Digital products have made the world a better place, it’s clear. We have seen internet access as a human right in our lifetime.
You are just a few clicks away from seemingly endless information. You can do everything online, from ordering groceries and paying taxes to interact directly with your government. However, not all digital experiences can be accessed.
Many people mistakenly believe that people with disabilities are a small percentage of their users. Nearly 1 in 5 Americans have a disability. 54% of Americans with disabilities use the internet. The web is now accessible to everyone, thanks to the internet.
An accessible website is coded and designed so that people with disabilities can access it. When designing intuitive user interfaces or experiences, designers must consider accessibility.
Web content accessibility guidelines 2.0 are currently only required for websites in the public sector. This sets websites to conform to accessibility standards similar to those that apply to the built environment. We will see increased pressure on the private sector to adhere to these accessibility standards over the next year and into the future.
The Interaction Design Foundation states five main usability areas: visual, motor/ability and auditory. Also, seizures and learning should be considered. People from all walks of life can use your site or app. They hope to find the information they need as fast and as easily as possible.
These are some ways to make your site more accessible.
Users can resize pages and content
Users are viewing your product from different screens and on different devices. We love creating experiences that allow users to adjust the content size to suit their needs. This is how it works: When a user enters data into a field, the page automatically zooms in to the field. To ensure the correct action, the user must be able to zoom in or out. This makes it easy to create a seamless experience.
Use the search bar to make it easy to find & use
We discussed in our 2019 trends presentation at the Beer and UX meeting. Large brands are making use of a prominent, simple-to-use search bar.
User experience is about minimizing the effort required by the user to accomplish a task. For example, limiting the number of clicks needed to enter information in a search bar. On the Tidal streaming platform, for example, a click on the search symbol will take you to the search page. It also opens the keyboard so that you can enter your query.
It takes only two clicks to open the search bar and search icon.
Each image can be given alt text
Alt tags have many benefits beyond SEO. Alt text makes it easier for people with visual impairments to understand your images. This is particularly important when images aren’t just decorative.
Moz recommends that alt text be kept brief. It’s best to keep the alt text below 125 characters as most screen readers will cut it off at that point. Instagram introduced alt text functions to their platform in 2018, making headlines. This, along with other moves, was an early sign that accessible UI wasn’t a new trend. It’s a standard.
Use section headings
Digital products should be just like a book or street sign. They are expected to provide information in a way that organizes, guides, and moves the user to their next step.
Section headings are like a subtitle on a blog or at the top of a page. They help readers remember what they are reading. In a WebAIM survey 67% said that they prefer to navigate through the headings of the page. This finding was a better choice than the “find” feature or navigating through all the links on the page and reading the entire page.
Use color contrast
This is a key aspect of making your UI easier to read. Sometimes your text may not have enough contrast to the background, or your font size is too small. To make colors more easily accessible, you can use these resources. We love Kevin Gutowski’s site, HTML Aim and Contrast App.
Link text can be used in the menu navigation
This method is for users who have trouble finding menu items. It allows them to know what tab they are hovering on and where they are located on the site. One possible solution is to hover over a menu item on a webpage and have the screen reader read the link text.
The user clicks on the item to be taken to their chosen page. It is recommended that clickable areas be large, no smaller than 44px x 44px. No matter what use case, menu navigation is the most important part of any website. Link texts, which can be used to describe images using alt text, are similar to how you use alt text for images. They also help to identify items that relate to your navigation.