A11y: Sensory Characteristics

Sensory characteristics refer to instructions or sequences that on the senses to understand.

Key Takeaways

  • Instructions and information should not rely on one sense alone (touch, visual, audio)
  • Always provide more than one way to identify an item (e.g. audio + visual)

Sensory Information and Content & Instruction

Instructions or any other information you provide for users can’t rely on a singular sensory characteristics alone. Sensory characteristics include (but are not limited to):

  • shape
  • color
  • size
  • visual location
  • orientation
  • sound
  • physical action and touch

It’s best to rely on at least two different methods when explaining something or providing instructions, with one of those methods being textual.

Example 1

Click the green right arrow to go to the registration page.

  • Issue: Avoid the word ‘click’ whenever possible, no matter the situation (not to mention, nobody ‘clicks’ on a mobile device)
  • Issue: ‘green right arrow’ relies on three visual queues: color, orientation, and shape.
  • Issue: the green right arrow may or may not be near the text that provides the instruction.

Use the green ‘Go to Registration’ arrow button to begin the registration process.

  • Labeling the button ‘Go to Registration’ provides a non-visual queue (audio) in addition to the three visual queues. This

The button can still be green, and it can still be a right-facing arrow, but having both an audio and visual queue makes it much more likely that anyone will understand its purpose.

Example 2

Use the small button to the left of the gray box…

  • Issue: ‘small button’ is relative and may depend on someone’s perception.
  • Issue: ‘to the left of’ relies on visual location, and visual location may change depending on what device is being used to access the content.
  • Issue: ‘gray box’ relies on color and shape. Not all monitors display gray the same (and some won’t even display some of the shades).

Use the small ‘Search’ button to the left of the gray box…

  • While it still relies on some visual queues, it can also be found using auditory senses as well.
  • Making sure to have a text label for your items is a good way to use multiple senses.

It may be a good idea when writing instructions to ask yourself, “If I was blind, deaf, paralyzed, or on another device, could I follow these instructions?” And if the answer is unclear, reconsider how you present them.