Digital accessibility: how the new iOS and Android design systems are transforming the mobile user experience

Android: a design system aimed at bridging generational gaps

A more expressive, but above all more inclusive interface

Google hasn’t limited itself to a mere visual refresh with Material 3 Expressive. Behind the so-called “emotional” aesthetic, with its vibrant colors, smooth animations and subtle component morphing, lies a well-thought-out approach to cognitive ergonomics.

User testing conducted by Google revealed that people aged 45 and over take more time to identify elements within an interface. Their goal is to reduce that reaction time or even reverse the trend entirely.

To achieve this, they’ve designed an experience that caters to all age groups, with softer transitions, more distinguishable shapes and animations that guide the eye without causing distraction.

Redesigned components for improved readability

An enriched library

Material introduit 15 composants nouveaux ou mis à jour, dans une optique de clarté et d’accessibilité numérique accrues. Parmi les ajouts notables : le LoadingIndicator, le Split button ou le Toogleable buttons ou encore le Button group.

More expressive styles

Beyond the addition of components, Material 3 Expressive introduces a broader overhaul of visual expressiveness. The goal is to make interfaces more dynamic and engaging.

Google now offers a wide range of shapes and styles, combined with a system of smooth animations to ease transitions between different states. One example is the new loading animation, more sophisticated than previous ones, based on a morphing effect designed to capture attention.

The “expressive” approach of this new design system isn’t just an aesthetic asset: it aims to reduce difficulties for users with cognitive or mild visual impairments.
The differentiation of elements, the smoothness of animations, and the adaptability of components provide a better understanding of the interface without causing cognitive overload.

Images sources : https://design.google/library/expressive-material-design-google-research

Emotion at the heart of interaction

Animations play a central role in this new approach. One of the key principles of Material Expressive is to integrate “hero moments” into the app: one or two strong, visually striking moments are enough to create real impact.
To identify them, ask yourself two questions:

• Does this interaction trigger an emotional response?
• Is it a key interaction in the user journey?

These carefully crafted moments reinforce your product’s identity and help build a stronger emotional connection with users.

And that’s just the beginning: Material Expressive also introduces new principles for using color, typography, and transitions—all aimed at enriching the experience while maintaining clarity and mobile accessibility.

In contrast, Apple is exploring a bolder—and potentially more polarizing—path with its Liquid Glass aesthetic. But does this pursuit of visual sophistication risk compromising accessibility?

iOS: Liquid Glass, beauty at the expense of readability?

A bold and risky visual overhaul

With Liquid Glass, Apple introduces the second major visual redesign of iOS since the abandonment of skeuomorphism and the shift to flat design with iOS 7.

This new visual identity extends far beyond the iPhone: it unifies all Apple platforms (iOS, iPadOS, macOS, visionOS, watchOS, tvOS, and CarPlay) under a single design system inspired by the Vision Pro environment.

Apple no longer speaks of simple components: Liquid Glass is presented as a “digital material”, mimicking the properties of glass (transparency, light, and reflections) along with the fluidity of a moving liquid. The core idea behind this new paradigm is to make the interface more subtle, placing greater emphasis on the content. In line with Apple’s design philosophy, this promises a more immersive experience, provided readability and accessibility are preserved.

Transparency + motion = sensory overload?

In this new design system, flat, opaque panels are replaced with transparent lenses featuring rounded corners, which float above the content. This marks a subtle return to a kind of materiality, introducing visual depth that contrasts with the flat design aesthetic of the 2010s.

Everything is in constant motion: components are adaptive, dynamically responding to the display context by adjusting spacing to prioritize content or changing color based on the background.

But this visual sophistication raises several mobile accessibility challenges:

• On one hand, transparency makes UI elements dependent on visual context, text or icons can become unreadable depending on the contrast with the content beneath.
• On the other hand, continuous animations and smooth transitions may disturb users who are sensitive to motion effects or prone to visual fatigue and photosensitive epilepsy.

While Apple has implemented automatic color adjustments and reduced motion options within the system’s accessibility settings, the combination of glass + blur + motion remains cognitively demanding and could impair the experience for some users. 

Testing digital accessibility on iOS 26: a developer’s guide

As usual, Apple is offering public betas of its system, giving developers the opportunity to anticipate changes and gradually adapt their interfaces to this new visual paradigm.

To assess digital accessibility and ensure app compatibility, it’s necessary to compile with the beta version of Xcode 26 and test on a real device or simulator running iOS 26. Since these environments are still in a preliminary phase, it’s important to keep in mind that Apple will release several improved iterations before the official launch expected this fall.

Apple is also providing safeguards for developers. The SwiftUI framework allows developers to disable Liquid Glass in mobile apps, a temporary option designed to ease the transition. Moreover, Apple’s guidelines recommend limiting this effect to navigation components (such as bars and menus) and avoiding it in content areas.

The company is also introducing Icon Composer, a new tool designed for creating icons compatible with the Liquid Glass style. It allows developers to preview how these icons render across different display contexts, ensuring readability and visual consistency.

As of now, the third public beta already marks a notable shift: the transparency effects, which were quite pronounced during the WWDC presentation and in the first beta, have been significantly toned down. This visual rebalancing suggests an awakening of sorts, perhaps Apple initially pushed aesthetic sophistication a bit too far, at the expense of readability and user comfort.

Conclusion: Digital accessibility or sophistication?

These redesigns reflect two diverging philosophies:

• Android accessibility focuses on functional design and cognitive performance,
• while Apple prioritizes sensory elegance and platform unification.

This also mirrors generational trends: Android accessibility is targeting an increasingly broad, diverse, and aging user base; Apple continues to cater to a loyal ecosystem fluent in technophile aesthetic codes.

Now, it’s up to each developer to tailor their mobile experience, not only by following technical guidelines, but also by addressing the specific accessibility needs of their user base.

Alexandre Tricaud & Charlie Fougeray, Mobile Application Developers