viewablecapable

Viewablecapable is a term used in digital media and user experience design to describe content, interfaces, and experiences that are designed to be easily viewable and usable across a wide range of devices, display conditions, and user abilities.

As a neologism, it has no single official definition. It commonly signals two related goals: readability and legibility (viewability) and functional accessibility (capability). Proponents argue it helps teams balance visual design with inclusive access, while critics note it overlaps with established concepts such as accessibility and inclusive design.

Common practices associated with viewablecapable include responsive layouts that adapt to screen size, scalable typography, sufficient color contrast, support for high-DPI displays, captions and transcripts for media, alt text for images, and keyboard and screen-reader compatibility. These elements aim to ensure that content remains usable under varying viewing conditions and for users with different accessibility needs.

Applications of the concept appear in design reviews, product briefs, and evaluation rubrics where viewablecapable is used as a criterion for release. It is most effective when defined with concrete metrics, such as contrast ratio thresholds, zoom behavior, and testing with assistive technologies, to avoid vagueness and facilitate measurable outcomes.

See also: accessibility, inclusive design, responsive web design, WCAG.