Usability for Windows apps
It’s the little touches, an extra attention to detail, that can transform a good user experience into a truly inclusive user experience that meets the needs of users around the globe.
The design and coding instructions in this section can make your Windows app more inclusive by adding accessibility features, enabling globalization and localization, enabling users to customize their experience, and providing help when users need it.
Accessibility
Accessibility is about making your app usable by people who have limitations that prevent or impede the use of conventional user interfaces. For some situations, accessibility requirements are imposed by law. However, it's a good idea to address accessibility issues regardless of legal requirements so that your apps have the largest possible audience.
App settings
App settings let you the user customize your app, optimizing it for their individual needs and preferences. Providing the right settings and storing them properly can make a great user experience even better.
Guidelines
Best practices for creating and displaying app settings.
Store and retrieve app data
How to store and retrieve local, roaming, and temporary app data.
Globalization and localization
Windows is used worldwide by audiences that are diverse in terms of language, region, and culture. Your users speak a variety of different languages and in a variety of different countries and regions. Some users speak more than one language. So, your app runs on configurations that involve many permutations of language, region, and culture system settings. Increase the potential market for your app by designing it to be readily adaptable, using globalization and localization.
Globalization and localization portal
In-app help
No matter how well you’ve designed your app, some users will need a little extra help.
Guidelines for app help
Applications can be complex, and providing effective help for your users can greatly improve their experience.
Instructional UI
Sometimes it can be helpful to teach the user about functions in your app that might not be obvious to them, such as specific touch interactions. In these cases, you need to present instructions to the user through the UI so they can discover and use features they might have missed.
In-app help
Most of the time, it's best for help to be displayed within the app, and to be displayed when the user chooses to view it. Consider the following guidelines when creating in-app help.
External help
Most of the time, it's best for help to be displayed within the app, and to be displayed when the user chooses to view it. Consider the following guidelines when creating in-app help.
Windows developer