If you are wondering what digital accessibility is, you have come to the right place. In this guide, we will explain what digital accessibility is, why it is important, and how to implement it in your digital products. We will dive into the details and provide practical tips to improve the accessibility of your website, product, application, or online platform. Remember that this is a Simplified Guide!

What is UI and When Did It Originate?

UI, or User Interface, had different names in the past, such as HMI (Human-Machine Interaction). Initially, it was applied in industrial and automation contexts to allow interaction between humans and machines in factories, aircraft, and vessels.

Today, UI is much broader, encompassing interaction in products such as smartphones, tablets, websites, applications, video games, and much more. It has become essential to ensure effective usability and navigability.

How Does UI Design Work?

The main goal of UI Design is to create intuitive, attractive, and functional interfaces. This involves choosing visual elements such as colors, typography, icons, and layout, as well as the arrangement of buttons and menus. Usability and accessibility are also considered to serve diverse audiences.

Furthermore, UI Design is not limited to visual aesthetics, but also to the user’s interaction with the interface. UI designers focus on ensuring that navigation is fluid and that interface elements respond coherently to user commands. This involves creating interactive prototypes and usability tests to identify potential improvements. Additionally, UI Design is constantly evolving, keeping up with technological changes and design trends to ensure interfaces are always up to date and provide the best possible experience for users.

To achieve success in UI Design, designers also need to consider consistency throughout the interface, ensuring that visual and interaction elements are uniform across the entire system or application. Close collaboration with development and UX (User Experience) teams is essential to create an interface that meets user needs and aligns with the product vision. Ultimately, UI Design plays a fundamental role in creating digital products that are not only visually attractive but also provide an exceptional user experience.

What is Digital Accessibility?

Digital accessibility is the practice of removing barriers on the web to ensure that everyone, regardless of their abilities or limitations, can access and use websites, applications, portals, and digital solutions simply and effectively. This is crucial because web barriers primarily affect people with disabilities, often making it impossible for them to access online information. According to IBGE, about 45 million people in Brazil have some type of disability, representing about 23.9% of the population.

Digital accessibility involves the implementation of practices and resources, such as alternative text for images, captions in videos, keyboard navigation, and responsive designs, that make the web more inclusive. In addition to meeting accessibility guidelines, such as the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), digital accessibility also translates into a greater reach of audience and, often, into commercial benefits, since an accessible digital interface can attract a broader and more diversified audience, enriching the experience of all users. Therefore, digital accessibility is not just an ethical obligation, but also an opportunity for companies and content creators to promote equity and offer a truly inclusive online experience.

The Principles of Accessibility

To make digital products accessible to everyone, it is essential to follow the four essential principles defined by W3 (World Wide Web Consortium):

1. Perceivable: Components and information in the user interface must be presented in a way that anyone can understand.

2. Operable: The interface and user navigation cannot require actions that are impossible for some people.

3. Understandable: All users must be able to understand the information presented in digital content.

4. Robust: Content must be accessible and interpretable reliably, even with advancing technologies.

Accessibility Levels

The above principles give rise to guidelines that come with different compliance levels:

• Level A: The minimum compliance level that must be achieved.
• Level AA: The intermediate compliance level that meets Level A and AA criteria.
• Level AAA: The most sophisticated compliance level that meets Level A, AA, and AAA criteria.

Types of Digital Accessibility

Digital accessibility covers a wide range of disabilities, including physical, sensory, cognitive, and even connectivity challenges. To meet these diverse needs, accessibility best practices include:

• Diversified content presentation: Ensure that everyone can receive information and understand its context.
• Non-text content with alternatives: Images and videos should be accompanied by text and/or audio description.
• Ease of navigation: Improve the user experience with keyboard resources for those with difficulties using a mouse.
• Captions in videos: Include closed captions to serve readers with hearing impairments.
• Alternative text in images: Ensure that images contain descriptions for readers with visual impairments.

The Importance of Social Inclusion

Social inclusion is a fundamental aspect of digital accessibility. A study conducted by the Movimento Web para Todos revealed that less than 1% of websites in Brazil are accessible, despite the Brazilian Inclusion Law requiring accessibility in all environments. The lack of online accessibility continues to deprive millions of people of essential information.

Promoting digital accessibility is not just a legal obligation, but also a business opportunity. Accessible websites not only meet the needs of people with disabilities, but also stand out on the internet and demonstrate a commitment to social inclusion and diversity.

Advantages of Digital Accessibility

The advantages of digital accessibility are numerous and benefit not only people with disabilities, but also companies. Accessible websites:

• Improve visibility in search engines, such as Google.
• Offer a great user experience for all visitors.
• Position brands as supporters of social inclusion.
• Make companies more competitive and humanized.

How to Promote Digital Accessibility

Promoting digital accessibility involves implementing good practices. Some tips include:

• Ensure accessible functionalities using keyboard.
• Perform reviews with screen readers to verify adequacy for people with visual impairments.
• Include alternative text in images.
• Incorporate captions in videos.
• Avoid elements that may confuse screen readers.
• Offer keyboard shortcuts and audio/text options for non-text content.
• Ensure that content remains understandable when presented in different ways.

Tools for Inclusive Navigation

There are several tools that can help make web navigation more inclusive:

• BrowseAloud: Adds speech, reading, and translation resources to websites, making information accessible.
• DYNO Mapper: Allows creating interactive site maps, facilitating understanding of the structure.
• Essential Accessibility: Helps people with disabilities use the internet more easily.
• Firefox: A fast and accessible web browser preferred by many users with disabilities.
• Hand Talk: Translates Portuguese content into Libras, promoting inclusion of deaf people.
• Jaws and NVDA: Screen readers for people with visual impairments.
• WCAG ContrastChecker: Tool to verify color contrast in compliance with accessibility guidelines.

Practical Tips for Designing Inclusive Screens

Check out some best practices on how you can design more inclusive products for users: Included in the autistic spectrum; Visually impaired or low vision; Hearing impaired or deaf; Motor impaired; Users with anxiety disorder; Dyslexic.

Conclusion

Digital accessibility is essential to ensure that everyone can access and use digital products. In addition to being an ethical and legal obligation, it also offers significant benefits for companies, including better search engine rankings and a more humanized image.

At Zappts, we understand the importance of digital accessibility and help companies optimize their products and platforms to meet the needs of all users. If you are looking for an experienced partner to improve the accessibility of your digital products, contact us at zappts@zappts.com.br. Together, we can make the web a more accessible place.

Live Material – UX Design Workshop: Digital Product Accessibility

Zappts, a 100% remote company, a reference in consulting and development of channels, platforms, and digital products focused on user experience and quality assurance, responsible for accelerating the Digital Transformation of major brands in Brazil and worldwide, held in September 2023 the “Digital Product Accessibility” Workshop.

The choice of theme aims to highlight the importance of digital accessibility. The barriers found on the Web mainly affect people with disabilities, which often makes it impossible for them to access certain content on the internet.

>>> Download the live presentation, by clicking here. <<<

About Zappts

Since 2014 in the market, Zappts supports leading brands in their markets, such as Porto, Getnet, BTG Pactual, Cateno, Ambev, Multilaser, Ultragaz, C&A and Burger King, among others. Focused on software development, especially in Front-end, UX Design, Quality Assurance and Cloud Environment Management, it acts in the planning, management, and operation of corporate digital solution development services, environment management, and knowledge transfer through information technology.

We are a reference company in creating digital experiences for users, in addition to developing innovative and fast solutions, we operate in a 100% remote model, with teams distributed across more than 18 states in Brazil.

To learn more about how Zappts can help your company, click here, and get a free assessment with our tech consultants.