Behind the scenes of accessibility

Within Bitforge, several people have an eye on accessibility in projects – and the ways in which accessibility can be implemented as optimally as possible. These include specialists from UX design, but also from engineering, in order to optimally cover all areas. Accessibility not only concerns the visual presentation of content, but also the technology in the backend.

Our engineer Pascal Hostettler explained what Bitforge does in his presentation at the Accessibility Event. According to him, it is particularly important to ensure that the default accessibility features of the operating system are not switched off or overridden in your own apps. iOS and Android already offer useful pre-set aids for people with disabilities, which – if implemented correctly – can also be used and integrated within specific apps.

For example, the font size can be adjusted for each device. According to the guidelines of the WCAGit must be possible to enlarge this up to 200%. However, if you override this function in the app and do not adopt the settings of the operating system, all the great features already integrated are of no use. The app cannot be used by people with impaired vision.

Almost all apps can be improved with small tweaks. You can find out what these can look like individually in a Accessibility Review work out. We take a trained look at the existing app and then develop tips that can be implemented with as little effort as possible.

Other basics that make an app more accessible:

• Choice between normal and dark mode
• Always make apps available in landscape format
• Do not override settings in the operating system
• Use screen reader and test accordingly
• Subtitles for videos
• Always place navigation and help elements in the same place on the screen

Digital products are primarily about issues such as color selection, button size and visual presentation – but there is much more to it than that. Much is not visible. Especially not for people with disabilities. How many of us simply make the title of a document bigger and bold instead of using the “header” function provided by the system? Or we write a subtitle in italics instead of declaring it as a subtitle.

This is precisely the problem when it comes to the accessibility of PDFs, as Alena Bachmann explains in her presentation. She is co-founder of MyPAR GmbH and therefore a specialist. PDFs are rarely barrier-free and are particularly difficult for screen readers to read if we have not formatted our original files (e.g. in Word) appropriately. She argues that we should make the effort to create the document with the available resources as early as the creation stage:

• Define correct hierarchy (headings of different levels)
• Use the right tools for text elements and text composition (e.g. do not change pages by pressing the Enter key twenty times, but with a page break)
• Figures and complex tables provided with an alt text

If these options are also used and a PDF is then created, then in the best case the PDF is also accessible to people with disabilities.

Jana Löffler from SwissTXT gives an impressive account of how difficult it is for deaf people to communicate in our language. The tool SILAS from SwissTXT, which is already used by Schwerizer Fernsehen and Swiss Post, translates customer inquiries from sign language and back again.

In Switzerland alone, there are three different “dialects” of sign language and it is often difficult for the people concerned to communicate in our usual written language. SILAS therefore translates inquiries from sign language into written language and the response from the relevant customer service team back into sign language. This makes everyday life much easier for those affected, as it gives them the opportunity to communicate in their native language, thus breaking down language barriers.

“In order to build an accessible app, the topic must be taken into account throughout the conception, design and development phases. That’s why it’s important to us that our specialists are trained and educated on the topic in UX, design and engineering,” says Maria Timonen, UX Lead at Bitforge.

Wherever possible, we now contribute our accumulated know-how. But we never stop learning. We pass on the specialist knowledge that we acquire during implementation, among other things, within the team. This not only includes awareness of the topic, but also technical knowledge. We expand this not only during projects, but also through networking with specialists and those affected, with reference works, at training courses and through appropriate training and further education.

This also includes our accessibility event, which we will certainly be holding again in the coming months. This will provide us with an opportunity to promote exchange between experts, specialists from the digital industry and those affected. So that together we can realize the vision of an inclusive world for everyone.