Rosenverse

This video is only accessible to Gold members. Log in or register for a free Gold Trial Account to watch.

Log in Register

Most conference talks are accessible to Gold members, while community videos are generally available to all logged-in members.

Mobile Accessibility: Why Moving Accessibility Beyond the Desktop is Critical in a Mobile-first World
Gold
Thursday, September 8, 2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Share the love for this talk
Mobile Accessibility: Why Moving Accessibility Beyond the Desktop is Critical in a Mobile-first World
Speakers: Sam Proulx
Link:

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 the first focus, extending later to desktop, reversing the traditional desktop-first mindset.

  • Mobile platforms have more mature built-in accessibility features than desktop, often making mobile more accessible out of the box.

  • Testing accessibility on mobile is easier and incurs less organizational friction due to built-in, free tools available instantly.

  • Mobile’s smaller screen size reduces cognitive distractions by streamlining and simplifying design, benefiting users with cognitive disabilities.

  • Mobile interfaces offer customizable forms of interaction, including voice control and compatibility with assistive Bluetooth devices.

  • Developers benefit from a more consistent ecosystem on mobile, where accessibility tools and behaviors are unified by the OS, unlike desktop browsers and screen readers.

  • Mobile affordances like accurate GPS or on-device dictation simplify common tasks compared to desktop alternatives.

  • Mobile’s simpler and clearer security and update processes reduce stress for users with cognitive challenges, making it safer and more approachable.

  • Solutions and lessons learned from mobile accessibility efforts are easier to reuse on desktop than the other way around.

  • Despite differences between native apps and mobile web, accessibility on mobile is consistent across these platforms in gestures and controls.

Notable Quotes

"You may be thinking about that exactly backwards — you should start your accessibility work on mobile and then extend to desktop."

"Mobile is the first major platform where accessibility features are built in and mature."

"If you want to try the screen reader on Apple, just ask Siri to turn on VoiceOver — no installations needed."

"The restriction of a smaller mobile screen forces you to eliminate distractions and streamline designs."

"For people with vision difficulties, holding a phone close or far away lets them focus how they want."

"Home assistants like Siri were built out of work to support voice control for people with disabilities."

"On desktop, you have different screen readers and browsers that behave differently; on mobile, there’s one consistent screen reader kept up to date by the OS."

"A license for the JAWS screen reader can cost over $1,200; mobile accessibility tools come free and built in."

"Mobile’s clearer guidelines, like Apple’s App Store rules, help make accessible design more straightforward."

"Many users with accessibility needs prefer using the mobile site even on desktop because the streamlined design is easier to use."

Jemma Ahmed
Theme Three Intro
2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Gold
Saara Kamppari-Miller
DesignOps for Inclusive Design and Accessibility (Videoconference)
2022 • DesignOps Community
Tess Dixon
C'mon Get Happy
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Erin Weigel
Real-world lessons to improve your conversion rates (Videoconference)
2024 • Rosenfeld Community
Lija Hogan
Practical Principles of Inclusive Research
2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Gold
Kit Unger
Theme 3 Intro
2022 • Design at Scale 2022
Gold
Chris Govias
Perspectives on Civic Design (Videoconference)
2021 • Civic Design Community
Denise Jacobs
Interactive Keynote: Social Change by Design
2024 • Enterprise Experience 2020
Gold
Sarah Rink
Remote User Research: Dos and Don'ts from the Virtual Field (Videoconference)
2020 • Advancing Research Community
Steve Portigal
War Stories LIVE! Steve Portigal
2020 • Advancing Research 2020
Gold
Neil Barrie
Widening the Aperture: The Case for Taking a Broader Lens to the Dialogue between Products and Culture
2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Gold
Sarah Brooks
Theme Three Intro
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Sheryl Cababa
Expanding Your Design Lens with Systems Thinking (Videoconference)
2023 • Enterprise Community
Christopher Geison
Theme 1 Intro
2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Gold
Sam Proulx
Mobile Accessibility: Why Moving Accessibility Beyond the Desktop is Critical in a Mobile-first World
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Bria Alexander
Opening Remarks
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold

More Videos

Daniela Magaña Flores

"We combine explicit and implicit quantitative methods to fully get the user's perspective on the tested products."

Daniela Magaña Flores Ariane Rahn Jeff Ephraim Bander

Ahead of Competition: Learn What UX Benchmarking Can Do for Your Business Today

March 10, 2022

Savina Hawkins

"GPT is like a master chef who’s traveled the world sampling and learning from every cuisine imaginable."

Savina Hawkins

Harnessing AI in UXR: Practical Strategies for Positive Impact

March 26, 2024

Alex Hurworth

"Policies must evolve to reflect the urgency of our situation."

Alex Hurworth Bonnie John Fahd Arshad Antoine Marin

Designing a Contact Tracing App for Universal Access

October 23, 2020

Matt Duignan

"Hits users reach out to researchers after reading their insights, leading to new collaborations and presentations."

Matt Duignan

HITS, Microsoft's internal human insight system: From research library to living body of knowledge (Videoconference)

July 16, 2019

Craig Villamor

"Dark patterns trick or manipulate users into doing something they wouldn’t normally do or against their own or society’s best interests - Craig Vor."

Craig Villamor

Design Systems for Ethical Design (Videoconference)

January 26, 2023

Ovetta Sampson

"My job is to convince people to create something that doesn't exist or hasn't been discovered yet."

Ovetta Sampson

Turning UX Passion into Real Product Influence

June 7, 2023

Rima Campbell

"If you’re learning something at the end of Sprint six, it’s really costly to go back and make changes in Sprint one or two."

Rima Campbell Amrit S Bhachu

Increase Productivity and Drive Business Impact

September 24, 2024

Amy Gawronski Zuccaro

"We had to negotiate getting Figma behind our single sign-on to ensure security, and it took multiple calls."

Amy Gawronski Zuccaro

Advice for DesignOps Employee #1

September 29, 2021

Victor Udoewa

"Will you learn to let go? Better yet, will you let go?"

Victor Udoewa

Beyond Methods and Diversity: The Roots of Inclusion

March 26, 2024