The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is a useful standard for anyone wanting to create an accessible website, but there's no equivalent guidelines for creating mobile apps, so many developers may not realise there's a need, or a way, to make them accessible.
In this article we'll take a quick tour of the more popular phone operating systems, their levels of accessibility and how to create accessible apps for them.
iPhone
The iPhone has fast become a serious contender in the technology fashion parade among blind and partially sighted people. Some of the reasons for this are:
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The stunning (and free!) array of accessibility features built into the iPhone since the release of the 3G S in 2009, including a screen magnifier and fully featured screen reader.
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Concerns that phones using the Symbian operating system, currently used by a lot of blind and partially sighted people with an add-on screen reader and magnifier, won't be around for much longer.
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The ability to have a piece of high-end technology like this at the same time and same price as everyone else is almost a first and is causing quite a buzz.
How do I make my iPhone app accessible?
If you're using standard views and controls, they'll come pre-loaded with accessibility, so there's very little you need to do. Just make sure all your controls, including image buttons, have meaningful labels and the job is pretty much done.
If you're creating your own views or controls, you need to make them accessible by setting their accessibility status.
The Accessibility Programming Guide for IOS on the Apple site explains what you need to do to make your app accessible.
Accessibility for iPhone and iPad apps, an excellent blog post on the subject by Matt Gemmell, is also worth a read.
Once you've got an accessible app to show off, make sure to tell your prospective blind and partially sighted customers about it. A good way to do this is to list it as an accessible app on the AppleVis website. Also drop an email to our technology team - they might even make it an app of the month!
Android
So far Android phones haven't had the same take-up as the iPhone among blind and partially sighted people. Some of the reasons why are:
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Until Android 1.6, there wasn't a built-in screen reader so users had to choose, download and install their own.
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It's almost impossible to make an Android touch-screen phone accessible, so users were limited to phones with physical keyboards and track pads.
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From a developer perspective, building accessibility into an Android app isn't quite as easy as creating an accessible iPhone app because the Android accessibility API has more limitations.
The Designing for Accessibility page on the Google Eyes Free site gives an overview of how to make your Android apps accessible. It's nothing like as comprehensive as the Apple guide, but it should get you started.
Code Factory, the creators of the newly released Mobile Accessibility for Android screen reader, with its suite of ten accessible apps, are working on an accessibility framework for developers, which may be worth a look once it's released. Check whether it only allows for accessibility within the Mobile Speak environment, as this might be a limitation you want to avoid.
Blackberry
A screen reader called Oratio for Blackberry was released in the US and Canada in 2010, but up till now hasn't reached the UK. It currently only works with some older model phones that have physical keyboards. So right now it's not possible for a screen reader user in the UK to use a Blackberry.
RIM, the makers of Blackberry, have created a low-vision theme called Clarity that uses large sans-serif fonts and easy-to-read colour schemes.
There's more information about Clarity, and links to other accessibility info including a developer guide on RIM's Blackberry accessibility page.
Windows Phone 7
Unlike its predecessor Windows Phone 6.5, Windows Phone 7 is completely inaccessible to blind and partially sighted people, and it's been written in a way that stops developers from making it accessible. RNIB and other blindness organisations around the world are in talks with Microsoft, but it's likely to take at least a year before we see any improvement. So it's not currently possible to write an accessible app for Windows Phone 7.
Conclusion
Although the Blackberry and Windows Phone 7 story remains bleak, there's a lot you can do to make your iPhone and Android apps accessible.
Happy programming!