College Capstone Project: Decode
What is Decode?
Decode is an accessibility tool in the form of a browser extension used on Google Chrome that, when active, alters the written content on your site of choice to accommodate your specific accessibility needs. The extension allows for total customization of the settings such as font size, colored screen filter, font type, and more. Decode is available for download on the Google Chrome web store, check it out!
More about Decode:
UI/UX
I was responsible for creating the branding and UI/UX design + research for Decode. This brand page is an accumulation of all assets, colors, and fonts used across our extension and promotional materials.
For Decode’s UX design, we wanted the experience to be relaxing, sleek, and easy on the eyes - this meant a darker background with lighter text, which also gave the application a modern look and feel. Too much white/ bright color on a screen can trigger headaches, cause eyestrain, and make it generally harder to read. Light text on a dark background is softer to look at as well as visually pleasing. The team was most drawn to blues, purples, and pinks for the initial color palette as those colors promote calmness and relaxation. The design itself is intended to relieve students' hardships with Cognitive and Visual impairments that lead to learning difficulties, our color palette was one of the many ways we were able to alleviate stress for users.
After finalizing our color palette, we ensured that the color contrasts and shades accommodated color blindnesses so that anyone can view Decode with ease.
When it came to fonts, we stuck to the basic and most accessible ones we knew our users would have access to. Verdana and Arial have a 99% availability on PCs, so we decided to use the two for our header and body text fonts. We chose Arial Black as the font for our logo and headers, primarily because it's clear and easy to read, and accessible for all. Verdana, our body text, is a sans-serif with wide proportions, making it exceptionally easier for any user to read. Both fonts were designed with accessibility in mind, making them the prime choice for our project.