"Time Tax": The Hidden Cost Behind Increasingly Complex Apps By : Ica Fitriani

Have you ever felt annoyed when opening an app, only to be greeted by three promo pop-ups, an auto-playing video ad, and a row of buttons with unclear functions? We usually sigh, close them with a single tap, and forget about them in seconds. To us, it's just a minor annoyance—visual noise we can easily ignore.

But what happens if you can't see the "X" button to close that ad? What happens if your phone's screen reader is forced to read every line of ad code, every analytics tracker, and every piece of junk element that shouldn't even be there?

We often talk about digital inclusivity merely in terms of "can a blind friend use this app?" Yet, there is a more fundamental issue we've never calculated: the existence of the "Time Tax".

What is the Time Tax?

The time tax is the difference in duration a blind person must spend to do the same thing as a sighted user, due to the "digital junk" within an app.

If an average user takes 1 minute to order coffee via an app, a blind person might take 10 minutes. Why? Not because they are slow, but because our apps are too noisy.

For them, a screen reader cannot "jump" straight to the "Buy" button. The device has to read the sequence of elements from top to bottom. When app developers include unnecessary features—like unlabeled decorative animations, overlapping promo banners, or messy menu structures—the screen reader reads them all. Blind friends have to "listen" to that digital junk until they find what they're looking for.

That is the tax. They are forced to pay with significantly more time and cognitive energy just to complete a simple task. Often, before reaching the "Pay" button, they are already exhausted from having to sort through junk information that is useless to anyone.

Our Mistake: Assuming "Cool" Means "Complex"

The main problem in our tech world is an obsession with complexity. Many developers and designers feel that an "advanced" app is a feature-packed app. They want apps to look busy, colorful, and responsive.

Unfortunately, in the process of making apps look "cool", we end up creating digital pollution. We install ad trackers everywhere, we create navigation flows filled with visual traps, and we let the interface design become cluttered in pursuit of engagement metrics.

We forget one of the most honest laws of design: A clean app is a fast app.

When we demand apps that are friendly to the blind, we are actually demanding apps that are efficient for everyone. Who really enjoys an app that is slow because it loads too many junk elements? Who likes a confusing interface? By simplifying design for blind friends, we are actually performing a digital detox for ourselves.

Inclusivity is Not Charity, But Optimization

All this time, we've been trapped in the narrative that making an inclusive app is an act of "kindness" or a "social project". We treat accessibility as an add-on feature to be tackled later after the app is released.

In reality, this mindset is the root of the problem. Accessibility is about system optimization. If you build an app with a logical navigation structure (because you thought about blind users), you automatically create a more stable app that is easier to develop long-term. You reduce the "Time Tax" for them, while also reducing phone memory and data usage for all other users.

So, when we talk about "technological progress", perhaps we need to ask again: are we truly progressing, or are we just making the digital world noisier and more exhausting?

It's Time for a Digital "Diet"

It is time for tech companies to stop viewing the number of features as a measure of success. We need the courage to say "no" to unnecessary elements. We need designs that dare to be minimalist, not to follow trends, but to respect users' time.

Imagine a world where every app we open feels calm, straight to the point, and doesn't try to steal our attention with unimportant things. That's not just a dream for blind friends, it's a standard of comfort everyone deserves.

Let's stop charging this unreasonable "Time Tax" to the most vulnerable. Because in the end, the smartest technology isn't the one with the most features, but the one that makes its users' lives simpler. If our app still takes 10 minutes for something that should be done in 1 minute, maybe it's not the users who need to learn, but us who need to redesign.