Accessible Mobile Apps (Bi)Weekly - Issue #39

Hey everyone,

Hope you're having a great week. Unfortunately, this newsletter didn't win a Swift Community Award this year. But, please reach out and congratulate the winner of the "Rising Star" category, Danijela Vrzan!

"Danijela only got into app development in 2020, and yet is already publishing apps, writing articles, mentoring others, and more – her dedication for giving back to our community time and time again is unparalleled, and makes her a worthy winner." - Paul Hudson, Hacking with Swift

As always, don't hesitate to reach out with any suggestions for the next issue via email (hello@accessiblemobileapps.com) or Twitter (or Mastodon).

- Robin

Abra.ai

"Abra AI automatically detects accessibility issues in Android and iOS apps."

Parallel Podcast #81: Tools and Tips for Mobile App Developers

"iOS developer Rob Whitaker returns to Parallel for a chat about APIs and tools developers can use to make their mobile apps more accessible." - relay.fm

This is Alex, he’s blind — Accessibility context cards

"Providing our product teams with a list of accessibility considerations before they begin designing. [...] At Spotify, they use context and action cards to encourage their teams to empathise with users in different situations from themselves." - bootcamp.uxdesign.cc

Abra Accessibility Training

"In this kick-off training you will learn the basics of accessibility. You will receive a certificate upon completion. The training takes approximately 45 minutes to complete." - abra.ac

Android

Writing Accessibility Tests with Espresso

"Espresso is Android's UI testing library that allows for simple and concise test creation. Even better, it comes with its own accessibility testing library that lets developers add in checks for accessibility issues in the content they create." - dev.to

Android 14 could make Material You work with accessibility options

"One drawback of Material You is that it doesn’t work with certain accessibility options, and one such option is high-contrast text. As soon as you turn on the high contrast text option, the Material You theme gets disabled, and the OS defaults to white color for text and black color for the background or vice versa to make it easier for the user to read text on the device. Well, Android 14 might overcome this problem and extend the Material You design even to those people who rely on accessibility options." - samMobile.com

iOS

Creating Accessible iOS Apps: An Action Plan

Accessibility Done Well: CenteredHead

It's easy to forget that accessibility is more than just adding accessibility labels and captions. Sometimes it means creating a product that fixes an accessibility problem. This week I'd like to highlight an app that does just that: CenteredHead, by Jonathan Chacon.

In his own words: "My last app is CenteredHead. This app helps blind users to know if they are centered when they are in front of the camera. It is a problem when you have to attend to a videoCast, an interview or a video meeting. You can find more information at Tyflos Accessible Software - Projects and you can find the app in the MacAppStore at ‎Centered head."

Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention, Jonathan. And keep up the good work!

If you have an app that "does accessibility well", and would like to be highlighted in this section next time, send me at email at hello@accessiblemobileapps.com.

Join the Accessible Mobile Apps Slack Group

Use this link to join our Slack workspace for mobile accessibility. Ask technical questions, share resources, get advice from other developers, and most importantly connect with developers who share your passion for a11y.