11
Got told off by a blind developer at a meetup last week for using hover-only tooltips
He said 87% of mobile users never even trigger a hover state so why build a whole feature around something that leaves people out, and now I can't unsee how dumb my own designs look in testing - anyone else had to rip out hover interactions because a real user called them out?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
river_wright11d ago
Jumping in here, but is it really that big of a deal? I mean, hover effects look fine on desktop and most devs I know test on desktop first. The blind developer made a good point, but 87% of mobile users not triggering hover doesn't mean the feature is worthless, it just means it works for the 13% who do use it on a mouse. Feels like you're overcorrecting because one person yelled at you.
3
diana5511d ago
Start by asking @river_wright when they last watched someone use their app on a phone one handed. I used to think hover tooltips were fine too, then I watched my mom try to tap one on her iPhone and she just got frustrated and closed the page. The blind dev wasn't yelling, just saving you from losing 87% of your users for no reason. You can still have hover effects, just make sure the same info is available on click or tap for everyone else.
0