With millions of people with disabilities who rely on technology to get in touch with others, it is paramount that your iOS app is accessible. It can be your smart move and the right thing for an expanded user base.
For your custom iOS application development company, it is necessary to understand the principles of accessibility. This is because it will help them to all with visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive impairments can benefit from it.
With increased awareness about the rights of people with disabilities, several global countries have enacted laws and guidelines related to this. ADA in the United States bound tech individuals to maintain digital accessibility.
Failing to adhere to this law can face legal ramifications that make it non negotiable for iOS app development experts to prioritize accessibility before any outset.
Here, we will share the importance of accessibility and best practices to ensure your iOS app is accessible to as many people as possible.
Why Accessibility Matters?
Accessibility is about crafting digital products that are also useful for differently abled individuals. It includes those having visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive impairments. For iOS app development, it is to ensure that whatever you develop is accessible for all.
- Wider Audience: An accessible app caters to a broader audience, such as individuals with disabilities in speaking, listening, and reading.
- Legal Compliance: Many countries have laws mandating digital accessibility, like the Americans with Disabilities Act in the U.S.
- Improved Usability: Accessibility features often enhance the overall user experience for everyone, not just those with disabilities.
Developing iOS Apps That Everyone Can Use
1. Start with Accessibility Principles
The process of iOS app development with accessibility starts with a moment when you familiarize yourself with the basic principles of accessibility. You can follow Web Content Accessibility Guidelines to gain healthy knowledge about it. This includes four core principles:
- Perceivable: Users should be able to perceive the content and interface regardless of their sensory abilities.
- Operable: They should be able to navigate the app without putting in any physical effort.
- Understandable: Your app shall include easy to understand content and operations.
- Robust: The app should work well across various devices and assistive technologies.
Following these principles ensures a higher ROI on app development costs, as accessibility issues are addressed upfront, saving on potential rework.
2. Leverage iOS’s Built-in Accessibility Features
Apple has a proven track record of launching innovative products that are highly useful in terms of accessibility. The best thing is that they have built rich accessibility features. You can easily take advantage of them in order to make your next product look accessible and eliminate the need to reinvent the wheel.
VoiceOver
VoiceOver is a screen reader that helps users with visual impairments navigate their devices. To make your ios app compatible with VoiceOver, you can:
- Label UI elements: Every button, image, and form field should have a descriptive label. This allows VoiceOver to narrate them to the user.
- Use standard UI elements: Stick with UIKit components (like buttons, sliders, etc.), as they are automatically compatible with VoiceOver.
- Describe images: Always provide alternative text for images so VoiceOver can describe them for users who can’t see them.
Dynamic Type
Dynamic Type lets users adjust the text size in your app to suit their needs. It’s super helpful for people with visual impairments or those who just prefer bigger text. Be sure to use system fonts that automatically scale when users change text size settings on their devices.
Color Contrast and Design
Good color contrast is key to accessibility, especially for users with color blindness or low vision. Ensure the text and background in your app have enough contrast to make everything legible. Apple recommends a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for regular text and 3:1 for larger text. Avoid relying solely on color to convey important information — use other cues like shapes or labels as well.
3. Make Your App Easy to Navigate With Voice and Gestures
Voice and gesture controls are a popular choice in iOS apps for hands-free experience. You can add features like:
- Voice Control: It enables users to control their devices entirely with their voice. It must be affirmed that your app works well on voice commands, such as “tap” or “scroll,” and buttons and controls are labeled clearly.
- Gestures: iOS devices are gesture-friendly, so your app should be too. With common gestures, like swiping or tapping, it becomes easy to use.
4. Implement Custom Accessibility Actions When Needed
There might be unexpected cases where standard accessibility features won’t cut it. For this, you can implement custom actions that serve specific needs. For example, if you feel like your iOS app has a unique interaction that is not possible to interpret, you can create a custom action for it.
5. Test, Test, Test with Real Users
You cannot solely rely on guidelines and simulators. It will be useful to test app accessibility to real users, mainly for those who rely on assistive technology. With user insights, you can identify issues that might have been overlooked and hinder the app to work flawlessly.
Apple has an Accessibility Inspector in Xcode to find problems like missing labels, poor contrast, or elements that aren’t accessible by screen readers.
6. Pay Attention to Cognitive Accessibility
Users with learning disabilities and mental impairments might struggle with complex tasks or confusing interfaces. To help them, you can prefer:
- Simplify navigation: To avoid complexity, keep your interface simple and engaging.
- Clear instructions: Always give users clear, concise instructions for tasks that require multiple steps.
- Plain language: Avoid jargon or overly technical language with simpler and more direct messaging.
7. Build Accessibility Into Your Workflow
It is paramount to consider accessibility earlier so that it would be easy to implement. You can start with a design phase to ensure your UI/UX experts understand its necessity. As a result, you can easily prevent accessibility issues ahead:
- Accessible design: Work with your design team to choose high-contrast colors, readable fonts, and intuitive layouts that are easy to use for everyone.
- Semantic UI elements: Using the right UI elements from the beginning (like buttons, links, and text fields) makes accessibility much easier to implement later.
8. Keep Up with Apple’s Accessibility Updates
Custom iOS application development can never be described as a one-time process. There is always room for improvement, and accessibility features are a big part of those updates.
As a developer, you are supposed to remain knowledgeable about the latest features and effective practices. This will ensure that your app keeps working flawlessly and stays compliant with the latest standards.
Conclusion
To be honest, custom iOS application development is way more than just being accessible and meeting guidelines. It ensures that those who are differently abled can easily interact with your app product.
You can simply follow up on accessibility principles to take complete advantage of your iOS’s built-in features and regularly test your app with real users. This will make your app inclusive and user-friendly for everyone.
The best part? It is in the mutual interest of all users with permanent disabilities and temporary impairments, while a Custom iOS application development company can make a real difference with it.
So, if you are working on an app project from scratch or updating an existing one, remember to prioritize accessibility in each aspect.