Gleb Popov posted a blog post
Why Your Mobile Strategy Must Include Accessibility Compliance
Recently, the Department of Justice announced plans to make changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to include web accessibility provisions. It potentially means that most consumer-facing mobile sites and most mobile applications would be required to comply with accessibility regulations and provide an accessible user experience to online content.Accessibility requirements have been evolving along with technology. The new version of the specs, WCAG 2.0 released by World Wide Web Consortium, require that online and offline information, including mobile websites, intranets and apps, be accessible by everyone, including people who rely on assisted technologies such as screen readers, text readers and voice-enabled devices. Both ADA Section 508 and WCAG 2.0 guidelines put a strong emphasis on interaction with digital content and the ability to use the information from a site or an app in an accessible mode. This means everyone needs to be able to interact with text, navigation, buttons, media and images in an easy and helpful manner. To be in compliance, all content elements need to supply accurate and helpful information, such as labels for form fields, images and text transcript for videos.What does it all mean for you?There are over 56 million disabled Americans and more than half of them use the internet. Beyond the moral, and soon to be legal, obligations to serve this large group, it also presents an opportunity to reach millions of Americans.So, is your mobile site or application ready to meet this challenge? Does your organization have a good strategy to create and test accessible experiences? When it comes to mobile content, your accessibility compliance strategy may depend on the architecture and content structure of your mobile applications.For example, if your mobile app uses web technologies, such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, which are commonly used to build mobile sites and hybrid mobile applications (e.g. HTML5), then the app would fall under the WCAG 2.0 web content standards.However, mobile apps that are built using native smartphone components with minimum to no HTML (e.g. Camera App, Twitter App, Instagram) fall under the Native UI Section of 508 general accessibility, which is reserved for non-web content and software.As you build and test your app, you need to consider that some mobile users may not be able to interact with the device using normal means due to visual, physical or age-related limitations. These restrictions may prevent them from fully seeing the screen or using a touchscreen. People with hearing loss may not be able to perceive audible information and alerts. Therefore, you need to concentrate your development and testing efforts on content accessibility in the following areas:MultimediaEnsure that audio is not the only method that’s used to indicate input completion or an error. All media—audio and video—must provide a text transcript with synchronized captions.ColorsColor and text formatting shouldn’t be the only means of communicating information. All content that relies on color to convey its meaning needs to have an alternative method of disclosure. Consider that about 8% of US males are color blind—beware of only using red and green signals to indicate things like errors or sales.Dynamic ContentIf there’s dynamic content (e.g. contextual content, hidden menus that are triggered by user selection), you need to make sure that the assisted technology is aware and can work with the dynamic content where changes could happen in real time.Error HandlingError messages and styles need to be platform-specific (e.g. iOS, Android) and fully supported by the assisted technology. All errors need to have a clear indication and work with screen readers and other accessibility tools.Forms and ControlsAll form elements need to have labels with clear instructive text that is placed at the beginning of a form. Ensure access to alternative input methods. When performing testing, make sure to use on-screen virtual keyboards as well as paired Bluetooth alternative.The mobile development and testing strategy that you employ should leverage accessibility frameworks that both iOS and Android platforms offer. The frameworks provide features and services, such as text-to-speech, haptic feedback and gesture navigation, among others. If implemented correctly, you’re not only helping people with disabilities navigate your app with ease, but you’re also making your app compliant with standards that can help you gain valuable market share.Gleb Popov is Director of Technology at Primacy.See More