Accessibility in Adobe XD
Learn about features that help create accessible designs, and also that make XD inclusive and accessible for designers with various abilities.

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. 

Read on to know more about the various accessibility features in XD.

Use macOS Voice Control to design and prototype in XD

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

Create accessible designs using voice and playback

Voice capabilities in XD enable you to design and prototype using voice commands. For more information, see Design voice prototypes.

Voice triggers and playback

Voice triggers and playback

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.

Use keyboard for navigation

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. 

Support for text readability and color contrast

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.

Use XD plugins for creating accessible designs

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.

Create responsive resize for multiple devices

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.

Work in your preferred language

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.

Set accessibility preferences in OS

XD supports accessibility features in Mac and Windows. You can use System Preferences settings in your Operating System, and the settings will be reflected in the XD workspace.

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