- What is accessibility and why is it crucial for your user’s experience?
- Originally written by Ania Puchala
- The Nuggets translation Project
- Permanent link to this article: github.com/xitu/gold-m…
- Translator: Roc
- Proofread by: Samyu2000
What is accessibility? Why is it important to the user experience?
Each of us is unique, with differences in gender, age, culture and health. But we may use many products in common. What makes these products suitable for all kinds of people? The answer is accessibility.
Let’s look at what accessibility stands for.
According to Wikipedia, “Accessibility refers to the design of a product, device, service, or environment for persons with disabilities.”
What images come to mind when you read the word “disabled”? Is it a man in a wheelchair? Or a deaf woman? A blind child?
These are probably the most common understandings of disability. But do they tell the whole story?
In fact, the literal meaning of a disabled person is someone who, for some reason, cannot do something with their senses, body, or mind. There are many reasons for this phenomenon.
The World Health Organization defines disability as environmental dependence. Disability is not just a health problem. It is a complex phenomenon. This phenomenon reflects the interaction between a person’s physical functioning and his or her social environment.” In other words, your environment determines your ability to achieve your goals. When a person loses a hand, she can’t use a smartphone with both hands. But a person holding a handle on a crowded bus can also lose access to their phone. Someone who can’t hear the video in a noisy restaurant may need hidden captioning.
In the Inclusive Design Toolkit, Microsoft calls the profiles of different users “user profiles.” It reflects the range of users’ disabilities in different environments. With this toolkit, users with permanent, temporary or environment-related disabilities can use the product. This knowledge can help designers analyze the experience of people with less obvious disabilities using products. If your product meets the needs of a deaf person, people with ear problems, or people in noisy restaurants, will also benefit.
When you solve an accessibility problem for one group, you actually expand its value and benefit many others. These people can also use your product in temporary or environmentally affected conditions. Thanks to this, your product can offer similar services to as many consumers as possible at similar quality and price.
If you need to comprehensively evaluate the accessibility of your product, familiarize yourself with the WCAG standard. Developed by the W3C, this guide provides a wide range of recommendations for designing web and mobile products so that as many people as possible can use it in any environment. Remember, when you solve accessibility problems for people with permanent disabilities, more people benefit.
Learn more:
- www.microsoft.com/design/incl…
- www.w3.org/WAI/standar…
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