Skip to main content

Making Your App Inclusive

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Developing Inclusive Mobile Apps

Abstract

By now, I’m hoping I’ve convinced you on the argument of why accessibility and inclusion are essential. And we’ve covered what each platform is capable of and why. But when and how should you use each of the tools Google and Apple have created for you? In this chapter, we’ll discuss some of the techniques you can use to improve your app’s experience for different people. In no specific order, we’ll cover different groups of people and discuss some of the ways you can make your app more inclusive. We’ll combine elements of graphic design, service design, and mobile programming.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    “How to write in plain English”, The Plain English Campaign. http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/how-to-write-in-plain-english.html. Accessed 20th November 2019.

  2. 2.

    “Types of Dark Pattern”, Dark Patterns. https://www.darkpatterns.org/types-of-dark-pattern. Accessed November 20, 2019.

  3. 3.

    Mathur, Arunesh et al. “Dark Patterns at Scale.” Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 3.CSCW (2019). https://arxiv.org/pdf/1907.07032.pdf.

  4. 4.

    Price, Catherine. “Putting Down Your Phone May Help You Live Longer”. The New York Times, April 24, 2019. www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/well/mind/putting-down-your-phone-may-help-you-live-longer.html.

  5. 5.

    Roose, Kevin, “Do Not Disturb: How I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain”. The New York Times, February 23, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/23/business/cell-phone-addiction.html

  6. 6.

    Jones, Eleanor, “5 ways your phone is affecting your anxiety”. Cosmopolitan, February 14, 2018. www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/body/health/a17851630/mobile-phone-affecting-anxiety-mental-health/

  7. 7.

    Plato, “Phaedrus”. Athens, 360BCE. http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/phaedrus.html

  8. 8.

    Noë, Beryl et al. “Identifying Indicators of Smartphone Addiction Through User-App Interaction”. Computers in Human Behavior, Vol 99. October 2019, pp 56-65. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563219301712

  9. 9.

    Bélanger, Richard E. et al. “A U-Shaped Association Between Intensity of Internet Use and Adolescent Health”. Pediatrics, vol. 127, no 2. February 2011. https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/2/e330

  10. 10.

    Noë, “Identifying Indicators of Smartphone Addiction Through User-App Interaction”

  11. 11.

    “Highlight Where People Are”, Design Patterns for Mental Health. Accessed November 20, 2019. www.designpatternsformentalhealth.org/pattern-library/highlight-where-people-are

  12. 12.

    “Monzo: Designing good mental health into the way we bank”, Design Council. Accessed 20 November 2019. www.designcouncil.org.uk/news-opinion/monzo-designing-good-mental-health-way-we-bank

  13. 13.

    “Monzo: Designing good mental health into the way we bank”, Design Council.

  14. 14.

    “Positive Update”, Design Patterns for Mental Health. Accessed 20 November 2019. www.designpatternsformentalhealth.org/pattern-library/positive-update

  15. 15.

    “No Strings Attached”, Design Patterns for Mental Health. Accessed 20th November 2019. www.designpatternsformentalhealth.org/pattern-library/no-strings-attached

  16. 16.

    “Immediate Support”, Design Patterns for Mental Health. Accessed 20th November 2019. www.designpatternsformentalhealth.org/pattern-library/immediate-support

  17. 17.

    Noë, “Identifying Indicators of Smartphone Addiction Through User-App Interaction”

  18. 18.

    Richard H. Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein. “Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness.” 2009.

  19. 19.

    Brownlee, John, “Designing An App For People With Severe Mental Illness.” Fast Company, March 17, 2016. www.fastcompany.com/3057872/designing-an-app-for-people-with-severe-mental-illness

  20. 20.

    Draycott, Richard, “Gamification is the key to Duolingo success says product manager Gilani at Canvas conference”. The Drum, October 26, 2016. www.thedrum.com/news/2017/10/26/gamification-the-key-duolingo-success-says-product-manager-gilani-canvas-conference

  21. 21.

    Noë, “Identifying Indicators of Smartphone Addiction Through User-App Interaction.”

  22. 22.

    “Locked Out: The Smartphone Deficit”, Citizens Advice Scotland. August 2018. www.cas.org.uk/publications/locked-out-smartphone-deficit

  23. 23.

    John, Evan., Thomas, Greg., and Touchet, Anel. “The Disability Price Tag 2019“ February 2019. www.scope.org.uk/campaigns/extra-costs/disability-price-tag/

  24. 24.

    “Persons with a Disability: Labor Force Characteristics Summary” US Bureau of Labor. February 26, 2019. Statistics. www.bls.gov/news.release/disabl.nr0.htm

  25. 25.

    “Lloyds Bank UK Consumer Digital Index 2018” Lloyds Bank. May 2018. https://www.lloydsbank.com/assets/media/pdfs/banking_with_us/whats-happening/LB-Consumer-Digital-Index-2018-Report.pdf

  26. 26.

    “Essential digital skills framework,” Department for Education. April 23, 2019. www.gov.uk/government/publications/essential-digital-skills-framework/essential-digital-skills-framework

  27. 27.

    “Lloyds Bank UK Consumer Digital Index 2018” Lloyds Bank.

  28. 28.

    van Gemert, Vasilis, “Exclusive Design”. Accessed November 20, 2019. https://exclusive-design.vasilis.nl

  29. 29.

    “Lloyds Bank UK Consumer Digital Index 2018” Lloyds Bank.

  30. 30.

    “Ageing”, United Nations. Accessed November 20, 2019. www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/ageing/

  31. 31.

    Hassanein, Rokia. “New Study Reveals Shocking Rates of Attempted Suicide Among Trans Adolescents.” Human Rights Campaign. September 12, 2018. www.hrc.org/blog/new-study-reveals-shocking-rates-of-attempted-suicide-among-trans-adolescen

  32. 32.

    Hostetter, Chelsea. “Designing for All Genders”, The Pronoun Project. March 4, 2018. thepronounproject.com/blog/2018/3/4/designing-for-all-genders

  33. 33.

    Mccormick, Joseph. “Egyptian police use Grindr to lure gay men to hotel rooms”, Pink News. October 29, 2017. www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/10/29/egyptian-police-use-grindr-to-lure-gay-men-to-hotel-rooms/

  34. 34.

    “Stephen Port: Serial killer guilty of murdering four men”, BBC News. November 23, 2016www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-38077859

  35. 35.

    Clifton, Anna Marie. Twitter post. October 22, 2016. https://twitter.com/TweetAnnaMarie/status/789957313649967104

  36. 36.

    Nine. Twitter post. October 4, 2016. https://twitter.com/supernowoczesna/status/790359673702457344

  37. 37.

    Lucker, John, L. et al. “An Examination of the Evidence-Based Literacy Research in Deaf Education” American Annals of the Deaf, vol 150, no 5. 2005/2005. www.uv.es/infabra/Luckner%202005%2006%20AN%20EXAMINATION%20OF%20THE%20EVIDENCE-BASED.pdf

  38. 38.

    https://github.com/douglashill/KeyboardKit

  39. 39.

    Downloadable for Mac or PC at https://developer.paciellogroup.com/resources/contrastanalyser/.

  40. 40.

    Hern, Alex. “FaceApp forced to pull ‘racist’ filters that allow ‘digital blackface’”. The Guardian, August 10, 2017. www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/10/faceapp-forced-to-pull-racist-filters-digital-blackface

  41. 41.

    Lomas, Natasha. “FaceApp apologizes for building a racist AI” Tech Crunch, April 25, 2017. https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/25/faceapp-apologises-for-building-a-racist-ai/

  42. 42.

    Liptak, Adam. “Sent to Prison by a Software Program’s Secret Algorithms”. The New York Times. May 1, 2017. www.nytimes.com/2017/05/01/us/politics/sent-to-prison-by-a-software-programs-secret-algorithms.html

  43. 43.

    “New American Community Survey Statistics for Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Available for States and Local Areas”, United States Census Bureau. September 14, 2017. www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2017/acs-single-year.html

  44. 44.

    www.meetup.com/London-Accessibility-Meetup/

  45. 45.

    www.accessibilitynottingham.co.uk

  46. 46.

    www.meetup.com/a11yATX/

  47. 47.

    www.meetup.com/Bristol-Inclusive-Design-and-Development/

  48. 48.

    https://accessibility.scot

  49. 49.

    https://accessibility.scot/blog/

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Rob Whitaker

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Whitaker, R. (2020). Making Your App Inclusive. In: Developing Inclusive Mobile Apps. Apress, Berkeley, CA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-5814-9_12

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics