Using Toggle in Accessible Software

July 27, 2024 by No Comments

Toggle describes switching back and forth between settings or functions. For example, the Caps Lock and Num Lock buttons on a keyboard toggle between different functions. In software, toggles are often found in options menus and provide users with a simple way to change features.

When designing for accessibility, make sure toggles are properly labeled and offer visual cues like color changes or animation to indicate the state of the toggle. It’s also best to avoid having them use colors that can be confusing for users with vision impairments. For instance, green and red are commonly used as toggle states but can be a problem for those with color blindness.

Using toggles can be particularly effective in complex applications when you need to roll out features or roll them back during periods of high latency. Instead of modifying the existing application code, toggles allow you to update feature flags without disrupting production and can be reverted quickly if a bug is discovered.

Many teams choose to centralize toggle configuration by storing them in some type of centralized config store. This can be an existing application DB, a separate feature toggle database or in some cases an external service. This allows systems operators, testers and product managers to view, modify and manage Features Flags from a single location and reduces the time needed to test a new feature or recover from a bug in production. When using toggles, it’s also a good idea to test the toggle configuration that will be live in production (i.e. those toggles that have been flipped On) along with a fall-back configuration where the expected behavior is the same but the toggle is flipped Off.