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Blind Users

How they experience an interface

  • May use a screen reader to experience interfaces.

  • May rely on Braille output.

  • Cannot be expected to use a pointer or mouse for input.

What designers should think about

  • Is visual information translated effectively into text? Can the image be understood through its metadata alone?

  • Where possible, test all designs through a screen reader.

How this applies to everyone

  • As audio-only interfaces gain popularity through devices like AI assistants, users are expecting more and more from the audible representations of experiences.

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Low-Vision Users

Low vision can include partial sight in one or both eyes, and range from mild to severe. It affects 246 million people, or about 4% of the world’s population.

How they experience an interface

  • May use screen readers, screen magnifiers, high contrast modes, and/or monochrome displays.

  • May have their browser font size adjusted to a larger setting.

  • May not use adaptive technology at all.

What designers should think about

  • Maximizing the readability and visual clarity of content.

  • Consider how relative proximity of information changes when a page is magnified.

  • Follow our keyboard guidelines.

  • Test with a screen reader to ensure the page is read to the user in a logical order.

  • To get a better understanding of the various low-vision disabilities, we recommend using the NoCoffee Chrome plugin to preview websites.

How this applies to everyone

  • Users without disabilities sometimes need to view screens in poor lighting conditions. For example, imagine using a device outside on a bright day. A higher-contrast design makes the screen more usable for everyone.

  • Vision worsens gradually, starting around age 40, and good contrast helps this very large demographic to use your interface.

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Colorblind Users

Color blindness affects 8% of all men and 0.4% of women.

How they experience an interface

  • Will not be able to differentiate between some colors on an interface.

  • Rely on non-color information to understand and use an interface.

What designers should think about

  • Run your design through a colorblind simulator (e.g NoCoffee vision simulator). If the design doesn't work, try another approach. If you're working in Sketch, we recommend the Stark plugin.

  • Test designs with a colorblind user where possible.

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Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Users

How they experience an interface

  • May rely on captioning and other alternative representations of audio.

What designers should think about

  • Find alternatives to conveying information exclusively with sound.

  • Transcribe and caption all videos and animations that have meaningful audio.

How this applies to everyone

  • All users can benefit from closed captioning. Imagine using your device in a loud environment or, alternatively, in a quiet environment where it wouldn't be appropriate to turn your sound on.

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