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Thread: Testing mobile Apps on PC
Number of posts in this thread: 5 (In chronological order)
From: wolfgang.berndorfer
Date: Wed, Oct 06 2021 9:57AM
Subject: Testing mobile Apps on PC
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I as a visual impaired person consider testing mobile apps accessibility
complementary on my Windows monitor and keyboard.
Potential Benefits:
a) I could visually inspect the design with ZoomText.
b) I could even inspect functionalities on my desktop-PC with JAWS, if there
was any support for that.
Some apps for synchronization I found by a web search:
- LetsView
- ApowerMirror
- 5K Player
Before I start to test these apps, here are my questions:
1. Are there any general concerns about this approach?
2. Has anybody already experience with one of the mentioned tolls?
3. Has anyone better ideas for testing mobile apps with visual impairment?
Thanks for input!
Wolfgang
From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Wed, Oct 06 2021 11:33AM
Subject: Re: Testing mobile Apps on PC
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Hi Wolfgang
Will those simulator apps correctly expose the name, role and state of
UI controls?
Do they simulate app navigation (e.g. expose swipe order)?
Do they share the actual info or just a bitmap of the app?
I'd be worried that these simulators don't share enough detail to be
useful, but I'd love to be wrong about that.
I know some of the automated/guided testing tools from Deque and
Evinced come with a desktop app component (that connects with the
device) for some aspects of the testing, but I've never actually done
a hands on session.
Let us know how things work out for you with this.
On 10/6/21, = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
< = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> I as a visual impaired person consider testing mobile apps accessibility
> complementary on my Windows monitor and keyboard.
>
>
>
> Potential Benefits:
>
> a) I could visually inspect the design with ZoomText.
>
> b) I could even inspect functionalities on my desktop-PC with JAWS, if there
> was any support for that.
>
>
>
> Some apps for synchronization I found by a web search:
>
> - LetsView
>
> - ApowerMirror
>
> - 5K Player
>
>
>
> Before I start to test these apps, here are my questions:
>
> 1. Are there any general concerns about this approach?
>
> 2. Has anybody already experience with one of the mentioned tolls?
>
> 3. Has anyone better ideas for testing mobile apps with visual impairment?
>
>
>
> Thanks for input!
>
> Wolfgang
>
> > > > >
--
Work hard. Have fun. Make history.
From: Steve Green
Date: Wed, Oct 06 2021 11:41AM
Subject: Re: Testing mobile Apps on PC
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One of my team has a severe visual impairment and mirrors mobile devices onto his PC to test them. The main benefit is that it avoids the eye strain and migraines he gets when looking at a small screen for any length of time - he uses a 32 inch monitor at low resolution, so the image is huge.
I have not heard of the applications you use. We have been using Mobizen for Android and LonelyScreen for iOS. Mobizen is going to be discontinued in February 2022, so we will need to find a replacement.
You can certainly use ZoomText or any other screen magnifier, but screen readers will not work because the PC just receives a picture of the app, not the individual components. Some mirroring apps let you use the PC to control the app you are testing, but I suspect they are using x-y coordinates to convey the pointer position.
This approach is ok for some things, but you still need to use the screen reader on the mobile device to do a lot of the testing. You also need to connect a Bluetooth keyboard to the mobile device to text keyboard navigation.
As discussed previously in this forum, it is currently difficult or impossible to make accurate colour contrast measurements because the colours you see on your PC are not the same as the colours in the app. This is due to the compression that is used in the communications.
One of the issues my tester has is that he sometimes fails to report colour contrast issues when the contrast is very low, because he cannot perceive the text or object at all. It is sometimes possible to identify such text or objects if the app has a high contrast mode - you really need to compare two devices next to each other. Another clue is if the screen reader announces something that you can't see on screen.
Windows 11 supports the installation of Android apps, so it will be interesting to find out how much testing it is valid to do that way. Maybe we will finally be able to make accurate colour contrast measurements. However, it is certain that some testing will still need to be done on an Android device.
Steve Green
Managing Director
Test Partners Ltd
From: Joe Humbert (A11y)
Date: Wed, Oct 06 2021 1:07PM
Subject: Re: Testing mobile Apps on PC
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Hi All,
I use https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy for Android test and I use QT on a Mac for iPhone testing.
I also have used lonelyscreen for mirroring iPhone/iPad on a PC.
SCRCPY uses (Android Debug Bridge (ADB) to connect to the Device and can be used Wired or Wireless. SCRCPY also allows for the use of the keyboard connected to the PC for navigation and keyboard navigation on the device
Thankx,
Joe Humbert, CPWA
Accessibility Champion
Android & iOS Accessibility Novice
Twitter: @joehumbert
From: wolfgang.berndorfer
Date: Thu, Oct 07 2021 6:57AM
Subject: Re: Testing mobile Apps on PC
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Thanks for all input!
I now will try out and report under this subject, when relevant.