In 2022, LifeSG received a critical review on the App Store. The reviewer was upset that the app was not accessible for people using screen readers, such as her brother.
“My brother is visually impaired…this app is completely unusable to him. Accessibility is non-existent.”
*Edited for length
The reviewer was right, and the criticism deserved. Everyone should have equal access to digital government services. However, accessibility was not built into the app's design, development, or quality assurance processes at all.
At that time, I was a few months into my journey of learning about accessibility. We were also working on a refresh for the Services section of the app.
I used this opportunity to introduce accessibility annotations for the new screens before handing it off to developers.
Crucially, we were able to convince our stakeholders that accessibility is worth prioritising.
This meant we could also enhance accessibility for other parts of the app:
Home, Profile, and Family Support Calculator.
What I did
Accessibility is a team sport, and the enhancements would not have been made with my effort alone.
However, I'm especially proud to have:
initiated and led accessibility enhancements
helped incorporate accessibility into our design and development process
influenced others to consider accessibility in their work beyond this project
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I introduced accessibility annotations to the design. These describe how the page should behave for someone using an assistive device, such as a screen reader.
The annotations made up the acceptance criteria or 'definition of done' for our team.
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I was involved in development kickoffs and other meetings to:
explain accessibility requirements and desired outcomes
answer questions about our suggested approach
discuss workarounds and alternatives
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I was also invited to deskchecks along with our quality assurance testers. This gave me the opportunity to make sure the enhancements were implemented as intended.
Hear it for yourself
These videos show a small snippet of LifeSG's Family Support Calculator before and after accessibility enhancements. Listen to them with your eyes closed to better imagine how you would use the app if you were visually impaired.
Before accessibility enhancements
Back, button
Enter your details
Select your gender
Block selector
Block selector
Block selector
Select your marital status
Block selector
Block selector
Block selector
Block selector
Screencast of a step in the Family Support Calculator when using VoiceOver. This was before accessibility enhancements.
After accessibility enhancements
Back, button
Enter your details, heading
Step 1 of 3
Select sex
Male, button
Female, button
Female, selected
Select martial status
Married, button
Single, button
Divorced, button
Widowed, button
Screencast of a step in the Family Support Calculator when using VoiceOver. This was after accessibility enhancements.
Thoughts
This project will always be a special one for me, as I led a change I truly believed in. However, I have since learnt more about accessibility and have a few additional thoughts:
In my annotations, I focused too heavily on screen readers. I should've considered other assistive devices and other types of disabilities.
100% accessible is a myth. We can only make it as usable for as many people as possible.
We need to influence as many people as possible to learn about accessibility. That's the only way to truly incorporate it into the process.
“Great that the app is becoming more accessible. Keep up the good work 👍”