Context

Apple Watch's selling point is that it allows people to listen to music, call, and carry out quick actions on the go without having their phones with them.

The Problem

However, for people who need lyrics to understand audio, they cannot exercise the same freedom and flexibility because there is currently no captioning of audio on any watchOS apps,

Meaning, the device is not accessible for deaf and hard of hearing users.

The Solution

The musical experience made accessible through a lyrics feature that will allow users to view song lyrics synchronously.

Music is much more than rythm and noise— It's delicately crafted poetry, where artists cleverly play with words, refer to literature and real world events to communicate meaning.

People with hearing loss should be able to access and appreciate details of this art form in their own way.

“Lyrics make the invisible visible for deaf and hard of hearing audiences”.

David Fourney (2015), Ph.D.
Certified Accessibility Professional
Toronto Metropolitan University

Rationale: Why I did what I did

It was important to consider that the majority of normal hearing users would likely not use lyrics on watchOS, so I designed an additional (three-dot) menu and nested my feature under it.

And so, I chose a vertical three-dot aka. additional options menu, while also considering:

Finding the sweet spot between Spotify and watchOS Design systems

The watchOS device is a tiny screen from 40 - 44mm; and Apple establishes its own fonts and layout hierarcy over every app on it.

I made sure to do the same to be consistent, and to make the feature not only feel like a part of Spotify but to feel complete within the Apple Watch as a whole.

What I learned

Welcome ambiguity: This feature, objectively may not seem like the most used by users with normal hearing, but for people in situational limitations and hard of hearing audiences, this feature would be inclusive.

Accessible music on Spotify watchOS

A new feature design for Spotify's watchOS interface that displays lyrics that visually sync with the song and make the music experience accessible for hard of hearing audiences.