Designing for the person who can't read your app.

Design · 7 min read

When most people think about app design, they think about how it looks. Colours, fonts, layouts, animations. That's all important. But there's a question that gets overlooked far too often: can everyone actually use this?

Not everyone interacts with a phone the same way you do. Some people can't see the screen clearly. Some people can't hear audio cues. Some people have difficulty with fine motor control. Some people use screen readers that read the interface aloud. And if your app isn't designed with these users in mind, you're not just excluding them. You're making a worse product for everyone.

The numbers are bigger than you think

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (2022), 5.5 million Australians, that's 21.4% of the population, have some form of disability. That's not a niche market. That's one in five Australians.

And that figure only captures people with diagnosed or recognised conditions. It doesn't include the millions more with temporary impairments, like a broken arm, or situational ones, like trying to use your phone in direct sunlight, or age-related changes like declining vision. When you add all of those up, designing for accessibility isn't designing for a minority. It's designing for the real-world conditions your users actually face.

Research by the Centre for Inclusive Design, commissioned by PwC Australia, found that products designed inclusively can reach up to four times the size of their intended audience. That's not just a social good. It's a business advantage.

Accessibility makes everything better

Here's what most people don't realise about accessible design: the features you add for people with disabilities almost always improve the experience for everyone else too. This is called the "curb cut effect," named after the pavement ramps that were designed for wheelchair users but turned out to be useful for parents with prams, delivery workers with trolleys, and cyclists.

In app design, the same principle applies everywhere. Larger touch targets designed for people with motor impairments are easier for everyone to tap, especially on the go. High contrast text designed for people with low vision is easier for everyone to read, especially in bright light. Clear, simple labels designed for screen reader users make the interface more intuitive for sighted users too. Captions on video content help people in noisy environments, not just people who are deaf.

Apple's accessibility documentation puts it clearly: accessibility is about making sure everyone can use your product, and the design decisions that achieve that invariably improve the product for all users. Google's accessibility guidelines echo the same principle.

Building it in from the start versus retrofitting

The Centre for Inclusive Design research also found that retrofitting accessibility into an existing product can cost up to 10,000 times more than building it in from the beginning. That's not a typo. The cost difference is that dramatic because retrofitting means rethinking navigation structures, rebuilding components, rewriting content, and retesting everything.

When accessibility is part of the design process from day one, it's not expensive at all. It's a set of design decisions, choosing the right contrast ratios, structuring content logically, labelling interactive elements properly, designing touch targets at the right size. These take minutes to implement during the design phase. They take weeks or months to retrofit after development.

This is one of the reasons choosing the right designer matters so much. A designer who understands accessibility will make these decisions naturally throughout the process. You won't even notice most of them happening. But you'll notice the difference in the final product, and so will your users.

What accessible design actually looks like

Accessible design isn't a separate design phase or a checklist you run through at the end. It's a set of principles that inform every design decision. Here are the ones that matter most for apps:

Colour contrast: text and interactive elements need sufficient contrast against their backgrounds. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide specific ratios. This isn't just for people with colour blindness; it helps anyone using their phone in bright conditions.

Touch targets: buttons and interactive elements should be large enough to tap comfortably. Apple recommends a minimum of 44x44 points. Google recommends 48x48 dp. These sizes account for users with reduced motor control and anyone using their phone with one hand while carrying something.

Screen reader support: every image, icon, and interactive element needs a text alternative that a screen reader can announce. If a button just has an icon, the screen reader needs to know what that icon means. The WebAIM Screen Reader User Survey found that 72.4% of respondents used mobile screen readers, making this essential for any app.

Clear hierarchy and navigation: information should be organised logically, with clear headings and consistent navigation patterns. This helps screen reader users navigate efficiently and helps everyone understand the structure of the app.

If your app serves the NDIS space, this isn't optional

If you're building an app that serves NDIS participants, their families, or service providers, accessibility isn't a nice-to-have. Your primary users include people with disabilities by definition. The NDIA's latest quarterly report shows over 717,000 active participants in the scheme. Many of them use assistive technology daily.

Beyond the NDIS, any app that serves aged care, health and wellness, or community services is likely to have users with accessibility needs. These aren't edge cases. They're your core users.

Good design is inclusive design

At its core, accessibility is about empathy. It's about recognising that the person using your app might not be exactly like you. They might have different abilities, different devices, different environments. A well-designed app works for all of them.

That's not just the right thing to do. It's good product design. It expands your potential audience. It reduces support requests. It improves satisfaction scores. And it means you build something you can genuinely be proud of, knowing it works for everyone, not just the easy cases.

Sources
Disability, Ageing and Carers Survey 2022 (Australian Bureau of Statistics) - 5.5 million Australians (21.4%) have a disability.
Centre for Inclusive Design / PwC Australia - Inclusive products can reach 4x the intended audience. Retrofitting accessibility costs up to 10,000x more than building it in.
Screen Reader User Survey #10 (WebAIM) - 72.4% of screen reader users use mobile screen readers.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (W3C WAI) - International standards for accessible digital content.
NDIA Quarterly Report (National Disability Insurance Agency) - Over 717,000 active NDIS participants.

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