| Reaching Out: How You Can Help App Developers Improve Accessibility |
By Bill Holton, AccessWorld(r)
April 2013 Issue, Volume 14, Number 4
When Olga Baldassi received a Galaxy S III for her birthday, one of the first apps she installed was Total Commander, a program for Windows, Apple, and Android that adds functionality to file management commands (cut, paste, etc.). "I'd used Total Commander on my Windows machine for years, and I even had it on my HTC TyTN running Windows Mobile," she says. Unfortunately, when Olga tapped the icon to start Total Commander on her new Android phone, she discovered the buttons at the bottom of the screen were unlabeled. "Talkback kept saying, 'Button, button, button,'" she recalls. "Without those labels, the app was all but useless to me."
It's happened to nearly every smartphone or tablet user who relies on built-in voice or braille support. You hear about a great new mobile app. You download and install it, and only then do you discover your awesome new app leaves a lot to be desired on the accessibility front. The app may be totally inaccessible. Perhaps there's a single critical feature that doesn't voice, and you are almost certain it could easily be fixed.
VoiceOver for iOS offers several ways to help make the inaccessible accessible, including user-labeled elements and Direct Touch, a feature that allows users to interact with the screen without requiring the pass-through gesture. TalkBack, TouchBack, and SoundBack for Android are making significant advancements with each new release. Third party Android screen readers are also available, including Spiel and Mobile Accessibility for Android that can help solve many accessibility problems. There are times, however, when your only recourse is to give up on a new app or reach out to the developer and hope he or she is willing and able to make the necessary modifications.
Click here to read the full article on the AccessWorld website.
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