Accessibility for apps

For people with physical or mental impairments, using web applications or apps can be a challenge. For this reason, more and more websites are being designed in accordance with the guidelines of the World Wide Web Consortium ( W3C) have been adapted for accessibility. This makes it easier for people with hearing or visual impairments or motor or cognitive difficulties to use.

The W3C guidelines have so far only covered accessibility issues for websites. There are no guidelines for mobile apps – but these are becoming increasingly important. The majority of cell phone users now carry out almost all of their online activities via mobile. However, mobile use presents completely different hurdles than, for example, a desktop application.

The changing lighting conditions alone can limit use. If users do not have headphones with them, a video without subtitles is suddenly no longer very helpful and, depending on the operating system settings, different default settings can be personalized – all of this must be taken into account when developing an app.

Accessible apps and applications are those that can be used by people with disabilities without any restrictions. They are therefore designed to meet various needs. These include, for example, enlargeable fonts, color selection and, above all, color contrast, a read-aloud mode, speech recognition or the positioning of interface elements. Mobile devices usually already offer these aids as part of the operating system. This means that people with disabilities already have them set up for their cell phone.

The number one rule for more accessibility in an app is therefore not to overwrite or block this personalization of the user in the operating system, but to adopt it. It is also important to build the app in such a way that a screen reader integrated into the operating system can correctly recognize all elements in read-aloud mode. This includes ensuring that it can navigate through the app in the correct order and that a meaningful text is stored for the visual images. This allows existing features to be used optimally.

There are a few basics within the app that ensure more accessibility without massive effort. These include adding subtitles to videos, paying attention to color contrasts and ensuring that the app also works in landscape format, to name just a few.

From our own experience, we can say that it doesn’t take much to make your app accessible. An accessibility review can therefore be well worthwhile for existing apps. “We look at the app in detail and give tips and suggestions,” says Maria. Just like with our App reviews is about making a big impact with small steps. But we also recognize and communicate underlying problems. “It’s important for us to deliver clever solutions and to put the effort into perspective so that the scope of the app is not exceeded,” says Maria.

We have already been able to carry out such an app review for some customers in recent weeks and offer a catalog of possible adaptations accordingly. Everyone can benefit from the expertise of our accessibility specialists with this offer – regardless of whether the app was developed by us or not. Ultimately, as always, our aim is to provide users with the most comprehensive experience possible – without any barriers.