• Accessibility

    A Web Designer’s Accessibility Advocacy Toolkit

    A Web Designer’s Accessibility Advocacy Toolkit A Web Designer’s Accessibility Advocacy Toolkit Yichan Wang 2024-02-26T18:00:00+00:00 2024-02-28T15:46:43+00:00 Web accessibility can be challenging, particularly for clients unfamiliar with tech or compliance with The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). My role as a digital designer often involves guiding clients toward ADA-compliant web designs. I’ve acquired many strategies over the years for encouraging clients to adopt accessible web practices and invest in accessible user interfaces. It’s something that comes up with nearly every new project, and I decided to develop a personal toolkit to help me make the case. Now, I am opening up my toolkit for you to have and use. While some…

  • Accessibility

    A Practical Guide To Designing For Colorblind People

    A Practical Guide To Designing For Colorblind People A Practical Guide To Designing For Colorblind People Vitaly Friedman 2024-02-20T12:00:00+00:00 2024-02-21T16:05:27+00:00 Too often, accessibility is seen as a checklist, but it’s much more complex than that. We might be using a good contrast for our colors, but then, if these colors are perceived very differently by people, it can make interfaces extremely difficult to use. Depending on our color combinations, people with color weakness or who are colorblind won’t be able to tell them apart. Here are key points for designing with colorbliness — for better and more reliable color choices. .course-intro{–shadow-color:206deg 31% 60%;background-color:#eaf6ff;border:1px solid #ecf4ff;box-shadow:0 .5px .6px hsl(var(–shadow-color) / .36),0…

  • Accessibility

    Mobile Accessibility Barriers For Assistive Technology Users

    Mobile Accessibility Barriers For Assistive Technology Users Mobile Accessibility Barriers For Assistive Technology Users Kate Kalcevich 2024-02-19T10:00:00+00:00 2024-02-21T16:05:27+00:00 I often hear that native mobile app accessibility is more challenging than web accessibility. Teams don’t know where to start, where to find guidance on mobile accessibility, or how to prevent mobile-specific accessibility barriers. As someone who works for a company with an active community of mobile assistive technology users, I get to learn about the challenges from the user’s perspective. In fact, I recently ran a survey with our community about their experiences with mobile accessibility, and I’d like to share what I learned with you. If you only remember one…

  • Accessibility

    How Accessibility Standards Can Empower Better Chart Visual Design

    How Accessibility Standards Can Empower Better Chart Visual Design How Accessibility Standards Can Empower Better Chart Visual Design Kent Eisenhuth 2024-02-14T15:00:00+00:00 2024-02-21T16:05:27+00:00 Data visualizations are graphics that leverage our visual system and innate capabilities to gather, accumulate, and process information in our environment, as shown in the animation in Figure 1.0. Figure 1.0. An animation demonstrating our preattentive processing capability. Based on a lecture by Dr. Stephen Franconeri. (Large preview) As a result, we’re able to quickly spot trends, patterns, and outliers in all the images we see. Can you spot the visual patterns in Figure 1.1? Figure 1.1. Pattern groups defined by size, borders, fills, and shape types. (Large…

  • Accessibility

    A Practical Guide To Designing For Children

    A Practical Guide To Designing For Children A Practical Guide To Designing For Children Vitaly Friedman 2024-02-13T12:00:00+00:00 2024-02-21T16:05:27+00:00 Children start interacting with the web when they are 3–5 years old. How do we design for children? What do we need to keep in mind while doing so? And how do we meet the expectations of the most demanding users you can possibly find: parents? Well, let’s find out. .course-intro{–shadow-color:206deg 31% 60%;background-color:#eaf6ff;border:1px solid #ecf4ff;box-shadow:0 .5px .6px hsl(var(–shadow-color) / .36),0 1.7px 1.9px -.8px hsl(var(–shadow-color) / .36),0 4.2px 4.7px -1.7px hsl(var(–shadow-color) / .36),.1px 10.3px 11.6px -2.5px hsl(var(–shadow-color) / .36);border-radius:11px;padding:1.35rem 1.65rem}@media (prefers-color-scheme:dark){.course-intro{–shadow-color:199deg 63% 6%;border-color:var(–block-separator-color,#244654);background-color:var(–accent-box-color,#19313c)}} This article is part of our ongoing series on design…

  • Accessibility

    A Guide To Designing For Older Adults

    A Guide To Designing For Older Adults A Guide To Designing For Older Adults Vitaly Friedman 2024-02-06T08:00:00+00:00 2024-02-21T16:05:27+00:00 Today, one billion people are 60 years or older. That’s 12% of the entire world population, and the age group is growing faster than any other group. Yet, online, the needs of older adults are often overlooked or omitted. So what do we need to consider to make our designs more inclusive for older adults? Well, let’s take a closer look. .course-intro{–shadow-color:206deg 31% 60%;background-color:#eaf6ff;border:1px solid #ecf4ff;box-shadow:0 .5px .6px hsl(var(–shadow-color) / .36),0 1.7px 1.9px -.8px hsl(var(–shadow-color) / .36),0 4.2px 4.7px -1.7px hsl(var(–shadow-color) / .36),.1px 10.3px 11.6px -2.5px hsl(var(–shadow-color) / .36);border-radius:11px;padding:1.35rem 1.65rem}@media (prefers-color-scheme:dark){.course-intro{–shadow-color:199deg 63%…