Aira was looking for an update to their brand and website, as well as a way to funnel more users into their subscription service. I was tasked with UI and Visual Design.
The challenge was to creating a visual identity that would appeal to both users in need of ADA and those who weren't. Through mood board and style tile iterations we came up with a vocabulary to describe what it is we were looking for: modern, tech-forward, humanized yet approachable. These words would be a continual reminder and driver of what to base any visual design off of.
While designing and developing the site WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) was extremely important to ensure users with any type of visual disability were able to easily use the site. There are many requirements when designing this type of website, some of those requirement included: designing with calculated contrast ratios for color, using only elements that would be easibly accessible with a keyboard, and not overloading the user with too much animation (see WCAG website for full details). As for developing we used code sniffers that could easily point out errors, like missing alt tags or mislabeled aria tags.
Kevin Roose of nytimes.com describes Aira as: “Aira, a start-up in San Diego, provides “visual interpreters” through an on-demand subscription service. Users wear camera-equipped glasses that shares what they see over a built-in wireless connection with a sighted person who then describes the surroundings or guides them through complicated tasks in real time.”
