Accessibility in Design
Accessibility in UX/UI design, and why you can make a difference
What is accessibility?
According to any dictionary, the meaning of accessibility is
‘Easy to reach’, ‘Easy to access’, ‘Easily Understood’
Although from a common perception the definition makes sense to a certain extent however, from a design perspective accessibility is very different and is often misunderstood with usability. Usability of a product is the ease with which it is used by the user and how easily it solves the user problems, Good usability is when the user can complete a certain task with ease and with no interruptions.
Accessibility from a design perspective is when a product is accessible to everyone and is inclusive to every type of user. Accessibility in design is making products/services for users with disabilities such as vision, hearing, motor, mobility among others.
Why care about accessibility?
UX/UI designers have a certain set of power, with which comes great responsibility. The job of the designer is to give users complete freedom along with making all the decisions on behalf of the users. Making accessible designs makes your users revisit your product which increases retainability making the product profitable and marketable. Making design accessible is not only the right thing to do but could benefit all types of users, designs inclusive to all users will help users complete user goals with ease and could make the product overall better. For example, Subtitles which we love/hate to read during a movie are helping the user with hearing disability along with users watching the movie on mute or for users who don’t understand the language of the motion picture. Designing products/services which are accessible to every user isn’t just a good design practice, it is a way of making a product more complete.
Multiple companies had to run rounds of courtrooms as their website wasn’t accessible to users.
“Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been interpreted by many courts to include websites as places of public accommodation”
This has helped users take an organization to court over websites which are not accessible to users.
A lawsuit was filed against Netflix in 2012 for its website failing to provide adequate closed captioning on most of its “Watch Instantly” content.
Amazon also had to fight its accessibility issues with users who are blind and visually impaired. Multiple cases were filled because of the inability to use screen readers on the website, as well as incompatibility with refresh-able braille displays.
Along with designers, the organization should also take onus on making their product/service accessible to everyone as they are missing out on potential users and could dodge a possible lawsuit.
My Personal Experience
Last year I was diagnosed with Keratoconus (Conical Cornea) which makes my cornea change shape and if not treated in time this may lead to problems with my vision which could result in a cornea transplant. Not going into many details, the doctor asked me to go through a procedure that had me wearing an eye patch over the next two months, with multiple eye drops to go with it. I love watching sport, and especially football but with the eye patch on and my partial vision, I was deprived of watching the game. A football app (FotMob) came to my rescue in such times, the application made it possible for me to listen to the commentary of the games which helped me a lot. This experience was very insightful for me as I was in the shoes of people suffering from a visual disability however, it was just a sliver compared to what people go through but was in a way eye-opening.
A product that is not accessible to some percentage of people makes the user feel that they aren’t invited to a party which was supposed to be open for all, users with disabilities have a completely different perspective to things which we cannot comprehend even if we try to.
Possible Issues During Accessible Designing
From a design perspective, there can be multiple potential accessibility issues users could have, such as
1. Visual
2. Motor/Mobility
3. Auditory
4. Cognitive Issues
5. Environmental (Bad Network Areas)
Moreover, there can be other sets of user accessibility issues that the designers should design keeping in mind but we can’t expect the designer to preempt everything hence, user testing and user research are the most useful tool for the designer here. Understanding your target audience and, researching after the product goes live may help to discover a new set of audiences for the product for whom the product wasn’t planned.
“If you want to make God laugh, tell it about your plans”
Naturally, we should test for accessibility on users themselves as that is the most important piece of insight you desire for the product. It is almost impossible to design for every potential accessibility issue but the aim to reach all user domains could improve your product and can yield multiple rewards. It’ll make your product more accessible and human.
I still have a lot to learn about accessibility in design, in a way I’m looking forwards to it the most in my design journey as it will help me become a better designer as well as an empathic person. I believe accessible designing could help me become a better human being too and I can’t wait to experience such life-changing perspectives, where I can make a difference in someone’s life, it was such a reason why I started my design journey.
I’d love to know what you think about this topic, thanks for reading. Cheers!!
