A successful User Experience is defined complete and open when it is developed according to the principles of Accessibility and Inclusive Design. These practices allow any category of users, especially those affected temporarily or permanently by a cognitive or sensory disability, to receive a seamless online experience, under all conditions.

It is indeed estimated that this category of users represents worldwide approximately 15/20% of the population. An interesting market niche that, contrary to what is often believed, is not the only one to benefit when talking about Web Accessibility.

Web usability, accessible platforms and inclusive mobile applications are by now a market standard that imply a joint effort of Developers and UX/UI Designers, a trend towards which the entire world of online businesses is moving its first steps.

What exactly is meant by Digital Accessibility?

“When talking about Accessibility applied to the web and to the digital world, what is meant is the possibility to access online platforms and to seamlessly use information and content” explains Susanna Ceresa, UX/UI Designers in Vidiemme and Digital Accessibility expert.

The concept of Accessibility, moreover, goes along with Inclusive Design: an approach to Design which describes the methodologies to create products having as a target people of any social background and capability.

UI Development: four successful rules for websites

By 2025 all the public and private operators listed in the European Accessibility Act will be required to make accessible services and web contents, and to provide the potential support of assistive technology for any kind of disability, from visual and hearing impairment to motor and cognitive disabilities.

To comply with European requirements and to optimize the user experience, the World Wide Web Consortium created four guidelines for all of those involved in evelopment and UI design. Web platforms need to follow the four P.O.U.R criteria, an acronym for Perceivable, Operable, Understandable and Robust.

Thanks to these principles, permanent disabilities such as blindness, hearing problems, reduced mobility of limbs or other temporary conditions will no longer constitute a limit for Brands and final users.

From websites to mobile apps: Vidiemme’s capabilities and project cases

Thanks to its strong in-house UI Development expertise, Vidiemme is engaged by Brands as Tech Partner at all stages, from education and evaluation assessment to project implementation, both for web platforms and mobile applications as well as for conversational interfaces.

Vidiemme partnered with a major public agency providing citizen services to make its website accessible even to those who, for instance, suffer from visual impairment.

The project included the design and implementation of graphic components that would allow easy and intuitive navigation of the web platform even from the keyboard, the integration of the screen-reader functionality and  a color-contrast check thanks to an ad-hoc tool for the correct display of content according to needs and different disabilities.

Although for the web, accessibility issues already have standards and principles governed by international laws, we cannot ignore the importance of Accessibility and Inclusive Design even in the mobile space, an area definitely still young and less regulated.

Vidiemme recently worked with a Brand in the field of motor activity support, in order to design and develop a Mobile App for both using and managing a wearable device aimed at the rehabilitation of patients often belonging to a mature age group.

In practical terms, approaching the project from an accessibility perspective has meant to study in the design phase the occurrence of graphical elements, such as proper use of visual elements based on color, to the basic minimum font size and dimension to the presence of elements that leverage the use of other sensory resources, such as interactive and touch components, voice assistants and text-to-speech functionality or other assistive technologies.

For Takeda, an important client in the Pharma&Healthcare industry, we implemented LeggoXTe, an inclusive leaflet reading project dedicated especially to the visually impaired. Thanks to the vocal interactions with Google and Amazon virtual assistants, it is possible to ask questions and to vocally receive all the information required.

Vidiemme for accessibility:

Our mission is to improve life through innovation: the most important prerogative to us is the implementation of accessible and effective solutions, from analysis to User Experience till the implementation of the entire project.

For this reason, following Digital Accessibility and Inclusive Design principles not only represents an essential condition to comply with current legislation, but it is as well a principle of civilization towards all people with disabilities, so that even for our clients they can become a priority.