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Chapter 18 – Let’s get to work

Table of contents
1. Introduction
2. Let’s get to work
2.1. Testing
2.2. Fixing
2.3. Summary
3. Need help?

Introduction

Thanks for your interest in the Abra kick-off training about the accessibility of apps. My name is Paul van Workum and I am working in the field of app accessibility.

Let’s get to work

What are going to be your first steps? We will discuss testing and fixing your app.

Testing

Let’s start with testing.

First, check with the screen reader. You can learn the gestures in the ScreenReader app. So let’s test if everything has a label and if everything works when using the screen reader.

Secondly, calculate contrast of elements and text with a contrast checker like WebAIM. The contrast of normal text should have a 4.5:1 ratio and elements or bold/large text should have a 3:1 contrast ratio.

Thirdly, set a larger font size on the device and test if all functionality and letters are still visible.

Lastly, we advise you to start testing with users that are dependent on different assistive technologies. This will give you a lot of insights and motivation. The results of this test will already give you a good indication of the accessibility status.

It does not matter if you work at procurement and check the supplier or if you are a developer, testing your own work. It is important to see it for yourself.

Fixing

Then, start fixing your app. The first steps aren’t that hard at all.

In general you should start with adding labels and values and making sure that the keyboard interface works. This already prevents a lot of critical errors.

After that, you can focus on the things impacting a lot of users. Like contrast, bigger font size in combination with landscape mode and error messages and status messages.

With these improvements, you already fix two thirds of all issues!

Summary

We discussed disabilities, assistive technologies, legislation and the accessibility guidelines. This information can be used to start testing and improving your app quickly.

This was the ‘Kick-off training accessibility’ of Abra.

Need help?

For more information about accessibility, testing or improving your app please visit abra.nl. For more trainings, visit the Abra Academy.

Follow the full training for free in the Abra Academy