Accessibility is more than just a design trend; it’s a commitment to creating digital products that everyone can use and enjoy. In today’s diverse digital world, accessible digital interfaces are essential for inclusivity, usability, and compliance.
Figma, one of the most popular design tools among UI/UX professionals, offers robust features that help designers build accessible products. From auto layout and responsive design to accessibility plugins, Figma provides everything you need to make your designs inclusive.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to use Figma for designing accessible digital interfaces. We’ll cover accessibility principles, setup tips, practical plugins, and design best practices.
An Overview of Accessible Design
Accessible design ensures that digital interfaces can be used by people of all abilities, including those with visual, auditory, cognitive, or motor impairments. It’s guided by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), a global standard for accessibility.
These guidelines focus on four key principles:
- Perceivable: Information must be easy to see and hear.
- Operable: Users should be able to navigate with various input methods.
- Understandable: Content and interfaces must be clear and predictable.
- Robust: The product should work with assistive technologies, like screen readers.
When these principles are applied, the result is a digital interface that works seamlessly for everyone.
Figma’s accessibility features make it possible to design with these principles in mind. With the right setup and tools, you can ensure your designs meet accessibility standards while maintaining visual appeal and brand consistency.
Turn Your Figma Design into an Accessible WordPress Website
Our team specializes in transforming inclusive designs into fully functional, WCAG-compliant sites that deliver seamless experiences for all users.
Understanding Accessibility Principles
Before jumping into Figma, it’s crucial to understand what accessibility really means in design. Here are a few key principles every designer should know:
- Color Contrast and Legibility: Page color contrast plays a major role in readability. Users with low vision or color blindness may struggle to read text that doesn’t have enough contrast. WCAG recommends a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. In Figma, plugins like Stark or Able can help you test color contrast instantly.
- Font Size and Readability: Readable typography improves accessibility for users with visual impairments or reading difficulties. Use scalable fonts and avoid text that’s too small. Stick to clear, sans-serif fonts for digital interfaces.
- Keyboard Navigation: Not everyone uses a mouse. Ensure that interactive elements, such as buttons, forms, and links, are easy to navigate using only a keyboard. When prototyping in Figma, simulate this flow to identify potential accessibility gaps.
- Screen Reader Compatibility: Screen readers convert text into speech or braille, helping visually impaired users navigate digital interfaces. Figma’s accessibility plugins can help simulate how a screen reader interprets your designs.
- Inclusive Interactions: Accessibility also involves creating interactions that don’t overwhelm users. Simple animations, intuitive layouts, and clear feedback help make designs inclusive for all.
Step-by-Step Guide: Designing Accessible Digital Interfaces in Figma
Let’s walk through the process of creating accessible designs in Figma, from setup to execution.
Step 1: Setting Up Figma for Accessible Design
A good setup lays the foundation for accessibility. Here’s how to get started:
- Create a Design System: Build a design system that includes reusable components like buttons, forms, and icons. Ensure that color palettes, font styles, and component states meet WCAG standards.
- Use Auto Layout: Auto layout allows your components to resize automatically. This ensures responsiveness across different devices and screen sizes.
- Define Accessible Color Styles: Use semantic color naming like Primary/Accessible, Secondary/Disabled, etc. This helps maintain clarity across the design system.
- Test Your Prototype Early: Figma’s interactive prototypes let you test navigation flow. This helps ensure your layout supports both mouse and keyboard navigation.
Step 2: Designing with Accessibility in Mind
Once your setup is complete, you can start designing interfaces that prioritize accessibility from the start.
- Design for Everyone: Consider users with different abilities at every step. Ask: Can a person with low vision read this text? Can someone using a keyboard navigate this page?
- Use Clear Hierarchy: This includes headings, subheadings, and body text to make content easy to scan.
- Maintain Consistent Spacing and Layout: Consistency helps users predict where elements appear. Use Figma’s auto layout to maintain alignment across screens.
- Label Interactive Elements: Use meaningful labels for buttons and icons (e.g., “Submit Form” instead of “Click Here”). This ensures clarity for screen readers.
- Avoid Color-Only Indicators: Don’t rely on color alone to convey meaning. For example, instead of showing errors in red only, use icons or text labels as well.
- Test Early and Often: Accessibility isn’t a final step; it’s an ongoing process. Test each component as you design, using plugins and user feedback.
Step 3: Leveraging Figma Plugins for Efficiency
Figma’s plugin ecosystem can save hours of manual checking while improving accessibility compliance. Here are some must-use plugins:
- Stark: Helps you test contrast, simulate color blindness, and verify WCAG compliance.
- Able: Provides accessibility insights and visualizes areas that need improvement.
- Contrast: Checks contrast ratios between text and backgrounds.
- Annotation Kit: Helps document accessibility notes directly within your design file.
Figma Tokens: Ensures consistent use of colors and typography.
Pro Tip: Create a plugin workflow. For example, after finishing a screen, run Stark → Able → Annotation Kit. This sequence ensures a complete accessibility check.
Using these tools regularly can help you maintain design consistency and ensure that every element meets accessibility standards.
Step 4: Mastering Auto Layout and Responsive Design
Auto layout is one of Figma’s most powerful features, and it’s essential for creating accessible digital interfaces. Here’s why:
- Flexibility: Auto layout makes components adjust dynamically to content changes. This benefits users with different display settings or zoom levels.
- Consistency: It ensures spacing and alignment remain consistent across pages.
- Scalability: It simplifies creating designs for multiple screen sizes like desktop, tablet, and mobile.
Tips for Accessible Responsive Design:
- Use frame constraints to ensure your layout adapts smoothly to different screen widths.
- Set up padding and spacing tokens to maintain a consistent rhythm.
- Test designs with zoom at 200% or higher. This is a requirement in WCAG for low-vision accessibility.
When done correctly, auto layout ensures your design remains usable and readable across all devices.
Step 5: Creating a Design System that Promotes Accessibility
A design system serves as the backbone of accessible design. It ensures consistency and efficiency across projects.
Here’s how to build one in Figma:
- Create Reusable Components: Design accessible buttons, form fields, modals, and navigation bars that are reusable across your application. Ensure each component meets WCAG standards.
- Document Accessibility Guidelines: Include usage notes, such as recommended contrast ratios, font hierarchy, and focus states, directly in your Figma components.
- Define Accessible States: Each interactive component should have clear states: default, hover, focus, active, and disabled.
- Leverage Figma Libraries: Use shared libraries to distribute your accessible components across design teams.
- Regularly Review and Update: Accessibility is an ongoing process. Review your system quarterly to ensure compliance with updated WCAG standards.
A strong, accessible design system reduces rework and helps every team member design inclusively by default.
Step 6: Testing and Validating Accessibility
Testing ensures that your design is not just visually appealing but also usable for everyone. Here’s how to validate accessibility in Figma:
- Simulate Color Blindness: Use Stark’s simulation mode to see how your design appears to users with different color vision deficiencies.
- Run Contrast Checks: Use the Contrast plugin to ensure your color combinations meet WCAG’s minimum contrast ratio.
- Keyboard Navigation Testing: Prototype your design and test all interactive elements using only a keyboard. Ensure users can move through content logically with the Tab key.
- Screen Reader Simulation: Use plugins or external tools to test how assistive technologies interpret your design content.
- Gather User Feedback: Involve users with disabilities in usability testing to ensure an inclusive experience. Real-world feedback can reveal gaps that automated tools might miss.
In Summary
Designing accessible digital interfaces isn’t just about compliance; it’s about empathy. Every design choice, from color contrast to navigation flow, impacts how users experience your product.
Figma makes accessibility achievable. With features like auto layout, accessibility plugins, and reusable design systems, you can create designs that are inclusive, functional, and beautiful.
By integrating accessibility into your workflow, you’ll not only meet standards but also deliver exceptional user experiences for everyone.
Start small; check your contrasts, label your buttons, and use accessibility plugins regularly. Over time, accessibility will become second nature in your design process.
With Figma as your creative partner, designing accessible digital interfaces becomes an empowering, rewarding, and essential part of modern UI/UX design.
FAQs About Accessible Digital Interfaces in Figma
How can UI designers use Figma to improve accessibility?
UI designers can use Figma’s powerful tools and plugins to identify accessibility issues, refine design elements, and ensure inclusive design that supports screen readers effectively.
Why is accessibility testing important in Figma?
Testing helps catch issues early by simulating real users’ experiences, verifying focus order, and ensuring accessible code that meets WCAG guidelines.
How can the Figma Stark plugin help?
The Stark plugin checks low contrast, color deficiencies, and other accessibility goals, helping designers maintain consistency and create accessible web designs.
What steps ensure efficient design workflow in Figma?
To design efficiently, label layers clearly, utilize keyboard shortcuts, and organize the Layers panel to streamline repetitive tasks across Figma files.
How can accessibility specialists and experts collaborate using Figma?
Accessibility specialists can review version history, add notes on marketing materials, and guide accessibility experts to refine responsive layouts and alt text.
How can user testing improve the Figma workflow?
Including real users with cognitive impairments during user testing helps validate designs efficiently and ensures the final product meets its target audience’s needs.
Where can designers find advanced tips and community support?
The Figma platform and Figma community provide advanced tips, resources, and templates that help improve design workflow and promote accessibility in every project.
