The Ultimate Mobile Accessibility Resource Guide
Tags: a11y, mobile, android, ios
Published: 2023-12-29 18:01:42

I tend to get asked a lot in my current role "Where the hell do I go for mobile accessibility information?!?". The hard truth is, it's not easy to find.

The resources and knowledge are all scattered across multiple different sites and experts. It can be hard to know where to start to look. 

It is time to fix that, with the ultimate mobile accessibility resource guide!
 

## Getting Started!

If you are starting from the beginning and want to know the different features and assistive technology that exist on Android and iOS this where to start! 


### iOS Accessibility 101

* [VoiceOver Gestures](https://dequeuniversity.com/screenreaders/voiceover-ios-shortcuts)
* [iPhone Accessibility Intro Part 1 (Video)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqw-TDy_xrE)
* [iPhone Accessibility Intro Part 2 (Video)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO71obuNuNE)

### Android Accessibility 101

* [Talkback Gestures](https://dequeuniversity.com/screenreaders/talkback-shortcuts)
* [Introduction to Android Accessibility (Video)](https://youtu.be/rtyjbUxUmG8?si=FManKTgNt9RdRY0K)

## General Resources

Needing general resources that share awesome articles or dive into specific mobile topics? These resources are a goldmine to search through and find what you need! From design to development these have it all!

* [Appt.org](https://appt.org/en) - The best general resource site that helps empower developers to build accessible mobile applications. 

* [Mobilea11y](https://mobilea11y.com/) - Mobile A11y is a collection of blogs and resources about how we as mobile developers can improve accessibility on mobile device. Created by Rob Whitaker

* [Moba11y Blog](https://moba11y.com/blog/) - A great set of articles about mobile accessibility that cover a variety of topics!

* [Accessible Mobile Apps Weekly](https://accessible-mobile-apps-weekly.ghost.io/) - If you need a bi-weekly dose of mobile accessibility news, then subscribe to the mobile a11y newsletter! 


## Mobile Standards

Where do you go to find what mobile applications must adhere to in order to be accessible? 

* [BBC Mobile Standards](https://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/forproducts/guides/mobile/summary/) - An extremely complete and detailed set of standards derived from WCAG and HIG from Android and iOS. 

* [W3C Mobile Accessibility](https://www.w3.org/TR/mobile-accessibility-mapping/) - Although dated, the W3C mobile task force created a document explaining how WCAG applies to mobile. 

### WCAG 2.2 Articles

* [Interpreting WCAG 2.2 in Mobile](https://moba11y.com/blog/interpreting-wcag-2-2/) - Great article from Moba11y on what does and doesn't apply for the latest version of WCAG!


## Development Resources

There are lots of places to look for mobile accessibility for solutions. However, instead of googling, dive into the resources below to find what you need to ensure your content is accessible! 

### iOS

#### SwiftUI

* Training 
  * [SwiftUI A11y Part 1](https://www.kodeco.com/7180554-ios-accessibility-in-swiftui-tutorial-part-1-getting-started#toc-anchor-011)

  * [SwiftUI A11y Part 2](https://www.kodeco.com/7180582-ios-accessibility-in-swiftui-tutorial-part-2-organizing)

  * [SwiftUI A11y Part 3](https://www.kodeco.com/7237029-ios-accessibility-in-swiftui-tutorial-part-3-adapting)

* [SwiftUI Accessibility Techniques App](https://github.com/cvs-health/ios-swiftui-accessibility-techniques) - Great working application that guides developers through how to make specific components and aspects of their applications accessible! Created by Paul Adam

### UIKit

* Training: 
  * [Getting Started iOS Accessibility](https://www.kodeco.com/6827616-ios-accessibility-getting-started)
* [UIKit Accessibility Traits](https://mobilea11y.com/blog/traits/)

### Android

### View

* Training
  * [Android Accessibility Tutorial](https://www.kodeco.com/240-android-accessibility-tutorial-getting-started) 
  * [Starting Android Accessibility](https://developer.android.com/codelabs/starting-android-accessibility#0)
* [Principals for Improving Accessibility](https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/accessibility/principles) - Standard overview of how to ensure you can make your applications accessible from Google. 

### Jetpack Compose

* [Building Accessible Apps with Jetpack Compose (Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgm8qQpoDt0) - Wonderful talk from Axe-con about how to ensure you can make your Compose apps accessible! 

* [Accessibility in Compose](https://developer.android.com/jetpack/compose/accessibility) - Great documentation from google on how to ensure your content is accessible as you develop it!

* [Semantics and A11y in Compose part 1](https://medium.com/@KaushalVasava/semantics-and-accessibility-in-jetpack-compose-part-1-ff57a7821009)
* [Semantics and A11y in Compose part 2](https://medium.com/@KaushalVasava/semantics-and-accessibility-in-jetpack-compose-part-2-be080f39de81)

## Automation
Automation is an easy and effective way for developers to fix accessibility issues in an agile environment. Here are resources to help find the right automation for your development teams!

### Linting

* [Using Accessibility Rules with Swiftlint](https://dev.to/steady5063/using-accessibility-rules-with-swiftlint-47cb) - SwiftLint comes with two rules that can easily catch simple issues as developers code!
* [Android Lint](https://developer.android.com/studio/write/lint) - Android studio comes with a built in linter that includes a11y rules!

### Automated UI libraries

* [Android Test Framework](https://github.com/google/Accessibility-Test-Framework-for-Android)- Android espresso library comes with a built in accessibility test framework that can easily be used to test your UI accessibility. 

* [A11yUITests](https://github.com/rwapp/A11yUITests) - The A11yUITests is a great library to catch mobile accessibility issues within XCUI tests. 

## Design Resources

Design is where a lot of accessibility issues tend to come from. Using the articles below you can find out how to avoid the mistakes and build accessible design practices!

* [Designing for Device Size and Text](https://moba11y.com/blog/designing-for-device-and-text-size/) - Great article about creating proper design for the fundamental accessibility requirement of resize. 
* [How to build apps for all users](https://www.shopify.com/partners/blog/mobile-accessibility) - Great resources from Shopify!
* [Design for Accessibility (Video)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OuI6Qsh1D0) - Great introduction video for designing for accessibility. 

## Conclusion

Whew! That was a lot, and im sure there are other resources that exist that I missed. However, if you or your development team are looking to dive into mobile accessibility these are the best resources out there to help you dive right in!