Inaccessible and Deceptive: Examining Experiences of Deceptive Design with People Who Use Visual Accessibility Technology

Deceptive design patterns manipulate people into actions to which they would otherwise object. Despite growing research on deceptive design patterns, limited research examines their interplay with accessibility and visual accessibility technology (e.g., screen readers, screen magnification, braille displays). We present an interview and diary study with 16 people who use visual accessibility technology to better understand experiences with accessibility and deceptive design. We report participant experiences with six deceptive design patterns, including designs that are intentionally deceptive and designs where participants describe accessibility barriers unintentionally manifesting as deceptive, together with direct and indirect consequences of deceptive patterns. We discuss intent versus impact in accessibility and deceptive design, how access barriers exacerbate harms of deceptive design patterns, and impacts of deceptive design from a perspective of consequence-based accessibility. We propose that accessibility tools could help address deceptive design patterns by offering higher-level feedback to well-intentioned designers.