Accessibility for iOS & Android
Mobile phones are commonly used by people with disabilities. They offer a portable solution to overcoming common barriers.
Both iOS and Android platforms have come a long way in supporting accessibility features and they both provide very good resources & training materials.
Android
Accessibility on iOS
Things to consider
Visual display
- Is there sufficient contrast? Can the content be viewed under different lighting conditions?
- Does colour reinforce meaning? Using colour alone may affect people who are colour blind.
- Is pinch zoom supported (HTML only)? Font size helps readability, but zooming helps with details in text and images.
- Are links visually evident? Can your customer identify and understand where the link will take them.
- Are navigation cues clear? Is your call to action consistent and recognizable?
- Are images and links to the same target grouped into one touchzone? If an image is part of a call to action, make sure the full area is clickable.
Zoom enabled
- Is the text readable if the zoom features of the phone are activated? Does it fit on the screen?
- Are labels and form inputs close together? Does the form layout break when the text is larger?
User Interface (UI)
- Is the correct keyboard/input type used in forms (tel, date, numbers, letters, etc)?
- Is all content and functionality available by touch? Customer desktop interfaces might rely on hover to open menus. Is this available on touch?
- Do pop ups fit within the viewport i.e. you don’t have to swipe to find the close/submit/cancel buttons?
- Do pop ups have a close button?
- Is the text selectable? Can customers copy and paste text or select and use speak aloud options?
- Does link text describe the target clearly?
Voice output
- Can all actions be accessed and completed with device voice features?
- Is the content order logical? Device features will announce content or interface elements from top to bottom / left to right.
- Is all content and functionality available by swiping left and right and up and down?
- Are images labelled appropriately and announced. Are decorative images ignored?
- Are landmarks and headings announced?
- Do form fields have clear labels?
- Are changes of state announced?
- Are buttons used for actions, like submitting forms?