0401

Making a travel planning app more accessible

Accessibility Issue: struggles with small fonts or having to swipe to see

Recommendations:

• Titles and headings should be written in a well-known font, this will increase legibility over a font that is unknown to the user.
• Make the font size easily customizable, in the app each user can change it to what suits them, for the map we should either have options or default to a larger size.
• Ensure the apertures on the font are easily distinguishable, as to avoid getting certain letters confused with other letters.
• General line length should be about 45-90 characters long including spaces so that the user won’t have to scroll horizontally to see all content.
• Including options to enable high contrast can help to improve readability especially from a distance.

Accessibility Issue: difficulties seeing in low light conditions, screen reader

Recommendations:

• Make the app machine-readable, meaning the use of semantic markup.
• Avoid using characters based on visual appearance, as screen readers will read the exact text there, even if something else was intended visually.
• Format any extra content that is not essential so that it may be formatted out by a screen reader instead of causing confusion.
• Follow proper grammar rules when writing the site, including periods at the end of sentences.
• Break up sections using proper heading tags, making it easier for screen readers to interpret the content on the page.
• If we must use images to show something, include some alt text so that a screen reader can tell the user what is in the image, especially if there is text in the image.

Accessibility Issue: memory difficulties

Recommendations:

• The use of anchors can help the user move around and find what is most relevant to them if the document itself cannot be shortened.
• We should avoid using legends as this will require the user to know what any given symbol means if it was described on another page.
• Keep icons used to show landing availability simple or weather status simple, this makes the app or map easier to understand and reduces the number of icons the user needs to remember.
• Include multiple ways to navigate around the app, this way the user does not need to remember exactly where a certain link was and what it did.
• Any forms included on the app should be designed to prevent any errors, including error detection and correction, anything that needs the user to fill it in should be clear without needing to reference different pages.