Designing the Swiggy App to Be Truly Accessible (Episode 1)
Article Summary
Swiggy ignored accessibility for years, effectively locking out millions of users with disabilities. A Change.org petition changed everything.
Swiggy's team shares their journey from accessibility ignorance to implementation, working with deoc.in to redesign their food delivery app for users with visual and motor impairments. This is Episode 1 of their transformation story.
Key Takeaways
- Grouped restaurants as collections to reduce navigation from 20+ taps to just a few
- Collapsed menu categories by default, enabling direct category access via screen readers
- Added talkback gestures for quick actions like cart access and quantity changes
- Order conversion from accessible sessions improved significantly after implementation
- Prioritized one-touch payment methods like wallets for faster checkout
Swiggy redesigned their entire ordering flow for accessibility, improving conversion rates while making food delivery genuinely usable for customers with disabilities.
About This Article
Swiggy's app had poor accessibility features for visually impaired users. Screen reader support was minimal, and the restaurant browsing logic was confusing. Users couldn't efficiently browse even 20 restaurants.
Swiggy worked with deoc.in to audit accessibility issues and run workshops. They added switch access support for people with motor impairments and improved TalkBack and VoiceOver integration on both iOS and Android.
After these changes, conversion rates improved in accessible sessions. Food orders from accessible sessions increased, showing that more people were using the app after the accessibility updates.