UX case study: Accessibility-first redesign of SnapDoc improves task completion for users with motor disabilities

Design · 7 min read

SnapDoc’s analytics surfaced a pattern: users who relied on keyboard navigation or assistive switches were abandoning multi-step signing tasks more frequently. The UX team performed accessibility audits, interviewed users with motor disabilities, and inventoried high-friction controls like small click targets, drag-to-sign gestures, and timeouts.

Design choices included replacing drag gestures with one-tap alternatives, increasing interactive target sizes to a minimum of 44px, and adding persistent keyboard shortcuts and clear focus states. They reworked the signing flow to avoid timeouts during signature capture, introduced voice-command entry hooks for compatible platforms, and implemented ARIA live regions for status updates. Microcopy clarified next steps and provided explicit skip links for optional steps.

Post-launch metrics showed a 31% increase in task completion among users who self-identified with motor impairments, a 42% reduction in timeouts, and a 28% decrease in keyboard navigation errors. Beyond the accessibility wins, the baseline user population also benefited from the larger targets and clearer flows, which improved overall completion rates. SnapDoc now includes accessibility acceptance criteria in every sprint to prevent regressions and to build accessibility improvements into normal feature work.