UI Design
Reduced Motion
Reduced motion is a system setting where a user asks for less animation across their device. Interfaces can detect this preference and tone their motion down in response.
Why it matters
For some people, large or sudden motion can trigger nausea, dizziness, or migraines, so honoring this preference is a real accessibility need. It lets motion stay an enhancement rather than a barrier.
In depth
On the web this is detected with the prefers-reduced-motion media query, and most operating systems offer the matching toggle in their accessibility settings. The point is not to remove all motion but to replace large movement — sliding, zooming, parallax — with calmer alternatives like a quick fade. Ignoring the setting and animating anyway can make a product genuinely unusable for those who rely on it.
Real-world example
With reduced motion turned on, a page that normally slides and parallax-scrolls instead fades gently or simply appears, keeping the experience comfortable.
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