mobile accessibility overview november 6th, 2013
TRANSCRIPT
Mobile Accessibility Overview
November 6th, 2013
Agenda
• About Me• Current Landscape• Standards and Laws• User Demographics• Benefits and Challenges• iOS based products• Android®• Windows Phone®/Windows 8• Blackberry®• Strategies For Accessible Apps• User Impact• App Development• Resources
About Me
SSB BART Group•Experience•Accessibility Focus•Solutions That Manage Risk•Real World Approach•Excellence at Scale•Intelligence That Is Up-to-Date, All the Time
Jonathan AvilaChief Accessibility OfficerSSB BART Group•Computer Science background•15 years in field•Develop best practices to meet standards•Experience: Mobile, Web, PDF, Flash, MSAA•Collaborate on accessibility methodology for repeatable, consistent evaluation process•Standards tracking (CVAA, WCAG, Section 508, etc.)
Current Landscape
Platforms
• Smartphones and Tablets• Platforms
– iOS– Android– Windows– Blackberry
Laws and Standards
Overview
• CVAA– ACS– Video programming
• Section 255• Section 508• 47 CFR 20.19
– HAC mobile handsets• WCAG 2 Level A and AA• Mandate M376• ADA
User Demographics
WebAIM Survey #4 for Screen Reader Accessibility
• iOS – Popular for blind and visually impaired users – Percentage of users with disabilities greater than general
population• Android
– Percentage of blind/visually impaired users less than general population
• Symbian/Windows Mobile– Percent of users with disabilities dropping
User Impact
Overview
• Blind– Keyboard/accessible touchscreen– Name, role, state, and properties– Dynamically updating content
• Low vision– Visual focus, size of content– Color and contrast– Complexity of layout/size of content
• Motor Impairment– Touch-screen/D-pad access, visual focus– Alternative input, one handed operation
User Impact
Overview (cont.)
• Reading Disabilities– Complexity/distractions of page– Consistent use of icons and text– Spacing, color and size of elements – Dynamically updating content
• Photosensitive Epilepsy– Blinking and moving content
• Deaf/Hard of hearing: – Use of multimedia and audio content– Auditory feedback (sound notifications)
Smart Phones and Tablets
Apps That Benefit Users with Disabilities
• Light detector• Color identifier• Money identifier• Barcode reader• Video magnifier• Flashlight• OCR• Daisy book reader• GPS• Point of sale services
• Voice memos• Grocery finder• Switch enabled apps• Mobile learning• Control of video
programming • TTY• Text relay• Video relay/chat• FCC Clearinghouse
Smart Phones and Tablets
• A compelling platform for many assistive technologies
• Sample Capabilities– Visual capture
– Image recognition and processing
– Location based services
– Integrated, adaptive communications
– Plain language control (Siri, GoogleNow Cortana)
– Processing power to spare
The future of assistive technologies?
OG reading machine
New school reading machine
Smart Phones and Tablets
Challenges
• Hearing aid incompatibility• Apps that do not follow accessibility API
– No app store rating for accessibility– Third party sites rank accessible apps
• Touchscreens without alternatives• Inaccessible browsers• Missing assistive technologies or features• Difficulty upgrading• Inconsistencies between manufacturers
iPhone and iOS
Assistive Technology and Features
• Includes all iPads, iPhone 3gs+, iPod Touch 4th+
• Many of the same ATs found in Mac OS– VoiceOver (VO)
• Alternative touch screen access• Speech output with audio cues• Refreshable Braille support
– Zoom• Magnifies entire screen w/ panning
– Assistive Touch• Allows single touch access to gestures
iPhone and iOS
Assistive Technology and Features (cont.)
• Switch Control– Single touch switch access
to actionable controls• Captions• TTY support• Custom vibrations• Mono audio• Visual alerts
iPhone and iOS
Assistive Technology and Features (cont.)
• Invert Colors– Changes dark colors to
light and light colors to dark• Large text• Bold text• Increased contrast• Reduce motion• Guided Access
– Aid to restrict access to app orregion within an app
iPhone and iOS
Input Methods
• Capacitive Touch Screen– Styli designed for touch screen– Alternative gestures with VO– Assistive touch
• Alternative Methods:– Bluetooth keyboards
• Limited external keyboard access without VO
– Bluetooth Braille display entry– Speech recognition
• Siri & Third party apps for dictation– Accessible on-screen keyboard
• No system-wide custom keyboard
iPhone and iOS
Assistive Technology Versions
• When OS is upgraded AT upgrades• To upgrade AT must upgrade OS• Activate/deactivate via phone or iTunes• Access to standard phone features• Access to third party and built-in apps• Many accessible third party apps
Android
Assistive Technology and Features
• Open source platform initially developed by Google• Assistive technology such as Talkback included in Android
4.3 OS – Support varies in prior versions
• Talkback screen reader– Explore by touch support in Android 4.1+– Supports on-screen keyboard– Speech output with audio cues– Braille displays supported– Latest version required for many
features
Android
Assistive Technology and Features (cont.)
• Screen magnifier available in 4.2+• Captions supported by media player API• Other third party screen readers
available• Custom on-screen system-wide
keyboards available• Some manufacturers
– Hearing aid compatible
– Mono audio
– Inverse colors
– TTY
Android
• Phone with keyboard, and/or• Directional pad (D-pad), or • Touchscreen only devices
– May by resistance or capacitance screens
• Dictation and Speech Control
– GoogleNow
– Google Voice cloud based services
– Third party applications from Nuance
Input Types
Android
Assistive Technology Versions
• Can upgrade OS and AT separately
• AT support is limited on older versions of OS
• OS upgrades not available for many devices
• Access to standard phone features
• Access to third party and built-in apps
• Many accessible third party apps
Windows Phone
Overview
• Replaces Windows Mobile• No accessibility layer in Windows Phone 8 OS
– No built-in screen reader• Bundled with alternative apps (Code Factory)• Support magnification; large text; high contrast• Feature like talking caller id, speak SMS• Windows 8 tablets (e.g. Microsoft Surface)
– Narrator supports touchscreen and IE 10– Touchscreen magnification feature– Built-in apps are directly accessible– Support high contrast theme in Windows 8
Blackberry
• Version 10.2
– System touch screen reader on Z30
• Version 10 - Z10 and Q10
– No screen reader or accessibility API
• Version < 10
– Accessibility API in version 4.6 and above
– Older Screen reader available
• All versions
– Color inversion and gray scale color mode
– Text enlargement/magnification
– One-handed operation including sticky keys
Assistive Technology and Features
Blackberry
Assistive Technology and Features (cont.)
• Hearing aid compatibility• Visual, audible, and vibration
notifications• Closed captioning support for
multimedia• Support for connection to a TTY device• Browser Zoom• Voice dialing• Video Chat• Some models
– Tactilely discernible keyboard
Strategies for Accessible Apps
Recommendations
• Mobile Apps– Focus on iOS and Android – WCAG 2 Level A and AA and Section 508
• Web Apps– HTML 5 and ARIA based – WCAG 2 Level A and AA– Responsive design and progressive enhancement
• Embedded Web Apps (WebView)– Supported with Talkback (issues with some pages)– Supported with iOS
Strategies for Accessible Apps
Recommendations (cont.)
• PhoneGap (uses web view)– Supported in iOS– Near future support for Android
• PDF and Word Documents – Most apps only render text– No heading, table or alt text indication– Adobe Reader follows Order panel
• eBook Readers– EPUB 3 standard
• Rapid Development and eLearning Tools– AIR apps do not expose accessibility
Strategies for Accessible Apps
Recommendations (cont.)
• Normative Testing– Accessibility Inspector– Adobe Edge Inspect – Screenshot testing for contrast
• Functional/Use Case Testing– End users with disabilities– Core tasks of the app– Different end user personas
App Development
Overview
• iOS
– Cocoa /Objective-C/Xcode
– Accessibility Inspector
– Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines
– Set label, traits, hint, frame and value
– Notifications
• Android OS
– Keyboard accessible UI elements
– Label widgets
– Accessibility events for custom view components
– Use Lint for Accessibility Checking
Resources
• iOS Accessibility Best Practices https://www.webaccessibility.com/best_practices.php?technology_platform_id=222
• Android Accessibility Best Practices https://www.webaccessibility.com/best_practices.php?technology_platform_id=286
• Designing for Accessibility (Android) http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/design/accessibility.html
• iOS Accessibility http://developer.apple.com/technologies/ios/accessibility.html
• Blackberry Accessibility Overview http://us.blackberry.com/support/devices/blackberry_accessibility/
Resources
• Accessibility Management Platform (AMP) http://amp.ssbbartgroup.com
• iOS app accessibility rating http://applevis.com/• Accessible Android app lists http://androidaccess.net/• BBC Mobile Accessibility Standards and Guidelines
http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/futuremedia/accessibility/mobile_access.shtml
• Bridging Apps connects children with disabilities with appropriate apps http://bridgingapps.org/
• WebAIM Survey for Screen reader accessibility http://webaim.org/projects/screenreadersurvey3/
