Accessibility features in XD make it readily usable for users with a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive abilities.
XD aims to conform to the AA success criteria for accessibility as defined by the World Wide Web Consortium WCAG 2.1 guidelines.
Use the macOS Voice Control to access some of the basic core design features of XD, including drawing tools, layers, properties in the Property Inspector, and the XD application menus. For example, you can say, 'Click Layer one', 'Select All' and 'Click Distribute Horizontally' to activate a layer on the canvas, select all the objects within that layer, and distribute them horizontally on the canvas.
For more information about using Voice Control in XD, see the Adobe blog post on macOS Voice Control in Adobe XD.
Say the following voice commands and have them translate into the corresponding editing operations that you would normally perform using the traditional input devices.
Voice commands on MAC | ||
---|---|---|
Select | Margin Type |
Apply Blur |
Rectangle |
Link Margins |
Blur Opacity |
Pen |
Margin Top |
Blur Type |
Ellipse |
Margin Right |
Point X |
Polygon |
Margin Bottom |
Point Y |
Line | Margin Left |
Distribute Vertically |
Text | Corner Count |
Distribute Horizontally |
Artboard | Corner Radius |
Add Selection |
Zoom | Star Ratio |
Subtract Selection |
Assets | Opacity |
Intersect Selection |
Plugins | Opacity (Slider) |
Blur Brightness |
Layers | Show Grid |
Blur Brightness (Slider) |
Align Horizontally |
Align Vertically |
Align Top |
Align Bottom |
Align Left |
Align Right |
Grid Color |
Grid Column Color |
Grid Columns |
Grid Gutter Width |
Grid Column Width |
Grid Square Size |
Voice capabilities in XD enable you to design and prototype using voice commands. For more information, see Design voice prototypes.
The audio playback feature in XD comes handy if you are looking to add sound effects to your prototypes. For example, audio confirmation after the successful delivery of an email. For more information on audio playback, see Add a playback to a prototype.
You can use the keyboard shortcuts in Adobe XD to navigate through specific desktop elements and UI controls in XD.
However, XD does not fully support keyboard accessibility. For example, in Prototype mode, you must first place your keyboard focus on a UI element in the Property Inspector, and then navigate through the UI controls using the Tab key.
XD supports users with limited vision. The UI elements in XD are placed in a high-contrasting background to make it easy to view the text and icons.
If you want to develop an inclusive design, there are various Adobe XD plugins to help you test your design for inclusiveness. Check out the color blindness and color contrast plugins that let you simulate forms of color-blindness and check color contrast.
When designing for multiple devices and platforms, it's important to create a seamless experience for screen sizes across mobile, tablet, and desktop resolutions.
If you want to design for multiple screen sizes, XD supports a feature called responsive resize that lets you resize objects while maintaining spatial relationships at different sizes to best adapt to multiple screen sizes. For more information, see Responsive resize and constraints.
XD is available across platforms in multiple languages so you can collaborate across operating systems, preview your experiences across devices, and work in the language you prefer. Supported languages include English, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish. For more information on switching app language in XD, see how to switch app language.
Adobe XD continues to focus on accessibility and plans to improve the current capabilities as it evolves.
To learn more about solutions for people with hearing, vision, speech, mobility, and cognitive disabilities, visit the Adobe XD Accessibility conformance reports as follows:
Adobe XD accessibility conformance report for Web
Adobe XD accessibility conformance report for Windows
Adobe XD accessibility conformance report for macOS