Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Learning on Accessibility for the iOS Platform

According to Apple's Accessibility Guide for iOS, you should make your iPhone application accessible to VoiceOver users because:
  • It increases your user base. You've worked hard to create a great application; don’t miss the opportunity to make it available to even more users.
  • It allows people to use your application without seeing the screen. Users with visual impairments can use your application with the help of VoiceOver.
  • It helps you address accessibility guidelines. Various governing bodies create guidelines for accessibility and making your iPhone application accessible to VoiceOver users can help you meet them.
  • It's the right thing to do.
As of iOS 3.0, Apple has included the UI Accessibility programming interface, which is a lightweight API that helps an application provide all the information VoiceOver needs to describe the user interface and help visually impaired people use the application.
I had recently given a presentation on my Learnings on Accessibility for the iOS Platform at an internal event at Intuit, which I wanted to share with all of you.  It provides an overview on what it means to make an app accessible for the iOS platform. It also provides guidelines for making your iOS app accessible and includes an overview on the most common accessible attributes, traits and how to add Accessibility via interface builder as well as in code. It covers Accessibility Notifications, VoiceOver specific API, Accessibility Containers, and some of the best practices for Accessibility.
 
If you find the presentation helpful in making your iOS app accessible, feel free to send me a comment!  
Enjoy making your iOS app accessible!