Mastering Accessibility in Digital Design with Figma
Designing digital products that are inclusive and accessible is no longer optional—it’s a necessity. With millions of users relying on assistive technologies, your digital product must provide seamless usability to everyone. As a leading WordPress development agency serving the USA, UK, and Canada markets, Belov Digital understands the pivotal role accessibility plays in user experience and compliance. In this comprehensive guide, we explore how to harness Figma’s powerful accessibility features to create digital products that cater to all users.
Why Inclusive Design Matters in Digital Products
Inclusive design ensures that your website or app is usable by as many people as possible, including those with disabilities such as vision, hearing, motor, or cognitive impairments. Beyond ethical reasons, inclusive design helps you:
- Reach a broader audience and increase customer satisfaction
- Comply with legal requirements like the ADA in the US, the Equality Act in the UK, and AODA in Canada
- Boost SEO and overall site performance
- Enhance brand reputation and user trust
Figma offers a robust environment for designing accessible digital products, streamlining this crucial process from wireframe to prototype.
Utilizing Figma to Build Accessible User Interfaces
1. Leveraging Figma’s Accessibility Settings and Prototyping Features
Figma supports accessible prototypes that allow users to navigate content using screen readers like VoiceOver on Mac and JAWS or NVDA on Windows. To activate accessibility mode in Figma prototypes, designers can use keyboard shortcuts or toggle settings directly in the toolbar, enabling content adaptation specifically for screen readers. This functionality helps you test the navigability and semantic correctness of your digital product early in the design phase.
Note that accessibility mode is currently supported in Figma’s desktop app and desktop browsers but not on mobile prototypes, so plan your testing accordingly. Learn more about activating these features in Figma’s official Accessible prototypes guide.
2. Incorporating Visual Hierarchy and Responsive Design
One of the most fundamental principles of accessibility is clear visual hierarchy paired with responsive design. In Figma, create distinct headings that are roughly twice the text size of body paragraphs to help users with compromised vision or cognitive challenges easily scan your interface. High contrast between text and backgrounds further improves readability. Responsive design ensures that your product functions across all devices and screen sizes effectively, supporting users who zoom or use mobile devices for accessibility.
A great resource to understand visual hierarchy in Figma is this beginner’s tutorial on designing accessible UI in Figma.
3. Use Semantic HTML Tags in Your Design Flow
While designing, assigning proper semantic HTML tags to elements in Figma can significantly improve accessibility. Semantic tags help screen readers interpret page structure and hierarchy, enhancing navigation for users with assistive devices. Figma Sites—available on paid plans—supports this feature, which also benefits your SEO strategy by providing clearer content structure.
More details on this feature can be found in Figma’s documentation on Improving accessibility of your site.
4. Harness Figma Accessibility Plugins for Real-Time Feedback
Figma’s vibrant plugin ecosystem provides tremendous support for accessibility testing and validation. Some must-have plugins include:
- Stark – An all-in-one accessibility tool that checks color contrast, offers colorblind simulations, and suggests accessible palettes.
- Able – Focuses on color contrast testing and simulates multiple types of colorblindness.
- A11y Focus Orderer by Microsoft – Helps organize the proper focus sequence for keyboard users.
- Epilepsy Blocker – Checks for flashing images or GIFs that may trigger seizures.
Explore more accessibility plugins in the Figma Community Accessibility section.
Real-World Applications and Case Studies
Let’s consider a case study where a fintech startup wanted to redesign their app focusing on inclusivity. Using Figma, their design team applied strong visual hierarchy principles and engaged tools like Stark to verify contrast compliance. They prototyped with screen reader support enabled, discovering navigation challenges early.
After iterative testing, the startup enhanced keyboard navigation focus order with the A11y Focus Orderer plugin and optimized images to pass epilepsy-friendly checks. These efforts resulted in a 35% reduction in user complaints related to accessibility and increased app usage among visually impaired users by 20%.
Similarly, agencies like UX Design CC and Smashing Magazine’s Accessibility section provide excellent case studies and expert guides to deepen your accessible design practice.
Integrating Accessibility in Your Workflow with Belov Digital
At Belov Digital Agency, we embed accessibility into every project from the outset. Our expertise with Kinsta hosting ensures your WordPress digital products deliver speed and reliability along with accessible design. This holistic approach guarantees optimal user experiences at scale.
If you want to elevate your digital products with inclusive design principles using Figma or need a partner skilled in accessibility and WordPress development, contact us today to discuss your project goals.
The Future of Accessible Digital Design
Accessibility is evolving from a compliance checkbox to a strategic differentiator. Figma’s continual updates and plugin innovations empower designers to build inclusive digital products more efficiently than ever.
- Keep abreast of evolving legal standards and guidelines such as WCAG 2.2 and ADA compliance.
- Utilize emerging AI-powered accessibility analysis tools.
- Regularly update your design system to incorporate accessibility best practices.
By embedding accessibility deeply in the design process with tools like Figma, businesses not only meet legal and ethical standards but unlock new growth avenues while fostering a genuinely inclusive digital ecosystem.
