Understanding Visual Barriers and Their Impact

A visual barrier is anything that obstructs clear vision and communication. In the physical world, visual barriers can be walls, fences, windows, distance, or poor lighting conditions that make it difficult to see. But visual barriers exist in digital interfaces and information presentation as well. Poor use of color, typography, spacing, and layout can all create visual barriers that hinder comprehension and usability.

Visual barriers have a significant negative impact on user experience and productivity:

Visual Barrier	Impact
Cluttered layout	Increases cognitive load, slows information processing
Poor color contrast	Decreases readability, causes eye strain
Small text size	Makes content hard to read, causes squinting and fatigue
Inconsistent design	Causes confusion, slows recognition and navigation

Overcoming visual barriers is essential for effective communication and interaction. Whether you’re designing a website, app, document, or presentation, optimizing the visual layer enhances clarity, usability, and overall experience. Breaking visual barriers enables you to connect with your audience with maximum impact.

Foundations of Visual Clarity

Leveraging Contrast for Readability

High contrast between text and background is one of the most important factors for legibility. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) recommend a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text (18pt+).

Contrast is not just about different colors, but about the perceived luminance or brightness between foreground and background. Some color combinations like red text on a green background may have sufficient contrast but cause visual vibration that is hard to read. Tools like WebAIM’s Contrast Checker let you test color combinations for accessible contrast ratios.

Choosing Fonts for Legibility

Typography plays a key role in textual communication. Choosing clear, legible typefaces and setting text at a sufficient size reduces friction in reading.

Best practices for legible typography:

• Use standard system fonts like Arial, Verdana, Times New Roman for consistent rendering across devices
• Prefer sans-serif fonts for screen display, especially at small sizes
• Use at least 16px font size for body text on web pages
• Limit use of display or decorative fonts to headlines
• Provide ample line spacing (leading) of at least 1.5×font size

Well-set text improves reading speed, reduces fatigue, and aids comprehension and retention. When in doubt, err on the side of larger type – it’s easier to read text that is slightly too big than too small.

Simplifying Layouts for Scannability

Complex, cluttered, unpredictable layouts slow people down. Designers can apply Gestalt principles of visual perception to simplify layouts and make them easier to visually process:

Gestalt Principle	How It Applies
Proximity	Group related items close together, separate unrelated items with space
Similarity	Use consistent styles for elements with similar functionality
Continuity	Align elements along lines or curves to create visual flow
Closure	Use borders, backgrounds, and whitespace to define regions
Figure/Ground	Ensure clear hierarchy between content (figure) and background (ground)

By designing with these perceptual patterns in mind, designers can make layouts feel intuitive, organized, and easy to scan and navigate. Users can quickly identify key areas of the page and grasp the overall structure at a glance.

Simplified page layouts also declutter the visual field, minimizing distractions so users can focus on key content and calls to action. Reducing extraneous detail, lines, images, and embellishments keeps the emphasis on what matters most.

Accessibility Through Inclusive Design

Accommodating Low Vision

Visual barriers pose extra challenges for people with low vision, including conditions like macular degeneration, glaucoma, and cataracts. Designers can accommodate low vision by:

• Providing text zoom/scale controls to allow sizing up to 200%
• Ensuring layouts remain readable and functional when enlarged
• Offering high contrast modes that invert colors or maximize contrast
• Avoiding use of low contrast, small text for essential information

Automatic detection of user preferences for increased text size or contrast, as well as providing easy access to these adjustments, improves accessibility. Allowing users to customize their view to their needs enhances usability for everyone.

Supporting Screen Reader Navigation

Assistive technologies like screen readers convert text and images to speech or braille output for people who are blind or have severe low vision. To enable effective screen reader navigation:

• Use semantic HTML to provide meaningful structure
• Add alt text to describe images and non-text content
• Provide skip links to bypass repetitive navigation
• Ensure all functionality is keyboard accessible
• Give users control over media, animations, and timed content

By making designs perceivable and operable to screen reader users, designers can expand access to a wider audience. Many accessibility best practices like clear headings, descriptive link text, and logical reading order also enhance usability for sighted users.

Information Architecture for Clarity

Organizing Content with Clear Hierarchy

Well-structured information feels intuitive and effortless to navigate. Designers can break down complex content into understandable levels by:

• Chunking related topics together
• Nesting subtopics under logical parent categories
• Using a shallow, broad hierarchy (i.e. fewer levels, more options per level)
• Providing multiple pathways to information (global nav, local nav, related links, search)
• Showing current location in the hierarchy (breadcrumbs, highlighted nav)

Users can more easily find what they need when information is organized into a clear hierarchical outline. Hierarchy creates a mental model of the content and its relationships.

Writing Clear, Descriptive Labels

Navigation labels and headings act as signposts for information. Effective labels are:

• Specific and descriptive
• Mutually exclusive
• Consistent in grammatical structure
• Concise (1-3 words)
• Familiar and meaningful to users

Front-loading labels with keywords, avoiding jargon and brand-specific terms, and using active voice engage users and facilitate scanning. Questions also make effective labels for topic-based navigation (e.g. “How do I reset my password?”).

Visualizing Quantitative Data

Presenting statistics and data in visual form can make complex information more understandable at a glance. Charts and graphs tap into visual perception to convey insights quickly.

Common data visualization formats include:

Format	Best Used For
Bar charts	Comparing different values or showing change over time
Line graphs	Showing data trends and trajectories
Pie charts	Displaying parts of a whole or relative proportions
Scatter plots	Showing relationship between two variables
Heatmaps	Showing levels or concentrations across a spatial area

Effective visualizations have a clear purpose, highlight important insights, and use appropriate chart types for the data. Labels, legends, and annotations explain the data and guide interpretation. Interactive visualizations allow users to explore data in depth.

Data visualization is a powerful tool for breaking visual barriers around complex quantitative information. Well-designed charts and graphs bring data to life, engage audiences, and aid understanding and decision-making.

FAQ

What are some common causes of visual barriers in user interfaces?

Common sources of visual barriers in UI include:

• Low color contrast between text and background
• Small text sizes that are hard to read
• Cluttered layouts that bury essential content
• Inconsistent or unintuitive navigation and labels
• Lack of keyboard accessibility
• Insufficient text sizing and spacing controls
• Distracting animations, auto-playing media, scrolling content

What’s the best font size for body text on a website?

For legibility, body text on web pages should be set at a minimum of 16px. This size is comfortable for reading on a range of screen sizes and resolutions. Even larger sizes like 18px or 20px can further enhance readability. Always allow users to scale text up to at least 200% for accessibility.

How can I make my data visualizations accessible?

First, ensure ample contrast between visualization elements and background for visibility. Provide text alternatives that describe the insights conveyed in the visualization for screen reader users. Allow keyboard navigation through interactive controls. Use annotations, labels, and legends to clarify chart elements. Offer different views or chart types suitable for the user’s task and data.

What are some tools for evaluating accessibility barriers?

Some helpful tools for identifying accessibility issues include:

• WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool
• aXe browser extension for testing
• Web Accessibility Checker
• Lighthouse in Chrome DevTools
• Contrast Checker by WebAIM
• High Contrast Chrome extension

These tools can detect problems with color contrast, missing alt text, improper heading structure, keyboard traps, and more. Manual testing with real users is also important for uncovering accessibility barriers.

How can I convince my organization to prioritize accessibility?

Building a case for accessibility involves both ethical and business considerations:

• Highlight the moral imperative of inclusion and equal access
• Note the significant population with disabilities (1 billion worldwide)
• Point out legal requirements like the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 508
• Mention SEO benefits of semantic markup and alt text
• Note benefits to all users from inclusive design
• Identify potential new audiences and markets served by accessible experiences

By framing accessibility as an essential value and smart investment, you can get buy-in from stakeholders to prioritize it in your projects. Integrate accessibility into your design and development process from the start for the greatest impact and efficiency.