How can you make apps accessible?
Apps are becoming increasingly important in our lives. We regularly grab our phones: to arrange things with the government, but also to check what time the train leaves or to send a message to a friend. Apps can make our lives a lot more fun and easier. But for many people, apps are unfortunately not yet easily accessible. After reading this article, you will know all about making apps accessible.
Making apps accessible? Attention is the first step
Making your app digitally accessible has all kinds of advantages. Fortunately, there is also an increasing focus on making apps accessible. On 5 July, for instance, the House of Representatives passed a motion to draw up a plan to make the most needed government apps 100% accessible. This is indeed necessary, as almost every government app has accessibility problems. But unfortunately, problems are still common in other apps, such as those of banks and online shops.
Even for government websites and apps, it is not yet a given that they are accessible to all. This despite there being a legal requirement for this.
Elma Gelens (55), is completely blind
Making apps accessible: here's how to do it
As more attention is being paid to digitally accessible apps, demand is also growing. Clients increasingly expect designers and developers to know how to make an accessible app. Yet it can be quite difficult to know where to start.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines also apply to apps, so this is also the starting point for developing accessible apps. Here are already six aspects you can pay attention to in order to make your app digitally accessible.
1. Clear design
It is important that apps have a clear design. Then, for example, it is easy to understand how to operate the app, e.g. via buttons and links. It is also important that the design is consistent across different pages. This way, users know what to expect from the app and it is easier to operate it.
2. Clear headings and labels
Make sure you make good use of headings and labels. With clear headings, users can quickly find the right information. It is also important that buttons have clear labels. For example, if icons are used to go to certain pages, the meaning of the icon should be clear to everyone. The use of a text alternative, for example, is important for this, that way a blind user can still understand this button.
It is also important that input fields have clear and visible labels. To save space, the label of an input field is often on in the input field itself. No label but a placeholder text is then used. The problem is then that the placeholder text is not visible during and after completion, a user then has no information about what should be entered in that field. In addition to these requirements for the visibility of a label to an input field, users of auxiliary software should also be clear which label belongs to which input field. The label and the input field must be linked.
When using the internet, I run into several problems. With apps, for example, it often happens that buttons are not labelled. So then I don't know what the button is for.
Iris Hulzinga (18), can only distinguish light and dark
3. Use of colour
When designing an app, it is important to pay attention to the use of colour. Make sure there is enough contrast everywhere. This way, everyone can see everything clearly. This is important for people who are visually impaired, but also if, for example, someone is using the phone while the sun is shining on it.
Also make sure you don't convey information with colour alone. For example, if you have a reservation system, don't just use red and green to indicate which seats are still available.
In some apps, you can turn on a high-contrast feature with a separate setting. It is then important that this function is easy to find and that the steps someone has to take to activate it are visible. So these should already have enough contrast. Also note that "dark mode" is not the same as a "high contrast" display. With a dark colour scheme, as used in dark mode, it is not obvious that all elements also have enough contrast.
4. Alternatives
If certain elements of your app are not accessible to everyone, at least make sure you offer alternatives. For instance, there are apps where you have to swipe to operate the app. It is important that this function can also be operated in another way, such as with buttons.
If you convey information through images, it is also important to give them good text alternatives. This way, this information is also available to people who use pre-reading software, for example.
Are there videos in your app? Then make sure the videos have good subtitles. This will make them accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing. But subtitles are also very useful for people who watch videos on their phone in the train or in a library, for example, and cannot turn on the sound.
5. Customisable
It is important to take into account different screen resolutions and text sizes. Apps are of course most commonly used on phones, but also on tablets, for example. In addition, it is important that it is possible to enlarge text. All text should then still be easy to read, but no buttons should fall out of view, for example. All information and all functions should remain available when customising the app.
6. testing
It is best to think about accessibility right from the start of app development. You can then already take into account users with different types of disabilities. Making an app accessible afterwards is often much more complicated. It can help to test the app regularly. For example, test your app with reading aloud software such as VoiceOver and TalkBack. It is also a good idea to test your app without sound, if your app contains videos, for example. Also test whether it is possible to enlarge text, for example.
Do you find it difficult to test yourself? Then you can involve people with disabilities and ask what they encounter. You can also commission an accessibility survey. That way you can find out what problems there are.
Starting to make apps accessible
Time to get to work on making your app digitally accessible. Not getting there? Then get in touch with us. We can advise on how best to approach making your app accessible.
