The importance of being accessibility-first for effective UX design

Introduction

With accessibility and inclusiveness taking centre stage in the world and influencing a more human aspect of software development, web design has seen a significant shift in recent years. Rethinking the design process is necessary to make sure that processes' steps take accessibility concerns into account. However, other firms are trapped in the past, when accessibility features weren't built into products, and their websites are still inaccessible to all consumers.?

User experience design is crucial to the development of any product, whether it be software or something else entirely. Additionally, accessibility is a subset of user experience design. How a user will successfully utilise and access the product is addressed by accessibility. In this article, we'll look at how the two are related and how to make designs that are accessible.

What is UX Design?

UX is referred to as a user-centered design methodology. Any product's objective is to produce a solution to a user's problem. How a user interacts with a product is taken into account in the user experience component of product design. UX is fundamentally a human-centered approach to problem-solving in product design.?

A user's intents are enabled by user-centric issue solving, which offers an intuitive, user-friendly experience. The preferences and functional needs of the users are incorporated into the experience's or product's design to create a user-centric experience.?

What exactly does "accessibility" mean?

Designing apps with a user interface that all users can traverse easily and comfortably, with a navigation system and content that is in a logical order, should now be considered typical design. The success of an experience or app depends heavily on how simple it is to use.?

Most of the time, we use accessibility features without even realising it. We frequently already take advantage of the device's accessibility features, whether it is turning on dark mode, enlarging or decreasing text size in a Web browser, or speaking text into Siri.

If a product or service is accessible, it means that ALL people can utilize it equally. There are regulations governing accessibility to help those with impairments gain equitable access to goods and services. It is the responsibility of designers to make designs that are as user-friendly and inclusive as they can be. To punish individuals that don't provide accessible items, there are rules and punishments in effect.

Designing accessible technology: Obstacles?

Speed, expense, and other typical front-end errors are common barriers to the development of accessible technology. An organisation may disregard accessibility from the outset in an effort to complete a project as fast and inexpensively as possible. It is also ineffective to retrofit accessibility features into software that has already been released.

Benefits of accessible UX Design - Recommendations for accessible websites and apps?

Integrating accessible design components into our apps is the essence of truly accessibility-first design. When designing for universal accessibility, the following factors must be taken into account:?

Eliminate bias in technology design?

To get a diversity of viewpoints, it's critical for mobile design and development teams to conduct usability tests and engage in interactions with a wide range of consumers. Software engineers and UX designers tackle issues in the context of their own personal experiences. UX research fosters thinking about what-ifs and what-abouts earlier in the design and development process and aids in dismantling mistakenly acquired assumptions, habits, and prejudices.

Clean semantic markup

The most effective way to make apps more accessible is to use user-interface components for Web browsers effectively. The user interface (UI) is constructed while the HTML markup is being created, often without the luxury of a pure design phase and with only a general understanding of the product needs. It's crucial to make sure the markup is flawless and that the app behaves in accordance with user expectations for the devices on which it is installed.

Divert from frustrations

Users may become frustrated with apps that developers have created for the web and released as mobile apps. These include form fields that are half the required width, preventing users from seeing what they type, and user interfaces that need constant pinching and zooming to view or read their input. Users may not expect certain complex behaviours to be triggered by swipe motions on mobile apps.?

Choose your colour schemes wisely

Color usage is crucial while designing software. In order for visitors to easily see and interpret the items on a page, you must make sure that the colours you use have high value contrast and do not generate any color-contrast effects. Check the contrast ratios of the text and background colours to ensure legibility. Making sure that colour isn't the only way you convey specific information is also crucial.?

Design decisions can be made more effectively if those who have colour blindness are taken into consideration.

The current norm for UX design is accessibility, and IT designers are starting to understand how important accessibility is. Understanding user demands and shifting from an accessibility-last to an accessibility-first perspective are essential for bringing about significant change.?

This paradigm shift should usher in a new era of Web design that prioritises accessibility, with development teams constantly aiming to be more inclusive and construct environments that are open to all.

Key takeaways

Although they are frequently mistaken, accessibility and usability are different. Usability focuses on how consumers interact with the design and how to create products that are simple to use and help users reach their objectives or solve problems fast.?

If a product or service is accessible, it means that ALL people can utilize it equally. Businesses who invest in accessibility gain from a larger market for their goods and services, improved SEO results, and positive public relations.

To highlight a few important considerations, designers should stay away from hover menus and carefully consider colour and drop-down menu functionality. In principle, they ought to aim to fix any design flaws that might make it difficult for someone with a disability to utilise the good or service.