Communicating status and providing signposts to tell users where they are within an application or process is essential to a good user experience. Some clients still believe they can’t use graphics or color for important cues because of accessibility. In reality, graphic design and accessibility can work together nicely. Our presentation provides case studies in we consider these questions from a visual design, user interaction, and accessibility perspective:
- How can we make notifications “pop” on cluttered screens?
- What treatments are most effective for field-level errors?
- How can we handle multiple, simultaneous alerts to users of assistive technology?
We examine tradeoffs between different design solutions, and explore how good graphic design and accessibility can work together to improve experiences for the broadest range of users.