Why accessibility?
Accessibility belongs as standard in good product design. In an increasingly digital world, equal access to technology is crucial for societal participation. To ensure and further promote accessibility, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) must be implemented in all 27 EU member states by June 28, 2025. Similar legislation is expected to be implemented in Switzerland 2027.
At Swisscom all digital products should at least reach AA Compliance (WCAG 2.1).
Who is accessibility for?
Accessible design not only helps users with disabilities; it provides better user experiences for everyone. Almost everyone encounters some form of disability at some point in their life, whether it’s permanent, temporary, or situation-dependent. According to the Federal Statistical Office, around 20% of the swiss population live with some form of disability.
Forms of disability
It affects approximately 10% of the world’s population.
How they experience an interface
- May use a screen reader to experience interfaces
- May rely on Braille output
- Cannot be expected to use a pointer or mouse for input
Measures that are particularly helpful for people with this disabilities
- Well structured documents
- Descriptions of visual elements, such as images or icons
- Keyboard operation option
How this applies to everyone
- As audio-only interfaces gain popularity through devices like AI assistants, users are expecting more and more from the audio representations of experiences.
It affects approximately 4% of the world’s population.
How they experience an interface
- May use screen readers, screen magnifiers, high-contrast modes, and/or monochrome displays
- May have their browser font size adjusted to a larger setting
- May not use adaptive technology at all
Measures that are particularly helpful for people with this disabilities
- Good contrast
- Easily scalable layout
- Separation of content and layout
How this applies to everyone
- Users without disabilities sometimes need to view screens in poor lighting conditions. For example, it’s difficult to see a screen outside on a bright day. A higher-contrast design will make the screen more usable for everyone.
- Vision worsens gradually starting around age 40, and good contrast helps this very large demographic use your interface.
Color-blindness affects 8% of all men and 0.4% of women.
How they experience an interface
- Will not be able to differentiate between some colors on an interface
- Rely on non-color information to use an interface
Measures that are particularly helpful for people with this disabilities
- Swisscom color themes strive to comply with the WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines for contrast.
How they experience an interface
- May rely on closed captioning and other alternative representations of audio
Measures that are particularly helpful for people with this disabilities
- Descriptions of audio elements (Transcribe and caption all videos and animations that have meaningful audio.)
- Visual feedback for all actions
- Texts in simple language
How this applies to everyone
- All users can benefit from closed captioning. Imagine using your device in a loud environment or, alternatively, in a quiet environment when it wouldn’t be appropriate to turn your sound on.
How users with physical disabilities experience an interface
- May rely on keyboards, track balls, voice recognition, and other assistive technologies to interact with an interface
- May not be able to use a keyboard, mouse, or other pointer
Measures that are particularly helpful for people with this disabilities
- Generous target sizes such as buttons
- Keyboard operation option
- No unwanted automatic actions
How this applies to everyone
- Many users prefer to navigate interfaces with a keyboard and no mouse for efficiency. Good keyboard navigation can help everyone be more productive.
Functional cognitive disabilities can result in difficulties with:
- Memory
- Problem solving
- Attention
- Reading, linguistic, and verbal comprehension
- Mathematics
- Visual comprehension
How they experience an interface
- May have limited working memory and need information to remain visible throughout the completion of a task
- May experience seizures when exposed to flashing content due to epilepsy
Measures that are particularly helpful for people with this disabilities
- Simply written texts
- Clearly legible fonts
- No distracting elements (avoid autoplaying animations and videos, and flashing animations)
How this applies to everyone
- Best practices for cognitive disabilities benefit all users. Busy environments can tax your cognitive load. Aging adults may also experience a decline in cognitive abilities. Placing a low cognitive load on users reduces mistakes and improves effectiveness, regardless of their abilities.
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