Accessibility, simply put, is the practice of making services usable by the greatest possible number of people. Creating accessible digital services isn’t just a logical and inclusive business strategy, it’s becoming a legal requirement.

In 2022, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was updated, mandating the websites of all government offices and public-serving businesses be accessibility-compliant.

While the new decree doesn’t explicitly include apps, these mobile solutions are an extension of many companies’ websites; as such, they’ll likely follow suit. Whether legally mandated or not, creating accessible mobile and web apps is the only acceptable practice. To satisfy both the ADA and your user base, we’ve compiled some key accessibility guidelines for mobile apps.

What is mobile app accessibility?

Mobile app accessibility focuses on making applications as user-friendly as possible for people with disabilities. Primarily, mobile app accessibility is concerned with how applications appear on devices such as:

• Phones
• Tablets
• Wearable smart accessories, such as pendants and watches
• Displays in car dashboards
• Airplane entertainment units
• Smart household appliances

These marvels of modern technology often feature smaller, lower-resolution screens than conventional computers. Their interface can also be more complex than scrolling around on a laptop. To that end, it’s imperative to make applications easier to see, hear, and use on these mobile devices.

Why do mobile apps need to be accessible?

Accessibility features throw open the gates to the mobile world for people who would find it difficult or impossible to use the conventional versions of apps. They level the playing field for an app’s entire user base, regardless of disabilities or limitations. 

Accessible apps account for a variety of impairments, including:

• Visual impairment – Over 2.2 billion people across the globe have imperfect vision. Most apps use varying degrees of picture- and text-based interfaces, and individuals with heavy visual impairment can have trouble identifying individual characters or pictures on smaller screens. By the same token, those with full blindness need an alternative to visual interfaces altogether, which means the apps must be compatible with their screen reader or other device.

• Hearing loss – Almost 20% of the world deals with some form of hearing loss and, with the rising prevalence of ear-damaging headphone use, that number is expected to increase. Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals are often excluded from an app with significant audio features. To ensure equal access for a fifth of the global population, it’s pertinent for apps to provide alternative options to listening to achieve accessibility.

• Mobility and dexterity issues – Gripping a phone and tapping the screen may seem like a simple task for an able-bodied person, but for those with mobility issues, it can be an unnecessary challenge. For individuals with conditions such as muscular dystrophy or Parkinson’s, alternatives to conventional point-and-click interfaces provide ways to explore apps without mistakes or frustration.

Failure to build an accessible app not only excludes a large group of potential users but can also reflect poorly on the business. Thankfully, there are ways to address these issues and make mobile apps easy to use for everyone.

How to make your mobile apps accessible

Depending on the type of app, the accessibility features may vary. Regardless, these are a few of the most important aspects we pay attention to when building any app:

• Perceivability – Due to the smartphones’ small display size, being able to clearly see what’s on the screen is a primary concern. A minimum zoom capability of 200%, along with the ability for users to resize text, are two core facets of visual accessibility. Likewise, adding different contrast ratios to an app’s themes can make things easier for users to see under varying light conditions.

• Operability – The simpler an app is to operate, the more people will gravitate toward it. To prevent missteps in navigation, touch targets should be a minimum size of 9mm by 9mm, placed in easy-to-access locations, and surrounded by a buffer zone of dead space. Finger gestures should be pared down in complexity, requiring nothing more than a tap whenever possible.

• Ease of interaction – Unfortunately, not all interfaces can be operated via taps alone. For apps that involve more complex tasks, such as data entry, accessibility options such as speech-to-text tools eliminate potential barriers. Captioning audio in a large, legible font invites hearing-impaired users to join in on any sound-based features, too.

What do mobile app developers need to know about accessibility?

If you’re a developer trying to create a fully accessible app, there are some resources that you can use to help direct your coding journey. While the ADA doesn’t provide any specific guidelines on how to implement mobile accessibility, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has long been the authority on Internet accessibility.

Luckily for all of us, they do have comprehensive guidelines that can steer our methodologies.

In the W3C’s list of the best practices for developing mobile applications, you’ll find several recommendations for developers to build successful apps. Regarding accessibility, some of the highlights include:

• Not spriting informational images to avoid merging content and layout into an indecipherable cluster
• Ensuring different functional assets, such as the app’s zoom capability and text resizing tool, don’t conflict when in simultaneous use
• Utilizing deep-linking to help users navigate to specific page segments without the need to scroll
• Ensuring each button’s meta description is filled in to facilitate screen reading

These are but a small selection of the W3C’s pertinent advice on development accessibility. If you’re working on an app and want to make it as accessible as possible, it’s worth reading and understanding these guidelines before development. 

What do mobile app designers need to know about accessibility?

Front-end UI and UX play a huge role in user accessibility, and there are a number of proven practices to implement during the design phase:

• Provide all non-text content with a text alternative, such as tagging pictures with robust descriptions
• Accompany all audio-based content with full, detailed transcriptions
• Limit any blinking elements on a page to three flashes per second
• Use minimal background noise that can be reduced or muted by the user

These are just the tip of the accessibility iceberg. Aside from the dozens of Flappy Bird clones that hit the Play Store daily in 2014, no two apps are alike, so every designer will have to cater their accessibility measures to the user group, intended actions, app type, and more. 

How does Utility approach accessibility when designing and developing mobile applications?

We always have our sights set on the big picture when crafting mobile applications, and are committed to building hybrid, cross-platform, and native apps that are friendly for anyone to use. We start by establishing a list of accessibility features relevant to an app’s user base. Then, we keep those aspects at the forefront of our design throughout every step of the build.

When our team was selected to build a platform to power the 2019 Women Deliver conference, we knew inclusivity and equity would have to be at the heart of our design. In response, we delivered a tailored mobile app that facilitated the organization and communication of tens of thousands of conference attendees. 

The app’s interface accounted for the potential accessibility needs of a large and diverse group of people. Attendees were able to schedule meetings, view speaker portfolios, and livestream talks between each other, all from a singular functional and easy-to-navigate platform.

The conference and the app were both a success, largely due to their common goal: making the world, real and digital, a more accessible place for everyone. 

Our mobile app accessibility checklist

Accessibility is core to our process. When we work together to build an app, you’ll receive a final product with not just the bare minimum built-in, but a whole host of accessibility features that we deem essential.

Color contrast

Adjusting color contrast within a predetermined ratio can assist colorblind people and those viewing in low light. 

System color inversion and grayscale

Information conveyed via color, such as hyperlinks, is always displayed using other means as well, like underlining.

Focus screen elements using a keyboard and screen reader

All activatable elements, both standard and non-standard, must be focusable (able to receive input from a keyboard). 

While standard controls like links, buttons, and form fields are automatically focusable, we ensure that all non-standard controls can be focusable as well by applying the corresponding AIRA Roles, whether that’s a button, link, or checkbox. We also manage focus order in a way that is logical and consistent, enabling ease of use.

Touch targets

All touch targets follow the 9mm by 9mm—or 44px by 44px—minimum standard.

CTA design

All actionable elements, like buttons, arrows, links, and form fills, are clearly marked in the app.

Virtual keyboard

Virtual keyboards must support predictive text and speech-to-text functionality, and will default to the proper virtual keyboard (whether alphabetical or numerical) based on the data entry requested.

External keyboard

All apps must support external keyboard compatibility. These accessibility devices are critical for many users with severe mobility or dexterity issues. 

Text zoom

All text must remain usable and legible even when increased to its maximum size, 200%.

Images of text

Images or screenshots of text can’t be read by screen readers, so we’ll either render all text correctly or, when necessary, make sure that an image of text is focusable, with the correct alt text associated with it.

Screen reader focusability

We ensure that all non-text content elements are properly focusable and understandable by screen readers. Here are a few of the checks and balances on our list:

• Non-text content is read out with a short, accurate description (for example, “Play”) but not its content type (“Button”)
• All elements have the correct role assigned, whether that’s a button role for buttons or an image role for images
• All required descriptions are also spoken
• Any adjustable elements like sliders or zoom features are associated with their actual value and are read out accordingly (“50%” when the image is enlarged 50%)
• Purely decorative, non-informational images shouldn’t be focusable by either the keyboard or screen reader
• Form controls and custom views, such star rating widgets, must have accurate labels

Assistive Touch (iOS) or Accessibility Menu (Android)

No matter what operating system your users favor, they must be able to enhance their accessibility experience using their phone’s included features.

Copy and paste

All apps have to support this essential feature. Beyond accessibility, this is one of the most-used commands for good reason.

Magnification and zoom

Outside of the standard 200% text zoom, magnification should be accessible on all segments of each page. 

Incorporate accessibility into your next app with Utility

Accessibility and usability are synonymous when it comes to mobile app design and development. Our team of veteran designers and developers ensures that every feature is accessible to your entire user base and beyond, not just for individuals using screen readers, alt text, or assistive technologies, but for everyone.

Ready to create your next digital experience with true accessibility baked in? Let's talk.