Selecting right font sizes for mobile apps

The author's focus on mobile design stems from the fact that WCAG guidelines, which provide accessibility guidelines for websites, do not offer specific recommendations for mobile applications. This lack of specific guidance is problematic because the use of mobile phones differs significantly from that of desktop computers, making it harder to apply existing guidelines. For example, mobile phones are used in various configurations (portrait and landscape), distances (from being mounted on a dashboard to being held close to the eyes), and come in various sizes and with varying screen qualities. The author also points out a concerning trend in mobile design: minimal and neumorphic designs that prioritise open spaces and often reduce text sizes, which can impair the visibility of information. To address these challenges, the author suggests a simple test for evaluating the accessibility of text styling in mobile app designs. This test involves simulating visual impairments like presbyopia and colour blindness using tools in Figma. The author then uses Google Lens OCR to check the readability of the text, as it reads characters without the bias of human perception, which relies on word shape recognition.