We are approaching yet another UK government deadline for accessibility: mobile app compliance.
As detailed on the gov.uk website:“The accessibility regulations apply in the same way as websites for new, existing or outsourced public sector mobile apps. The deadline for meeting them is 23 June 2021. The apps must be accessible and publish an accessibility statement by this date.”
This means in less than 2 weeks all apps used by public sector organisations, either those built in-house or sourced from third parties need to comply with the WCAG 2.1 guidelines to Level A and AA. Just like websites already should do.
The process for auditing mobile apps is very similar to that used on websites. Checks should be conducted manually against the WCAG 2.1 guidelines on a representative sample of app screens to determine how accessible or otherwise the app is.
In many ways, assessing the accessibility of apps is an easier task than on websites.
Unlike many computers, smartphones have some great, native accessibility features so you need no extra third party tools, like screen readers or screen magnifiers, to get started.
On iPhones you have VoiceOver screen reader, Apple Zoom and built-in voice recognition. The same is true on Android devices, although the screen reader is called TalkBack.
Because of these different native tools, it is important to test on at least one iOS and one Android device when assessing mobile apps.
It is also worth considering testing on different versions of these devices and with different screen sizes as older, smaller models that are still in circulation may have different issues than their modern successors.
Other accessibility tools you may want to include in your tests are Bluetooth keyboards and switches, devices that send a keystroke signal to your smartphone. Watch this handy video from Google Developers to learn more about how switches work. These are devices used by anyone with limited dexterity or motor control who may find the small touch gestures required to operate a smartphone difficult.
Just like on websites, accessibility checks need to be carried out on a range of functionality and page elements. Some of key areas to check include:
Improving the accessibility of mobile apps is just one further step towards making the online world a more inclusive environment. The most recent WebAIM screen reader survey found users were in fact slightly more likely to use a mobile app than a website for common tasks, such as grocery shopping or online banking, highlighting the importance of making these apps as easy to use and accessible as possible.
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