We live in an increasingly mobile-first world where apps are more than a convenience; they are a lifeline. From booking a taxi to checking your bank balance or video calling a loved one, mobile apps shape how we engage with the world.
For millions of people with disabilities, however, these same apps can create frustrating barriers. With the enforcement of the European Accessibility Act (2025), businesses face growing pressure to improve digital experiences, yet mobile accessibility often lags behind.
Making mobile apps accessible goes beyond compliance. It is about fairness, inclusion, and public responsibility, while also improving usability for everyone. In the UK, across Europe, and worldwide, accessibility is increasingly recognised as a matter of equality and social justice.
In this blog, we will explore best practices and guidelines to help you design inclusive, user-friendly apps.
What is Mobile App Accessibility?
Mobile app accessibility is the practice of designing and developing apps so that everyone can use them, including people with disabilities. It ensures that features, content, and interactions are perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust, following the four principles set out in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
An accessible mobile app works seamlessly with assistive technologies such as screen readers (VoiceOver on iOS and TalkBack on Android), switch controls, magnifiers, and voice input. It also follows inclusive design principles, including:
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Clear and readable fonts
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Strong colour contrast
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Simple and logical navigation
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Scalable text and layouts that adapt to user preferences
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Large, well-spaced tap targets for buttons and interactive elements
Why is Mobile App Accessibility Important?
Mobile app accessibility is important because it ensures that everyone, regardless of ability, can participate fully in the digital world. For the one billion people worldwide living with disabilities, accessible apps are not a luxury but a necessity.
Accessibility also brings wider benefits:
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Legal compliance: Regulations such as the European Accessibility Act (2025) and standards like WCAG make accessibility a legal requirement in many regions.
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Better usability: Features such as clear navigation, readable fonts, and strong contrast improve the experience for all users, not only those with disabilities.
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Wider audience reach: By making apps accessible, businesses tap into a broader customer base and remove barriers to entry.
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Brand trust and loyalty: Inclusive design demonstrates social responsibility, which builds stronger relationships with users.
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Reduced long-term costs: Building accessibility from the start avoids expensive retrofits and lowers the risk of legal challenges. You can explore more in our guide on the benefits of digital accessibility for your business.
Here’s how to make accessibility a core part of your mobile app strategy, not an afterthought:
1. Design for Mobile Accessibility from the Start
Accessibility should begin at the design stage, not be added as an afterthought. If your layout, colour scheme, and interaction model are not inclusive by design, they will be harder and more expensive to fix later.
Follow WCAG and consult platform-specific standards such as Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines and Android’s Material Design Accessibility. Together, these resources form the foundation of widely recognised mobile accessibility guidelines.
Good design helps everyone, not just users with access needs, and best practices include:
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Larger, easy-to-tap buttons
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Clear, readable fonts
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Consistent navigation patterns
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Strong colour contrast between text and background
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Flexible layouts that adapt to different screen sizes and orientations
If you’re building or scaling design components, our Design System Assessments can help ensure accessibility is baked into every element.
2. Make Your App Work with Assistive Technologies
If your app can’t be used with VoiceOver (iOS) or TalkBack (Android), it’s not accessible. Similarly, many users rely on switch controls, speech input, or screen magnifiers, which means your app must be clearly structured and labelled correctly.
Some mobile accessibility best practices for supporting assistive technologies include:
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Adding alt text and meaningful labels to all non-text elements
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Ensuring navigation order follows logic and hierarchy
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Testing real user flows with screen readers and assistive tech, not just simulated tools
Assistive technology support is not a bonus; it’s how millions of users experience your app.
3. Don’t Let Design Get in the Way of App Accessibility
Design should never reduce usability. Light-grey text on a white background might look sleek, but it’s unreadable for low-vision users. Colour-coded error messages are confusing if they don’t include text explanations.
To make your app more readable:
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Use strong colour contrast (at least 4.5:1 for text)
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Avoid relying on colour alone to communicate meaning
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Provide scalable fonts and allow users to adjust text size without breaking the layout
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Ensure text and interactive elements remain clear across different screen sizes and themes
Small improvements and a little design flexibility go a long way toward helping your app stay accessible for everyone.
4. Build Flexible, Error-Tolerant Forms
Forms are where users often get stuck, especially if error messaging is vague, labels are missing, or navigation is fiddly, and can lock people out of completing essential tasks like checkout or registration.
Here’s how to get your forms right the first time:
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Label every input field clearly, and don’t rely on disappearing placeholder text
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Highlight errors in multiple ways (e.g., text and colour), and explain what went wrong
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Support autocomplete, voice input, and accessible date pickers
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Make tap targets large enough for users with limited dexterity
If your users get stuck halfway through a checkout or registration process, you’re losing conversions and potentially users for life.
5. Conduct Mobile Accessibility Testing with Real Users
Automated tools are a good starting point, but they only catch a fraction of the barriers people face. The real insight comes from testing with people who rely on accessibility features every day.
To do this well:
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Include disabled testers in your user research from the start
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Test with a range of devices, screen readers, and input methods
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Capture feedback, act on it, and re-test to validate improvements
Partnering with organisations or services that work with diverse users (including blind, Deaf, neurodivergent, and mobility-impaired participants) helps ensure that your app works for everyone.
For practical steps on getting this right, check out our guide on inclusive user testing.
Why Mobile App Accessibility Matters
Accessible apps don’t just comply with legal frameworks like WCAG or ADA; they perform better. They reduce user friction, increase customer loyalty, and tap into a wider audience, including over one billion people with disabilities worldwide.
Inclusion is good UX. It’s also good business.
When you design with accessibility in mind:
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Your app becomes easier to use for everyone, not just disabled users
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Your brand demonstrates social responsibility and earns trust
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Your business avoids costly retrofits or legal risks
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Your teams innovate by solving real-world constraints creatively
Final Thoughts
Accessible design is not a checklist to complete just before launch. It’s a mindset that starts in discovery, shapes your design, informs your development, and continues with every update.
At Arc Inclusion, we help organisations embed mobile accessibility into every step of the digital product lifecycle. Whether you’re building your first app or scaling across platforms, we can help you deliver experiences that are truly built for everyone.
Ready to make your app accessible and inclusive by design? Learn how we can help your organisation be accessibility compliant and future-proof your digital experiences.