keep it in mind when developing a product. This doesn't mean, however, that you should end there. You can provide users with the ability to rearrange the UI to better suit their needs. This is the underlying purpose of certain modern users (like Mozilla Firefox), which allows you to rearrange your buttons and commands.
Of course, you will also need to make your users aware of your adaptability options. This means two things. First, make sure you introduce these features to users as soon as they start using your product. And so, don't bury accessibility options in a submenu – you're looking for an accessible UI, so everything that can make it more accessible to users should be within reach.
Test, adjust and test again
Even the most comprehensive list of UI accessibility tips can't cover every accessibility possibility you might encounter in any audience. The only way to be sure your product is accessible to your users is to test it with the help of real people and adjust it based on their feedback.
This will give you a better understanding of how people view your UI and how they engage with it. Collecting data from these tests can help you investigate your audience's different points of view and better inform your UI design to make it even more accessible.
Testing is an inherent part of the design process and you should definitely perform it. Even if you feel your UI is foolproof, you should still perform some real-world usage testing. You never know what kind of insight you'll gain once your product reaches your audience, so it's better to resolve any potential issues through a controlled testing group than to have to tinker with it after it hits the market.
It's time to start caring about UI accessibility
As you've no doubt noticed, these are basic tips that can help you get started on the topic of UI accessibility. Keep in mind, though, that these are by no means the only things to keep in mind when designing for accessibility. There are other options you should explore, especially those related to specific platforms, devices, and (most importantly) audiences.
And if you're still in doubt about the importance of accessibility, I recommend you go back to that post from March and read the reasons why you should care. Hopefully, you'll end up understanding how it can benefit everyone: you, your company, your target audience, and society as a whole.
Source: BairesDev
