6.1 Designing for Accessibility

Question 1

What is accessibility?

Answer 1

The availability of a product, service, or environment to all users, regardless of disability or special need.

In other words, accessibility relates to how well your app or product caters to all people.

Question 2

What is aural?

Answer 2

hearing

Question 3

What are most visual impairments caused by?

Answer 3

injury, age, or damage as a result of illness

Question 4

What are some strategies you can use to support those with visual impairments?

Answer 4

1. You could implement a text-to-speech translation or voiceover option for reading text aloud.
2. A pinch-zoom function
3. Starting with larger UI elements in the first place to ensure they can be easily read and used.

Question 5

What is hearing loss caused by?

Answer 5

It is caused by sound signals not reaching the brain.

This can be a result of aging, damage, or genes.

Question 6

What are some strategies you can use to support those with hearing loss?

Answer 6

1. Subtitles or written scripts to video content or sound clips.
2. Incorporating vibration and written alerts into your designs so the user doesn’t need to rely on sound alerts.

Question 7

What is speech impairment?

Answer 7

Unable to produce speech sounds correctly

Question 8

What is language impairment?

Answer 8

Someone has trouble understanding others. Those with language impairments may not understand the language used throughout your product.

Question 9

What is language impairment a result of?

Answer 9

Aging or environment

Question 10

What is motor impairment?

Answer 10

It affects how you learn new tasks that involve moving and manipulating objects- writing, dancing, zipping up your coat, etc.

Question 11

For designers of web UIs, what is the most important motor impairment to take into consideration?

Answer 11

Those connected with hands, as people use them to type, tap, and navigate interfaces.

Question 12

What are cognitive impairments?

Answer 12

It affects your ability to remember, learn new things, concentrate, and make everyday decisions.

Question 13

What is the result of low bandwidth?

Answer 13

Slow network performance

Question 14

Why isn’t it a good idea to use a form field’s label as its placeholder?

Answer 14

Once the user clicks on the field, the label will disappear

Question 15

What’s one good way of ensuring your design can be easily navigated via text-to-speech software?

Answer 15

Not hiding buttons beneath hover interactions

Question 16

What’s a good way to ensure your designs are accessible to those with color-blindness?

Answer 16

Use colors to complement information rather than convey it completely

Question 17

How can you make form fields easier to identify and click on?

Answer 17

By ensuring they all have borders around them