Mobile Accessibility Evaluation Tools
Testing a mobile app for accessibility relies on most of the same rules as web accessibility, but it requires different tools. This article introduces a few tools that make evaluating mobile accessibility more straightforward.
The experts at WebAIM can audit your web site or mobile application and provide a detailed report to help you remediate accessibility and WCAG compliance issues.
General Testing
For automated testing of app views, Android Accessibility Scanner takes a snapshot or recording of the device's screen and provides suggestions to improve accessibility of content labels, touch target size, clickable items, and text and image contrast. Android Accessibility Scanner makes testing text and image contrast easy by providing hexadecimal codes and contrast ratios for background colors, text, and images.
Testing text and image contrast for an iOS app takes a little more effort, as screenshots of the app will need to be sent to a desktop for testing. Thankfully, there are tools like the Firefox eyedropper and the WebAIM Contrast Checker to help you get the colors' hexadecimal codes and calculate their contrast ratio.
Screen Readers
Testing mobile apps with a screen reader is an important step in the evaluation process to ensure interactive elements like buttons and form inputs are properly labeled. Additionally, it provides an opportunity to “proofread” the app’s content and make any changes to how elements like images and icons are announced by a screen reader.
Both Android and iOS devices have built-in screen readers: TalkBack on Android and VoiceOver on iOS. These tools rely on gestures to perform different functions and navigate around a device’s screen. After learning these gestures, try navigating through the app’s views and performing typical user tasks. Make note of any missing information or confusing screen reader announcements. Just like testing for desktop accessibility, be sure to test that non-text content like images, buttons, and form inputs and their labels have sufficiently descriptive text and that the order in which content is announced is logical and intuitive.
Keyboard Testing
Some users connect keyboards to their phones or tablets to use apps, which allows them to navigate using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys along with the Enter key, Spacebar, and arrow keys. It's a good idea to test such keyboard navigation by connecting a bluetooth or USB keyboard to the testing device and navigating through the app, checking for visual focus indicators and expected keyboard behavior.
Why Mobile Accessibility Testing Matters
Ensuring mobile apps are accessible is a crucial step in the development process. According to WebAIM's 2021 Screen Reader Survey, 51% of respondents indicated that they are more likely to use a mobile app than a website for common online tasks. Performing accessibility testing using these tools will help ensure that mobile users can navigate through apps with ease.