Making Your Figma Designs Accessible

Accessibility in design isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s essential. By creating inclusive designs, you ensure your product works for everyone, including people with disabilities. The good news? Figma offers plenty of tools and best practices to help you make your designs accessible from the start.

Here’s how to use Figma to create designs that are beautiful, functional, and inclusive:

Start with Color Contrast

Ensuring text and background colors have sufficient contrast is critical for readability, especially for users with visual impairments.

• Use plugins like Stark or Contrast to check WCAG compliance directly in Figma.

• Stick to a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for body text and 3:1 for large text.

Pro Tip: Incorporate accessible color palettes into your design system to save time and maintain consistency.

Design with Screen Readers in Mind

Screen readers rely on a logical structure to navigate a page. Use Figma’s layers and naming conventions to mimic this structure:

• Group related elements to create clear sections.

• Name layers descriptively so developers can use them when adding accessibility tags.

Pro Tip: Use Figma’s “Outline” view to visualize the hierarchy of your design.

Focus on Keyboard Navigation

Accessible designs aren’t just about visuals—they’re about functionality.

• Ensure interactive elements like buttons and links are easy to identify.

• Use Figma’s prototyping tools to map out focus states and tab orders for seamless keyboard navigation.

Provide Alternative Text for Images

Designs often include visuals that need descriptive text for users who can’t see them.

• Add notes in Figma with suggested alt text for every image or icon.

• Use comments to collaborate with developers on implementing these descriptions.

Test Your Designs with Accessibility Tools

Figma’s growing ecosystem of plugins makes testing accessibility straightforward.

• Use Able to simulate color blindness and ensure your design remains clear.

• Test for font sizes and spacing using plugins like Typography Scale or Checka11y.

Why Accessibility Matters

Making your Figma designs accessible ensures your product reaches the widest audience possible. As Apple states in its accessibility guidelines,

“Accessibility is about designing for everyone—because when products are intuitive, they’re better for all users.”

By embedding accessibility into your design process, you’ll not only comply with legal standards but also build products that resonate with more people. After all, great design is inclusive design.

Let’s make accessibility a design standard, not an afterthought. Your users will thank you!