Beyond VoiceOver: making iOS apps accessible

Beyond VoiceOvermaking iOS apps accessible

Sally Shepard // @mostgood

Wednesday, 3 September 14

What I’m going to cover

★ Disability & Accessibility★ Accessibility on iOS★ Adding support★ Testing


Why your app isn’t accessible...


Myths

• “It’s not that many people”• “It's time consuming”• “My app is too complicated to

be accessible”• “I don't know how to test it”


What do I mean by ‘accessible’?


Disability


More than 1 billion people live with some

form of disability


That’s 1 in 7 people


Growing population


Disability can make life extremely difficult


We can use technology to overcome challenges


How can we use technologies in iOS to overcome disabilities?


Vision


How is an iOS device used by someone

with limited vision?


VoiceOver


VoiceOver replicates the UI for users who

can’t see it.


VoiceOver speaks 36 languages


Available on iOS & OS X


To extend VoiceOver, users can also use braille.


Braille displaysWednesday, 3 September 14

Braille Keyboards


That’s pretty amazing!


Demo


Basics of the Accessibility APIs


isAccessibilityElement

sendButton.isAccessibliltyElement = YES;


accessibilityLabel- Label that identifies the accessibility element- UIKit control: uses title- Image-based controls definitely need to specify this!- Don’t include the control type

“Play”


accessibilityTraits- Combination of traits that best characterise the accessibility element- UIKit controls: defaults to standard traits- Combine traits with an OR operator

- (UIAccessibilityTraits)accessibilityTraits{ return [super accessibilityTraits] | UIAccessibilityTraitButton;}


accessibilityValue - Used when a element has a dynamic value


accessibilityHint

- Describes the outcome of performing an action- Don’t make it sound like a command- Start with verb describing result- Keep it briefNote: can be disabled by user

“Plays the song”


accessibilityHint

- Describes the outcome of performing an action- Don’t make it sound like a command- Start with verb describing result- Keep it briefNote: can be disabled by user


Adding support to a Xib or Storyboard


- Enable accessibility- Fill out Label and Hint- Add traits


Adding support programmatically


Simple example of adding support

UIButton *sendButton = [UIButton buttonWithStyle...];

[sendButton setAccessibilityLabel:@”Send”];[sendButton setAccessibilityHint:@”Sends message”];

UISwitch *visibleSwitch = [UISwitch new];NSString *switchValue = [visibleSwitch isOn]?@”Visible”:@”Invisible”;[visibleSwitch setAccessibilityValue:switchValue];

MyCustomControl *myControl = [MyCustomControl new];

[myControl setAccessibilityTraits:[super accessibilityTraits] | UIAccessbilityTraitButton]; //Bitwise OR traits together


This is great if your app is really basic...


...but apps have moved beyond the

basics.


Find out if user has VoiceOver on

BOOL isVoiceOverOn = UIAccessiblityIsVoiceOverRunning():


Moving VoiceOver focus

UIAccessibilityPostNotification(UIAccessibilityScreenChangedNotification, self.goButton);


UIAccessibilityCustomAction

UIAccessibilityCustomAction *trashAction = [[UIAccessibilityCustomAction alloc] initWithName:@"Trash" target:self selector:@selector(trashMessage)];

UIAccessibilityCustomAction *moreAction = [[UIAccessibilityCustomAction alloc] initWithName:@"More" target:self selector:@selector(moreOptions)];

UIAccessibilityCustomAction *activateAction = [[UIAccessibilityCustomAction alloc] initWithName:@"Activate" target:self selector:@selector(activate)];

cell.accessibilityCustomActions = @[trashAction, moreAction, activateAction];

You can add multiple actions to an element.


UIAccessibilityContainer

@property (nonatomic, strong) NSArray *accessibilityElements;

Specify the order VoiceOver should go through the elements.

self.accessibilityElements = @[self.imageView, self.headlineLabel, self.summaryLabel, self.twitterButton, self.facebookButton, self.emailButton];


- (BOOL)accessibilityActivate;

-This gets called when a user double-taps.-Good for elements where a gesture is used to normally activate it.

Return YES or NO depending on success.


Direct Interaction

- (UIAccessibilityTraits)accessibilityTraits { return UIAccessibilityTraitAllowsDirectInteraction;}


Accessibility notifications

UIAccessibilityPostNotification(NAME, PARAMETER);

(UIAccessibilityPageScrolledNotification, @”Top of list”)(UIAccessibilityAnnouncementNotification, @”New message”)(UIAccessbilityLayoutChangedNotification, NSString or UIView)etc...


Magic TapTwo-finger double-tap

- (BOOL)accessibilityPerformMagicTap {[self doAwesomeThing];

return YES;}


Getting backtwo-finger, scrub back and forth

- (BOOL)accessibilityPerformEscape {// Dismiss your viewreturn YES;

}


Not using UIKit?


It’s still possible!


Implement UIAccessibilityContainer

protocol

CustomContentAccessibility sample code from WWDC 2013


Testing VoiceOver


Have a plan


Test plansUser StoriesUse Cases

Requirements


The simulator


Accessibility Inspector


On a device


Accessibility shortcutTriple-tap the home button


Siri - turn VoiceOver on


Screen curtainThree-finger triple-tap on the screen


User testing

- @AppleVis (http://www.applevis.com)- WWDC labs- Charities and local councils- Support groups


http://www.applevis.com

http://www.applevis.com

Physical / Motor skills


How does a person with limited physical/motor skills use iOS?


Assistive Touch


Switch Control


Setting up Switch Control


Adding support


Switch Control finds elements that have

actionable behaviour.


Basically, if you’ve added support through

UIAccessibility APIs then it should work.


Testing Switch Control


On a device


User testing


Learning Difficulties


How does someone with learning

difficulties use an iOS device?


Guided Access


How does Guided Access work?


Adding support

UIGuidedAccessRestrictionDelegate


New in iOS 8


Visual Accommodations

BOOL UIAccessibilityIsBoldTextEnabled();

BOOL UIAccessibilityIsReduceTransparencyEnabled();

BOOL UIAccessibilityDarkerSystemColorsEnabled();

BOOL UIAccessibilityIsReduceMotionEnabled();


Why should you add accessibility

support?


"When we work on making our devices

accessible by the blind, I don't consider the

bloody ROI." - Tim Cook


More users.


Accessibility is for everyone.


Craftsmanship.


It’s it the most amazing thing

you can do as a developer.


How many apps are accessible?


This slide intentionally left

blank


How can we improve this?


Think about accessibility from the

start.


Don’t put accessibility in the backlog.


If you have some open source code,

add accessibility support.


If you use some open source code,

add support and do a pull request.


Talk about it more.


Get involved with charities / councils /

groups.


There’s still a lot to do.


What are some things you can do?


Spend a whole day with VoiceOver or

Switch Control


Take one weekend and do something with accessibility


The Eyewriter


Work with a charity to run a hackathon or

hack day


As a developer, it’s up to you to make your app

accessible.Wednesday, 3 September 14

Facts

✓ It’s a lot of people ✓ It's simple✓ No app is too complicated to

be accessible✓ Testing is straightforward


ResourcesTessting Accessibility on iOS:developer.apple.com/library/ios/technotes/TestingAccessibilityOfiOSApps

Sample code for non-UIKit:developer.apple.com/library/ios/samplecode/sc2216

Accessibility programming guide for iOS:developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/iPhoneAccessibility

Impairment Simulator Software:www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com


Thank you!

Sally Shepard // @mostgood


Beyond VoiceOver: making iOS apps accessible

Technology

Transcript of Beyond VoiceOver: making iOS apps accessible