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Re: WCAG 2.4.2 (page title) and native mobile apps

for

From: joe@a11yeval.com
Date: Apr 18, 2020 6:14PM

Hi All,

I would like to disagree with what has been said. Screen titles are very
important for native mobile apps. The concept of a screen title is very
clearly defined for both iOS and Android.

The are the title of the current View (iOS) and Activity (Android). Screen
title are also very useful for screen reader users when they are present.
The are more helpful on Android than in iOS IMO.

On Android, the screen title (if present) is announced when a new screen
loads, can be updated dynamically if the content changes, and if the app id
resumed (by choosing it from the recent apps, it is automatically announced
once the app loads from its saved state.

On iOS, the screen title is automatically marked as a heading. If the View
is part of a flow and uses a NavigationController, when the user goes to a
new screen, the Back button visually shows the title of the previous screen
and this title is included in the back buttons accessible name.

The screen title can be set on Android by using an android:label attribute
in the AndroidManifest.xml file
(https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/activity-element) or by
using the .setTitle method in the Java file at runtime
(https://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Activity#setTitle(java.
lang.CharSequence)). The title can be set on iOS by using a
UINavigationController or a UINavigationItem and setting the title property
of the UINavigationItem
(https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/uinavigationitem/1624965-ti
tle). A UINavigationController automatically added a UINavigationItem. It
can also be set in xCode. In iOS the entire header is called a Navigation
Bar
(https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/ios/bars/navi
gation-bars/)

While the titles technically are for developer use, TalkBack and VoiceOver
do take advantage of them.

Thankx,
Joe Humbert
Accessibility Champion
Native Mobile accessibility Novice

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of
Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Sent: Saturday, April 18, 2020 7:36 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] WCAG 2.4.2 (page title) and native mobile apps

Sounds reasonable, that's what I have been recommending for my team, but
since this is the great resource that it is, I wanted to double check.
I never pay attention to the screen title myself, usually I can't find it,
probably because it's not there.
Agreed about search and sitemap and all that jazz, and I tend to be a little
bit laxer on form field labeling and grouping.
For one thing group labels are basically non-existent on mobile apps, you
have to hack individual labels to create the illusion of group labels.
For another the screens are smaller, information sparser and there is a lot
less confusion about labels and purpose of form fields on the screen.
There is some push back about persistent visible labels, since screen reader
estate is so precious, but I've generally managed to win that battle.



On 4/18/20, Jonathan Avila < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> Guidance from the Applying WCAG to Non-web ICT documentation would
> indicate that criterion applies to the software app as a whole and not
specific
> screen titles. https://www.w3.org/TR/wcag2ict/. Screen titles can be
> useful although as already pointed out perhaps less important in a
> mobile environment -- however, there are abilities now to have
> multiple windows and apps side by side and if you are switching between
apps you could
> potentially need a reminder of which screen you left off in. I generally
> say that if a screen title is provided it needs to describe the topic
> or purpose and if a screen title is not provided then it's not
> required to add one.
>
> Jonathan
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of
> Birkir R. Gunnarsson
> Sent: Saturday, April 18, 2020 4:00 PM
> To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> Subject: [WebAIM] WCAG 2.4.2 (page title) and native mobile apps
>
> CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do
> not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender
> and know the content is safe.
>
>
> Hey gang
>
> One dilemma I've faced lately is outlining guideines for testing
> page/screen titles on native mobile apps.
> The concept of a page title is not as clearly defined for mobile apps
> and I find that screen readers don't use it as aggressively as they
> would on web (most of the time they do not automatically announce the
> screen title, sometimes they don't announce it at all).
> What would you recommend as guidelines for 2.4.2 as they relate to
> native mobile apps and what is your experience from user testing (if
> you have such).
> Thanks much, as always.
> -B
>
> --
> Work hard. Have fun. Make history.
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