For most developers, accessibility is a foreign concept, and it’s difficult for people who don’t use VoiceOver to understand all of the data connections and interactions that are required. The simplicity of the Xcode environment makes it feel like if you just do a few simple things, you can create an accessible app.
To help developers create robustly accessible iOS apps, Deque has released the Accessibility 101 app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. This free app shows you the most common accessibility issues, explains what’s wrong with them and shows how to fix them.
What’s in the Accessibility 101 App?
Accessibility 101 gives you a series of simple examples to help sighted developers understand the implications of the iOS Accessibility APIs and how VoiceOver users are affected by poor app accessibility.
Accessibility 101 displays side-by-side examples of issues we often see in the wild. First, the app shows how each example is done inaccessibly. Then it fixes each issue and describes why the fix is important.
And as a bonus, the app code will be open-sourced soon so that you can explore the code for each solution. Check back at the App Store frequently!
About the App Developer
This project was helmed by Chris McMeeking. Chris joined Deque after we heard about his role in developing an active scanning keyboard for helping people with motor disabilities use mobile devices. Since joining Deque, he has been the lead architect for mobile applications and the key contributor to the Xcode plugin.
Next Steps
- Learn more about mobile accessibility—sign up for the next Mobile Accessibility webinar.
