Make your app ADA compliant, delight your disabled users, and avoid costly fines and lawsuits.
THE CHALLENGE
Let’s face it, app accessibility can be complicated. You’re likely here because you want to make your apps more accessible, and that’s a good thing. But understanding the various regulations that are in place in both the US and abroad when it comes to disabled users is enough to make anyones head spin. Add in the complexity of auditing your apps for compliance on multiple platforms, as well as the effort to fix any problems you find, and you’re in over your head.
WHY YOU CARE
According to the US Census Bureau, as of 2010, nearly 1 in 5 people in the United States were living with some form of disability, including blindness, deafness, motor/sensory handicaps, and much more. This means that more of your users than ever before rely on assistive technology to interact with software. Excluding up to 20% of your user base from your app experience is an ill-advised risk to your business and would hardly be acceptable in any other context.
THE RISKS
Enforcement and interpretation of the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) has been a moving target in recent years, but one thing is for certain, not complying to the fullest extent possible leaves you open to much more than just the ire of your disabled users. Several landmark court cases have clearly cemented the risks involved, which include among other things, highly publicized lawsuits, damages payout, and fines.
THE TECHNOLOGY
As our mobile devices become increasingly complex, the assistive technology that your disabled users take advantage of also becomes more complicated. To make matters worse, this tech differs in nuanced ways between iOS and Android, making it even more difficult to understand whether or not your app is an upstanding accessibility citizen. But diagnosing the problem is only the first half of the equation, once you get to fixing issues, it can be equally challenging to implement the first-class accessibility experience your users deserve.
I’m here to help…
App Accessibility Audit
My comprehensive App Accessibility Audit is the easiest and most cost effective way to ensure your app is fully accessible to all people, making for happy users, and letting you sleep easy knowing that you won’t be liable to lawsuits or fines. Applying my 10 years of deep mobile experience and expertise in assistive technology on both iOS and Android, I’ll produce a full report of the current state of your products, along with recommended steps to solve the issues found, as well as customized estimates for the cost of the development work required to resolve said issues. Throughout the entire process, you’ll be able to ask me any questions about assistive technology as it pertains to your products or just in general, I’m there to help you in any way I can. Below you can find more detail on exactly what’s included with every audit.
AUDIT
An in-depth audit of your apps, performed by an accessibility expert, on a real device and using the assistive technology commonly used on each platform. Every screen will be accessed and meticulously tested by hand, to make sure I experience your app the same as a disabled user would.
REPORT
A detailed report containing my findings, including a description of every issue, suggested actions on how to fix each, annotated screenshots illustrating where I encountered the issue, and a high-level overview of how the app measures up with suggestions on which issues should be highest priority to resolve.
ESTIMATES
A line item breakdown of the effort required to resolve each issue, expressed in development hours, that you can take to your stakeholders with a clear value/cost proposition. Additionally included upon request, a dollar amount quote for me to take on the work directly.
CREDENTIALS & QUALIFICATIONS
Why should you hire me?
I’ve been in the mobile industry since the dawn of the app store in 2008, having implemented accessibility on countless apps from fortune 500 companies to startups. My breadth of experience even includes a navigation app, Blindways by Perkins School for the Blind, that was designed entirely for use by blind users. All of this means you can count on the fact that you’ll get an expert on your side, that deeply understands the problem and how to solve it.
On a more personal note, aside from being a product creator, I also happen to be visually impaired myself, and thus use assistive technology every single day. Having someone capable of being able to both understand accessibility challenges from a user standpoint and also be able to classify and resolve issues is something you won’t find every day. While fully sighted individuals might offer similar services, they can work by the book at best, while I can do one better and audit based on my own first-hand experience.
Unlike many developers or firms that specialize in a single platform, I have deep experience across both iOS and Android. I am well versed in the assistive tech on both, VoiceOver for iOS and TalkBack for Android. Each platform has it’s own UX conventions, and that extends into accessibility. Understanding how to bridge that gap is critical in making an app feel at home on it’s respective platform.