Accessibility for digital products and apps
Making digital products accessible to all
At Apadmi, we are committed to building digital products for people with various disabilities and impairments. We strive to make mobile experiences that provide a positive user journey for all by applying the relevant accessibility standards across our practices and products. With 135 million people living with disabilities across Europe, prioritising accessibility is crucial to unlocking the full potential of your digital product.
What does accessibility mean for mobile apps?
Digital accessibility is the act of designing, developing and optimising digital products so that people with a range of disabilities can use them. At Apadmi, this means ensuring our digital products can be used by as many people as possible, including those with impaired vision, motor coordination difficulties, cognitive impairments, learning disabilities, and deafness or impaired hearing.
It is also important to note that it is not only people with disabilities who may need to be considered, it could be anybody at different times and locations in their life.
Such temporary scenarios could be; temporary health issues, users with an older or uncommon device, difficult conditions and locations such as noise or poor internet connectivity.
When building a digital product from scratch, adding accessibility into your product strategy is crucial, as retro-fitting a product for accessibility can be more costly and time consuming. However if you already have a mobile product in need of improvement, it’s never too late to implement changes that can make your product more inclusive for all your customers.
Our services
Accessibility audit and guidance
Our accessibility experts can identify any gaps in your product; we measure against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Levels 1 (critical), 2 (essential) and 3 (helpful). Once we have identified where your product passes or fails against these guidelines, we present the findings in a comprehensive report before moving on to the next steps of building a roadmap to address and , starting with the most critical. If you are still in the early stages of building a product, we can help you define how accessibility can fit into the roadmap ahead, and provide you with the right guidance to ensure your product is inclusive from the get-go. Learn more here.
Designing for accessibility with user research
Once we have determined the current level of your product’s accessibility, we will agree the WCAG level to which we will work towards bringing your product up to (this will usually be Level 2 at a minimum). We then organise user testing or targeted accessibility testing, as well as mapping out user journeys and user stories that represent the target user. Improved designs are refined with developers, checking they meet the Definition of Done and the required accessibility level.
Review, test and implement improvements
Carrying out accessibility testing to test wireframes with people with access needs is one of the final steps of the process before then implementing recommendations from testing reports. Our experts use a range of tools to develop your product to the agreed accessibility level on the devices and operating systems in the scope of work. We can work with you to continuously optimise your product for accessibility as regulations such as the European Accessibility Act 2025 come into force to ensure your product remains up to date and fully compliant and optimised for your business and end user.
Accessibility for leading financial service providers
Financial service providers with digital products are required by law to adhere to a high standard of accessibility - we have a wealth of experience in building and improving mobile apps to these standards. For Chetwood Financial, we ensured the app was usable for a wide range of users as we developed and built the product together, with features such as supporting large font sizes and allowing customers to use screen readers. For Argos Financial Services, we have carried out an accessibility audit to identify and present key improvements that can be made to the app to make it more inclusive.
The benefits of building an accessible product
Increased audience size
By making an inclusive product, you naturally increase your potential audience size - this unlocks further opportunities to engage with new or returning customers and increase revenue.
Improving brand relationship with customers
Users who struggle to use your product due to lack of accessibility features may leave negative reviews, cease using your product or services, and subsequently have a negative view of your brand. By taking on user feedback, implementing change and improving user experience, you can improve your relationship with customers and your overall brand perception.
Making a positive ESG impact
Many businesses have ESG goals - and accessibility should be one of these as our world becomes increasingly more reliant upon digital products and services. By building a mobile product that has been expertly designed for a range of users, you know that your business is making a positive social impact by doing the right thing.
What you’ll get from a partnership with Apadmi
A legally compliant product
We understand that identifying and adhering to legal guidelines for digital products can be overwhelming - but we are here to help. Our dedicated team of accessibility experts are on hand to ensure your product is compliant to the necessary standards for your industry and your business model. We leave no stone unturned when it comes to identifying what needs to be done to ensure your mobile product is legally compliant, giving you that extra peace of mind.
A product optimised for all
By having a product that is not optimised for accessibility, you can never know just how many people you may be excluding, and how many customers you might have lost. However, by allowing us to optimise your product for a wider range of users, you can ensure you are being as inclusive as possible and reaching a wide range of customers.
Consultancy from experts with a passion for accessibility
Our accessibility experts support you with guidance and advice at every stage of the process. Apadmi has a dedicated accessibility team comprised of QA, design, user research, development and product experts that continuously look for ways to improve our accessibility offerings in line with evolving industry standards and laws. With over a decade of experience and leading brands as long-term clients, Apadmi is a partner you can trust on your digital accessibility journey.
Why Apadmi?
Our greatest strength is our decade of experience in best-in-class mobile application development and the complex technology solutions used to integrate with your business systems. No challenge is beyond the capabilities of our 300-strong team of mobile experts - we thrive on finding new ways to unlock value for you and your customers.
Because all our solutions are bespoke, we deliver a mobile application that is built with the nuances of your business in mind. This means that, unlike an off-the-shelf solution, your product is uniquely tailored to meet your needs. With UX and accessibility also at the heart of everything we do, we ensure your mobile application is one that users will genuinely enjoy using.
Our expert app developers are trusted by some of the UK and Europe’s leading organisations. From retail giants such as Domino’s Pizza, Asda, and Co-op, to large financial service providers such as Charles Stanley, Argos Financial and Chetwood; our mobile expertise is called upon from a wide range of businesses.
“It’s great to have finally launched the app and its new features after this intensive period of development. We put our members at the heart of everything we do, so getting their feedback on the app as early as possible was critical. The 12-month testing period has enabled us to identify the features and functionality that will really matter to our members. The end result is just as we hoped - richer customer interactions, greater member satisfaction and now we can look at personalising those in-app user experiences.”
Joel Godfrey Principal Product Manager, Co-op Digital