Mobile Accessibility: Why Moving Accessibility Beyond the Desktop is Critical in a Mobile-first World
Summary
You may be familiar with desktop screen readers like JAWS, and desktop voice control like Dragon Naturally speaking. You might know about WCAG, and popular automated testing tools for your websites. But what about mobile apps? How do accessibility techniques apply on the touch screen? As the entire world moves mobile first, your accessibility strategy needs to adapt. In this talk, we’ll introduce you to some of the changes that managing mobile-first accessibility correctly requires. We’ll cover some of the most popular assistive technologies on mobile, give you tips for automated and manual testing of your mobile apps, warn you of some of the pitfalls to watch for, and help you bring your mobile accessibility strategy to the next level.
Key Insights
-
•
Mobile accessibility should be prioritized over desktop because many users are mobile-first, making it critical for Civic design.
-
•
Mobile devices have built-in, free, and mature accessibility features like VoiceOver, TalkBack, screen magnification, voice control, and live captions.
-
•
Starting accessibility efforts on mobile can be easier and more effective than retrofitting from desktop accessibility.
-
•
Mobile’s smaller screens encourage simpler interfaces that reduce cognitive overload for users with ADHD or other cognitive challenges.
-
•
Mobile offers unique capabilities like biometric authentication, accurate GPS, and real-time voice dictation that improve accessibility beyond desktop.
-
•
Mobile operating systems integrate browsers and assistive technologies in a way that simplifies testing and replicability for developers.
-
•
Desktop accessibility tools vary widely and may require expensive licenses, complicating testing and user experience consistency.
-
•
Mobile’s centralized app stores simplify security and updates, which benefits users who are less tech-savvy or cognitively challenged.
-
•
Engaging people with disabilities early and throughout product development leads to better accessibility outcomes.
-
•
Mobile accessibility enables people with disabilities who may only have access to mobile devices to participate fully in digital services.
Notable Quotes
"Accessibility doesn’t stop at the desktop just because you’ve made your desktop website accessible."
"If you request the mobile website on desktop it usually works better than requesting the desktop website on mobile."
"Apple really premiered mobile accessibility in a very exciting way with the iPhone 3GS and VoiceOver."
"Both iOS and Android have built-in screen magnification and voice control that don’t require extra software."
"Live captions on mobile can caption not only audio on the device but sounds and speech in the real world around you."
"Mobile screens can be angled and positioned easily, which helps if you struggle with glare or neck positioning."
"Simpler interfaces on mobile are an accessibility win for users with ADHD or cognitive challenges."
"On desktop, users pick varying assistive tools, making replicability of experience difficult; on mobile, the assistive tech is tightly integrated and versioned."
"Mobile app crashes give more detailed feedback and user metrics than desktop browser crashes."
"If you haven’t done accessibility work yet, it makes sense to get started on mobile because you already have the tools in your pocket."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Decision making here is basically forge trading — people argue and withhold support until they get what they want."
Carl TurnerYou Can Do This: Understand and Solve Organizational Problems to Jumpstart a Dead Project
March 28, 2023
"Most employees take at least 90 days to onboard and another 90 days to become productive — that’s half a year before you see impact."
Karen PascoeDeveloping Experience Teams and Talent in the Enterprise
June 8, 2016
"Emojis and GIFs have become effective tools for remote teams to add expression and prevent miscommunication."
Jilanna WilsonDistributed Design Operations Management
October 23, 2019
"Designers contribute experimental patterns back to the design system early, making their work visible even before full validation."
Shawna Hein Kevin HoffmanCreate a Cohesive Civic Design Practice Across Agency, Vendors, and Contracts
November 17, 2022
"Don’t kill grandma is our mantra reminding us the stakes of the tiny design details we face every day."
Barb SpantonDoing Work That Matters: A Look Beyond The Idealistic Notion of 'Doing Meaningful Work'
June 10, 2022
"Dana is a reliable, solutions-oriented designer who prefers honest feedback but needs clear expectations."
Briana ThomasThe Quiet Force: Uncovering Hidden Leadership in High-Impact Design Teams
September 24, 2024
"Therapists create space for clients to reflect and discover insights in a safe environment."
Gina MendoliaTherapists, Coaches, and Grandmas: Techniques for Service Design in Complex Systems
December 3, 2024
"Future UX includes designing for user discovery in conversational and augmented interfaces, not just clicks."
Lija Hogan Milan Mijatovic Sam Proulx Louis RosenfeldThree Years Out: Perspectives on the Near-Term Future of User Research
March 15, 2024
"If nobody owns the onboarding experience, it likely won’t get done or get the energy it deserves."
John Calhoun Rachel PosmanTwo Sides of the DesignOps Coin: Teams Ops and Product Ops
January 8, 2024
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
What strategies help manage vision creation in organizations that are top-down and frequently reactive?
What are the core UX research tools essential for managing participant recruitment and study logistics in large companies?
In what ways does the Rosenbot promote self-directed, on-demand learning for UX professionals?