Making it accessible is not merely a nice-to-have feature for your mobile application anymore. Rather a must-have feature in this day and age, is to make the user experience a smooth journey– for everyone regardless of disabilities. The smartphone has nearly become a basic need for people in all parts of the world and the use of mobile apps is growing at staggering rates like never before. To make sure that anyone with visual impairments or hearing disabilities can still use a mobile application to gain knowledge or order groceries online, app developers must consider implementing tools and techniques for better accessibility.
Why Does Accessibility Matter?
According to a study, nearly 15% of the population have disabilities. There is not just one or two reasons why accessibility is important. Apart from the moral aspect of creating an app that promotes equality, and allowing the 15% of the population with disabilities to be able to use your app, accessibility features also give a positive impression of your app. This in turn enhances your brand, and return on investment in the app.
There are various types of accessibility concerns that both Android and iOS platforms address with their tools. Some of these include screen readers for visual impairments, transcriptions and captions for hearing impairments, configuration shortcuts for mobility impairments, and simple clear iconography for literacy disadvantages. Now let’s take a deeper insight into this.
Ways To Make Your Mobile Application More Accessible
If you’re looking for the best mobile application development company in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to launch your new app, and want to get a heads up on ways to make your app more accessible, you’ve reached the right blog post. Keep reading as we navigate through a few important and practical tips to make your app reach everyone’s heart.
UI Design
The UI design of an app plays a huge role in making an app more accessible. From using a minimum font size of 16px for body text, and other indications rather than color for status changes, there are many steps that designers can implement carefully with a lot of research. Make sure that standard UI components are used whenever possible so that controls have the correct traits for VoiceOver and all navigation gestures are in place.
You can also consider using a simple UI rather than a complex one. This will help make your app accessible to all ages as navigation doesn’t become complicated and confusing.
Text and Images
While designing the mobile application, it is important to treat images as images, and text as text without focusing majorly only on images. This is because texts on images will not be read by voiceovers and important information on images can be missed by visually impaired users.
Also, you need to have the dynamic type mode on for the app so that text can be adjusted to different sizes. However, with text on images, the text size won’t increase even with this mode once again emphasizing the importance of keeping text separate from images. Once done, regularly test this app for voiceover so text that is not being read doesn’t go undetected
Color Contrast Ratios
Unlike the early nineties, times have changed now, and designers generally don’t add light color text on light backgrounds or dark text on dark backgrounds, mainly because it’s not very welcoming to the eye. But apart from ensuring that the mobile application is aesthetically pleasing, color contrast also plays a huge role in making an app more accessible. It is one of the foremost and basic features of making an app more accessible.
While the text on mobile apps that have low contrast may go unnoticed by us, it can be significantly difficult to read for users with visual impairments. A good example of color contrast would be red or black text on white and a bad example would be yellow paired with white.
Designers should keep in mind a minimum contrast ratio of 4:5:1 for normal text and 3;1 for larger text.
Consistency
We all know how important it is to maintain consistency in the mobile app across all devices to enhance the brand image. But did you know that it is also important to ensure accessibility?
Mobile apps with a consistent design help users with disabilities to easily predict the navigation of the app.
Users rely on assistive technology and cognitive impairments to easily understand the app as they’re already familiar with it. They will be able to predict the elements throughout their journey in the app, allowing them to have a user-friendly experience.
Multiple Data Entry Methods
Taking this approach into account when developing a mobile app is another crucial factor because it allows users to choose their preferred method of input, whether voice, touch screen, or Bluetooth keyboard. People with hand mobility impairments will still be able to use an app even when they’re not able to touch the screen.
Providing other alternatives like data-sharing, auto entry, radio buttons, and drop-down lists can also be easier and simpler for users who find it difficult to input long lengths of text.
Conclusion
Mobile application development in Dubai and Abu Dhabi is not just a trend or a marketing tool that you can choose to incorporate anymore. Some countries have made it lawful to make sure apps are accessible to a diverse range of people. Remember, incorporating small changes for your UI UX design in Dubai and Abu Dhabi can make a huge difference to your users. Taking it as a responsibility to make your app accessible to all will undoubtedly bring several benefits for the conversion rate of your mobile application as well.
