Designing for diversity: How to create inclusive mobile experiences

So everyone’s got smartphones these day yes? But not everyone who has a smartphone can see, hear, move or handle cognitive loads without impairment. So how can we include everyone in our mobile design? This talk shares some top tips on how to create an inclusive mobile design and reveals some things you may not know people with disabilities can definitely do on a mobile device.

Presented at Designing for Mobility 2013

Transcript

1. Designing for
   Diversity
   How to create inclusive mobile
   experiences
   Katja Forbes | @inclusiveUX
   1 March 2013
   

   View Slide

2.  People using mobile devices are as
   diverse as the devices themselves
    There are easy things you can do to make
   a mobile experience inclusive
   2 things in 10 minutes
   @inclusiveUX
   

   View Slide

3. There is nothing that
   you can do on the
   iPhone or iPad that I
   can’t do
   “
   ”
    
   @inclusiveUX
   

   View Slide

4. Mr Stevie Wonder
   @inclusiveUX
   

   View Slide

5. Mobile, by definition, is
   disabling. Poor light,
   small keyboards, glare,
   touch, etc.
   – Henny Swan, Senior Accessibility Specialist, BBC
   “
   ”
    
   @inclusiveUX
   

   View Slide

6. A smart phone or tablet
   is basically pictures
   under glass
   – Bret Victor, Former Apple Engineer
   “
   ”
    
   @inclusiveUX
   

   View Slide

7. Ommmmm…..
   …from bradfrostweb.com
   @inclusiveUX
   

   View Slide

8. Focus on inclusion and people
    If we try to design for all these different
   operating systems then we just end up
   designing for mobile diversity, not for
   inclusion.
    Design for the human capabilities, not the
   device
   @inclusiveUX
   

   View Slide

9. There is no Mobile Web.
   There is only The Web, which we view in
   different ways.
   There is also no Desktop Web.
   Or Tablet Web.
   Thank you.
   – Stephen Hay
   “
   ”
    
   @inclusiveUX
   

   View Slide

10.  A well-executed responsive design should
    solve a lot of our challenges.
     If a website is already inclusive via the
    desktop then it’s most likely to be mobile
    friendly as well.
    Responsive design is #1
    @inclusiveUX
    

    View Slide

11.  An app or mobile site is not a book
     People listen to enough to orientate themselves
    and then move on.
     There are different modes
     Text to speech doesn’t just read
     Not just for visually impaired. People with dyslexia
    also use text to speech to read digital written
    content.
    Lets talk about text to speech
    @inclusiveUX
    

    View Slide

12.  There are a lot of buttons in apps and sites
    helping to navigate around.
     The language used in labelling is really
    important.
     Don’t be bossy.
     Don’t double up.
    Labelling with text to speech in mind
    @inclusiveUX
    

    View Slide

13.  Inform events in multiple ways.
     Don’t just have one way of achieving a
    task
    There’s more than one way to do things
    @inclusiveUX
    

    View Slide

14.  There is a lot of video available on mobile
    and its one of the most consumed types of
    content.
     People who are deaf or have hearing loss
    want to access all this content accessibly,
    which is tough on mobile devices.
    Mobile video? Make sure its captioned
    @inclusiveUX
    

    View Slide

15.  Make sure the touch targets are big enough
    for people with dexterity challenges.
     Window 8 ‘metro’ design language has
    something to offer here with its ‘big tile’ user
    interface.
     Choose smart defaults
     Use alternate methods to input information &
    exploit device capabilities
    Supporting dexterity challenges
    @inclusiveUX
    

    View Slide

16.  If you have a smart phone, you have a screen
    reader. Test your designs. There is no excuse.
     Test with real people who have real impairments
     Iterate and test again!
     Learn from your mistakes and make your next try
    better.
    Test, test, test
    @inclusiveUX
    

    View Slide

17.  The mobile landscape is extremely diverse and
    complex to navigate
     We have to stay focussed on inclusion, not mobile
    diversity
     Our guiding design principles must be technology
    agnostic
     Let’s use what we already have and adapt as we
    learn more
    So, to sum up…
    @inclusiveUX
    

    View Slide

18. Thank you
    katja@inclusiveux.com.au
    @inclusiveUX
    

    View Slide