Accessible Mobility in the Digital Era
How to make a mobility app more accessible — our learnings from reviewing OneDelhi App
To improve access and reliability of public transport in the National Capital, the Delhi government has launched a common mobility app called ‘One Delhi’. It would allow users to plan their journey with Delhi Metro and Delhi Transport Corporation buses. Our team at YLAC Official, Koustubh Ghosh and I, did research into its accessibility to check whether Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) can interact with the user interface of the application with ease or not.
This project was initiated in collaboration with the Nipman Foundation, a non-profit organisation working in the areas of policy-making, accessible infrastructure and grassroots movements for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).
Exploring the concept of web accessibility
Digital accessibility is now crucial as the smartphone has become an extension of ourselves which we use as a tool to navigate our world. The notion of accessibility had been severely limited to the built space for us, architects and planners. We associated ramps, tactile pavers, accessible signages and reserved parking with accessibility. As we began examining the accessibility of the OneDelhi App we were introduced to the other side of it — web and content accessibility.
We started with building an understanding of the several types of disabilities that a person can have. After going through the standards available for designing disability-friendly infrastructure and requirements of PwDs for digital accessibility, we studied the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
We then reached out to various PwDs to understand how they plan their journeys and the constraints they face while moving around in the city. We also connected with web accessibility expert Amar Jain and CEO and founder of the Nipman Foundation, Nipun Malhotra, who helped us in identifying some built-in features that would come in handy for a PwD in a mobility app and be helpful in making their commute easier.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
These are universally accepted guidelines devised to make digital content more accessible. It helps make content more accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities, including blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, limited movement, speech disabilities, photosensitivity, and combinations of these. These guidelines address accessibility of web content on desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. Following these guidelines also makes web content more usable to all the users in general.
Cities and their mobility apps
To gain a greater understanding of mobile applications in the context of mobility, we looked at different mobility apps available around the world in various cities. The ones we could access and study were TfL Go (London), MyTransport.SG (Singapore), Transperth (Perth) and MyTranslink (Queensland). We analyzed them referring to WCAG and our secondary research.
TfL Go has made it easier for wheelchair users by providing wheelchair accessible route information, and even a filter — a ‘step free mode’, which exclusively shows wheelchair accessible routes and stations along with detailed accessibility guidelines with step heights, gaps etc. Other applications have features like inbuilt voice activation, audio feedback of trip progress etc. which helps people who are blind or with low vision. OneDelhi however did not have any such inclusive features.
For people with low vision, there are standards for contrast ratio between text and its background. Unlike TfL Go, the text colour to background colour contrast ratios of OneDelhi does not comply with the WCAG accepted contrast levels. Instances lower than 4.5:1 (the minimum accepted ratio) were observed in OneDelhi when checked on an open-source colour contrast checker.
The Indian cities are far from being inclusive with no mobility app in the country for special needs. OneDelhi, created with a vision to improve access, reliability and safety; often misses the needs of PwDs.
The basics of accessibility for a mobility application
1. Wheelchair users — When a person is physically challenged and dependent on a wheelchair, it is hard to commute independently. Therefore, it comes as a common understanding that any mobility application should provide comprehensive information and features for wheelchair users. Learnings from TfL can be taken forward and implemented as per the local context. For example, the app should display which travel routes are completely or partially accessible along with the parameters used to make these classifications.
2. Voice control and talkback — People usually depend on their vision to apprehend their own position and direction in the environment, which is not the same in the case of low vision or blindness. A navigation system is needed to provide users with some helpful data to help them place themselves and perceive their surroundings.
Accessibility professional Amar Jain suggests that clock face directions can be used for location and directions, e.g. The bus will arrive to your 12 o’clock. It is also beneficial to provide trip progress updates by showing visual markers and making announcements for famous landmarks, e.g., Bus Stop X is close to Lodhi Garden/ The bus is crossing Lodhi Garden.
3. Accessibility guidelines and accessibility testing — PwDs cannot interact with user interfaces if web accessibility guidelines are not followed. Not using the standard contrast ratios, fonts that cannot be resized, graphics overlap when a screen magnifier is used, and images without the alternate text in a document make it difficult for PwDs to access information with ease. Needs differ for people depending on the type of their disability. Therefore, following Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is necessary when designing any kind of digital interface as it makes the text, images, sounds and overall structure accessible for PwDs.
Now to ensure that the apps would work with speech recognition software (converts the spoken word to text), screen reader software (reads out the text that is displayed on the screen), screen magnification software (enlarges the monitor and make reading easy for vision-impaired users), special keyboards, etc. accessibility testing is needed. Accessibility testing should be incorporated into primary testing strategies to work effectively, but it should not completely depend on automation. Manual testing should be a compulsory step as web accessibility expert Archana Kalbhor emphasizes.
4. Navigation assistance feature — During a commute, a PwD might need help with navigating to get to their destination point. Currently, in Delhi, assistance is available on call at the ticket counter but getting to the counter is a struggle in itself for a PwD in given unfriendly infrastructure. OneDelhi has implemented helplines in the application itself, which has been praised by a citizen Sumi Oommen, who uses talk-back. She suggests assigning on-ground government-verified volunteers to help PwDs in public places, as helplines are not always reliable.
Beyond the web
Accessibility is a multi-faceted topic and areas like the accessible design of physical and web infrastructure are merely small components of it. At the end of the day, it will be of no use if there is no sensitization about disabilities in the public. Kshitij Ahuja, a person with hearing impairment, states that a major obstacle he has faced while using the Delhi metro is not the infrastructure but the untrained parking attendant who is not well versed on how to interact with a PwD.
It is the artificially constructed barriers that restrict accessibility. The solution lies in social connectivity and equality just as much as in technology. A change in society’s perception of persons with disabilities, adapting inclusive behaviours and having friendly attitudes will allow them to feel included in society, and that will ultimately help make our society accessible and sustainable for all.
