Inclusive Design Updates: What are companies doing to improve the accessibility of their product / service?
We believe that pursuit of happiness, aspirations and economic prosperity is the right of every individual. However, the problem with the World is that our public infrastructure and digital services are not inline with the special needs of 16% of the human population, which comprises of people having sensory impairment or mobility issues.
When companies take a step in the direction of inclusive design, we feel it is our duty to acknowledge and praise their efforts. So, here’s a wrap-up of what some companies in the digital space have done to make their products usable by those with vision impairment.
1. Google Drive Dark Theme
May 2024 began with a good note for those of us who care about accessible web. Since the start of this month, Google has been rolling-out the Dark Theme option on Google Drive. Users got to know about this much awaited update through a notification pop-up that appeared at the time of logging-in.
The ‘Dark Theme’ makes it easier for people with vision impairment as well as those fatigued by ‘long hours of computer use’ to conveniently manage files on their Google Drive. So, if you’ve been putting-off organizing / decluttering your drive folders, now is a good time to do it without unnecessary eye strain. Currently, you can only view the Drive’s file manager interface in dark theme, but if you open a document or a spread-sheet then it is back to ‘all-white’ screen.
2. Uber Android app now supports native dark mode
Earlier this year the Uber app suddenly started caring about default user preferences. My Android phone is set to dark mode, but most apps choose to ignore this, and up until recently the Uber app was doing the same. Now, the Uber app respects default user preferences and automatically opens in dark mode if you’ve opted for it in your phone’s settings.
3. News Laundry’s NewsAble website and app
On 1st May, 2024, News Laundry announced the launch of a suite of accessibility features across its website and app. The company, which has pioneered the concept of public funded news in India, states that people with vision impairment or disability are amongst their audience, and it is their duty to cater to them.
The suite of usability features which are now live on their website and mobile app, provide compatibility with native screen readers, support for native dark mode / white mode and high contrast themes, voice search, and built-in read aloud option. Additionally, News Laundry’s website and app use fonts which are conducive to dyslexic users.
The media company has been working on these NewsAble features for over a year, and in order to build the systems necessary for supporting accessibility they had to come-up with workarounds for some of the third party tools that their team previously used. News Laundry has demonstrated a great deal of committent towards inclusive design by making a complete overhaul of its IT systems.
We congratulate Google, Uber and News Laundry for their efforts towards inclusive design. However, we feel that News Laundry’s efforts were holistic, while Google and Uber only took incremental steps towards inclusive design.
Usable by All can help companies drastically improve accessibility of their product or service. I request Google, Meta, Uber, Amazon and other big tech to connect with us, so we can build a better world together.