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Thread: Android app accessibility
Number of posts in this thread: 7 (In chronological order)
From: Joseph Sherman
Date: Tue, Aug 23 2016 10:26AM
Subject: Android app accessibility
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I'm not sure where to ask this question about android app accessibility. If not here, can someone point me to a resource?
We have just developed an android app. On launch you are at the apps login page, with focus in the username field. Talkback states the app name, but nothing else on launch.
1) Is there a way to get Talkback to announce the current field on launch? Or give simple instructions?
2) The username and password fields do not have visible labels, just field hints. Since it's a simple login form, perhaps this is not critical but it would be nice. The developers don't want to add labels. Is there a way to provide invisible labels in Android? There's a workaround discussed at http://www.last-child.com/accessible-android-inputs-with-material-design/, but they note there seems to be a bug in Android below 5.0 where the workaround does not work, so I can't recommend it.
Thanks.
Joseph
From: Jim Homme
Date: Tue, Aug 23 2016 10:33AM
Subject: Re: Android app accessibility
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Hi Joseph,
Is this a native app or does it run in the browser? Does it use web technology for the code?
Thanks.
Jim
=========Jim Homme,
Accessibility Consultant,
Bender HighTest Accessibility Team
Bender Consulting Services, Inc.,
412-787-8567,
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
http://www.benderconsult.com/our%20services/hightest-accessible-technology-solutions
E+R=O
From: Joseph Sherman
Date: Tue, Aug 23 2016 10:47AM
Subject: Re: Android app accessibility
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Sorry, should have mentioned it is a native app.
Joseph Sherman
Accessibility Specialist
CUNY Computing & Information Services
395 Hudson St 6FL, 6-236
646-664-2167|Â Â = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
From: Jamous, JP
Date: Tue, Aug 23 2016 10:50AM
Subject: Re: Android app accessibility
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I don't mean to break the thread, but how good is Talkback in comparison to VoiceOver?
You can email me off list at = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = .
Thank you Joseph.
**************************************************
Jean-Pierre Jamous
Digital Accessibility Specialist & Developer
UI Accessibility Team
The only limitations in life are those we set for ourselves
**************************************************
From: Jim Homme
Date: Tue, Aug 23 2016 10:51AM
Subject: Re: Android app accessibility
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Hi Joseph,
I was asking, because I tested a native app. I'm unsure what they call this in the Android world, but all the app did was contain a thing that in the IOS world would be called a web view. It was essentially a web browser without the address bar and navigation buttons. I was going to suggest a solution without knowing what you were talking about.
Thanks.
Jim
=========Jim Homme,
Accessibility Consultant,
Bender HighTest Accessibility Team
Bender Consulting Services, Inc.,
412-787-8567,
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
http://www.benderconsult.com/our%20services/hightest-accessible-technology-solutions
E+R=O
From: Marc Solomon
Date: Tue, Aug 23 2016 11:06AM
Subject: Re: Android app accessibility
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Here is a link to the accessibility documentation for Android developers: https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/accessibility/index.html.
And, here is a free tool to perform an automated accessibility test of an Android app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.accessibility.auditor.
HTH,
Marc
From: Renato Iwashima
Date: Tue, Aug 23 2016 1:40PM
Subject: Re: Android app accessibility
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> 1) Is there a way to get Talkback to announce the current field on
launch? Or give simple instructions?
You can use announceForAccessibility() to do this. One note: if you are
moving the focus when the activity starts, I'd recommend to not do it. Let
the default accessibility focus behavior do its job: let the first swipe to
be a focus on the first element following reading order (left to right, top
to bottom).
> 2) The username and password fields do not have visible labels, just
field hints. Since it's a simple login form, perhaps this is not critical
but it would be nice. The developers don't want to add labels. Is there a
way to provide invisible labels in Android? There's a workaround discussed
at http://www.last-child.com/accessible-android-inputs-with-material-design/,
but they note there seems to be a bug in Android below 5.0 where the
workaround does not work, so I can't recommend it.
You could use android:labelFor on a transparent TextView, but it's a hack.
I'd still recommend to use TextInputLayout because the floating label is
persistent.
This example does not cause any problems to me on M or N (make sure hint is
in the text input layout and not in the edit text, make sure you are using
TextInputEditText and not EditText and make sure you are using the latest
version of the support design library):
<android.support.design.widget.TextInputLayout
android:id="@+id/forms_email_text_input_layout"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginTop="@dimen/layout_padding"
android:labelFor="@+id/forms_email_edit_box"
android:accessibilityLiveRegion="polite"
android:hint="@string/edit_text_email_label"
app:errorTextAppearance="@style/ErrorText"
app:errorEnabled="true">
<android.support.design.widget.TextInputEditText
android:id="@+id/forms_email_edit_box"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:inputType="textEmailAddress"/>
</android.support.design.widget.TextInputLayout>
I hope it helps and let me know if you have any problems or questions.
On Tue, Aug 23, 2016 at 10:06 AM, Marc Solomon < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
wrote:
> Here is a link to the accessibility documentation for Android developers:
> https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/accessibility/index.html.
>
> And, here is a free tool to perform an automated accessibility test of an
> Android app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.
> android.apps.accessibility.auditor.
>
> HTH,
> Marc
>
>