About 15 percent of the world’s population suffers from a disability. But being disabled doesn’t mean you can’t have access to mobile apps. As a mobile app development company, you must ensure your app is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities.
Mobile accessibility refers to improving the usability of websites and applications for individuals with disabilities using mobile phones and other devices.
Making your app accessible will allow you to appeal to a larger audience, including those with disabilities. You can easily make your app accessible to everyone with the help of Accessibility Testing Tools. However, if you don’t have the necessary tools, accessibility testing might be complex. This blog will discuss various tools available for mobile app developers.
Screen Reader
A screen reader benefits those who can’t see or understand what is displayed visually. A screen reader typically converts text and graphics into audio files.
When testing your app, turn on the screen reader on an actual mobile device to uncover accessibility problems that normal screen readers won’t pick up on.
You may test your app’s accessibility by using the best app development software after turning on VoiceOver, Apple’s in-built screen reader. The same outcome may be obtained on Android smartphones by enabling Google’s TalkBack feature. Your app becomes entirely accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired if you test it using a screen reader.
Accessibility Scanner
An accessibility scanner is another helpful tool for testing accessibility. Both Google and Apple provide scanner apps for accessibility testing that analyze your app and recommend how to make it more accessible.
These scanners evaluate your app’s accessibility following the standards established by Google and Apple, respectively, and report any faults they uncover, including content labels, clickable items, and text and image contrast. You may find any accessibility problems in your app and resolve them using an accessibility scanner.
Color Contrast
Color contrast is crucial for people who suffer from vision difficulties. With a contrast checker tool, you evaluate how well two colors contrast in your app. You may use it to check if the contrast ratio for your app’s background and text colors is at least as high as recommended by accessibility standards.
Your app becomes accessible to users with visual impairments if you employ a contrast checker tool, which you should do.
Reader View
A feature on Android and iOS enables users to adjust the background and text size for certain webpages. On Android and iOS, this is known as Simplified View and Reader View, respectively.
Reader View also lets users focus on reading text on a website or app without interruption. It removes navigation bars, advertisements, and other things that could obstruct reading. As a mobile app development company, you may ensure users who find it challenging to read material with interruptions can access your app by testing it with reader view enabled.
Capturing Errors
Capturing errors is a vital accessibility testing tool that helps you identify and fix errors in your app. This tool records any mistakes when people use your app and generates a report of the issues discovered.
You may test your app’s usability in real-world situations and ensure it is entirely accessible to all users by capturing mistakes. Two distinct methods are useful to record errors for mobile devices: code capture using developer tools and media capture using screenshots and screen recordings. By utilizing this tool, you enhance the accessibility of your apps for people with disabilities.
Keyboard Navigation
Ensure that all interactive elements, menus, and controls are easily accessible only on the keyboard. Some people find it hard to use a mouse for providing input to the computer. Test the tab order, focus indicators, and keyboard shortcuts to ensure a smooth and logical navigation experience.
Assistive technology compatibility
As a responsible mobile app development expert, evaluate how well the product works with various assistive technologies. Here you need to go beyond screen readers, such as screen magnifiers, speech recognition software, and alternative input devices.
Compliance with accessibility standards
Tests the product against recognized accessibility standards. These standards are formulated to ensure digital content is accessible to individuals with disabilities.
Conclusion
Although testing for accessibility might be complex, it becomes a lot simpler with the correct tools. It’s important to remember that accessibility is not only required by law but also by morality. So, take the time to test your app and make it accessible to everyone. These are just a few examples of accessibility testing tools available as apps or extensions. So choosing the right one depends on the platform and requirements of your accessibility testing in the mobile app development proce