Top 10 Best Accessibility Tools For Designers

The world of inclusive technology is here today – apps, websites, and gadgets that can be used by people with various abilities and disabilities. When designing a website, make sure you include accessibility features to ensure that your design is accessible to everyone. Accessibility tools are here to help.

Here are some cool accessibility tools for designers can use instead of having to create everything from scratch. These tools are essential for any designer. They can be used to create color combinations that conform to WCAG standards or to add different reading modes to your website. You can see the complete list to learn more about each tool.

1.Stark

Stark is a powerful accessibility tool that allows web and mobile designers to add accessibility features to their UI designs. This makes it easy for anyone to use the tool. It can be used to design a product from scratch, or update an existing design system.

This tool integrates seamlessly with Figma Sketch, Adobe XD and Google Chrome. It also offers readers support throughout the product’s lifecycle. The tool has many accessibility features, including a colorblind generator, contract checker, rapid contrast checking, and many others.

• Supports: Figma, Adobe XD, Sketch
• Stark Price: Free
• Premium app/subscriptions? Yes

2.ColorSafe

ColorSafe has many features that can be integrated into your website to make it accessible for people with different visual abilities. You can create visually appealing and accessible color palettes, as well as text- and background contrast ratios, based on WCAG guidelines.

This tool is very easy to use.ColorSafe does the rest. You simply need to enter background color, and then determine the style of your text. You can then apply the chosen text-to-background contrast ratio to your design and check the results.

• Supports: Browser
• ColorSafe Price: Free
• Premium app/subscriptions?No

3.Contrast

Contrast, as its name suggests, is an accessibility tool that automates the process of testing color contrast ratios. Two professional designers created Contrast to meet the needs of aesthetics and usability.

The tool is user-friendly and provides precise color information (contrast score), according to the WCGA standards. It also updates the entire app quickly. It is currently only available for macOS at the time of writing.

• Supports:macOS
• Contrast Price:$6.99
• Premium app/subscriptions? Yes

Also read: 7 Trends of UX/UI Design For Mobile Apps In 2020

4.Color Review

Color Review is a web-based tool that allows you to make informed decisions about the colors and combinations of colors to use in your UI design. This is especially important when designing for people who perceive color differently.

The tool is based on WCAG standards for visual design and works at two levels: AA and AAA. You can also download the Color Review app for OS X, Windows, and iPhone. It has interesting features such as eyedrops, swatches, and eyedrops.

• Supports: Browser
• Color Review Price: Free
• Premium app/subscriptions?No

5.Colorable

Colorable allows you to choose the best background-to-text contrast ratio for your website’s or mobile app’s interface design. You can make your UI accessible to all users, especially those with visual impairments, by using a pass/fail score based upon WCAG accessibility guidelines.

This tool allows you to instantly calculate contrast values for different combinations of colors by taking a pre-defined color palette. It works by entering an array of colors or objects with color string values. The tool will then return a list with possible combinations of these colors and their WCAG contrast value.

• Supports: Browser
• Colorable Price: Free
• Premium app/subscriptions?No

6.The A11y Project

The A11y Project provides a digital experience that is beautiful, accessible, and inclusive. It upholds the value and importance of providing equal opportunities in design and technology. You can create fully accessible products with the help of a variety of amazing resources, including icons, color palettes, and helpful guides.

This tool’s best feature is the fact that it is constantly being updated by a group of talented people. You can also use the checklist to conduct an accessibility audit according to the accessibility guidelines.

• Supports: Browser
• The A11y Project Price: Free
• Premium app/subscriptions?No

7.Contrast Grid

You have many options when it comes to color combinations when you work on a large web or mobile app design project. Contrast Grid allows you to test many different background and foreground color combinations.

It has a simple interface that allows you to manually input different colors. The tool will then create a grid compliant with WCAG 2.There are no minimum contract requirements. The grid code can be copied for HTML and CSS, or shared on Twitter.

• Supports: Browser
• Contrast Grid Price: Free
• Premium app/subscriptions?No

Also read: 7 Ways for Using Illustrations to Amplify Games UI/UX Design

8.Clrs.cc

Clrs.cc provides inspiration and a kind of library of color combinations. You’ll find many options for color combinations, from light backgrounds to dark backgrounds.

The site has a total of 90 color combinations. Each one is listed with its respective contrast values, as well as its AAA or AAA values. You can pick from any of the backgrounds to text ratios, or mix and match to create your own.

• Supports: Browser
• Clrs.cc Price: Free
• Premium app/subscriptions?No

9.Who Can Use

Who Can Use is a useful tool for web and graphic designers that allows them to understand how color combinations and contrasts affect people with visual impairments. It makes your designs accessible to everyone by using plugins such as Color-blind and Chroma.js.

This intuitive tool is designed to follow the recommendations of WCAG. It features a background color picker with a slider that tells you the contrast ratio as well as WCAG grading for each color. You can also see the impact of each color on different types of vision by running a simulation.

• Supports: Browser
• Who Can Use Price: Free
• Premium app/subscriptions?No

10.ColorBox

Colorbox is an easy tool that allows you to create color combinations that are accessible for users with visual impairments. You can choose from one or more colors, as well as manually adding hue, saturation, and brightness.

You can also import color codes into the tool to obtain the right color combinations. The tool also offers the option to export selected color information as code color information you can use in your web design.

• Supports: Browser
• ColorBox Price: Free
• Premium app/subscriptions?No