Mobile Accessibility Landscape Update
Mobile Accessibility Landscape Update Accessible mobile devices increase the ability of people with disabilities to communicate, shop, learn, integrate, and ...
update to the mobile accessibility landscape
Cell phone and other mobile device usage is growing at a fast pace. The way we use mobile devices continues to evolve and increase. Use of mobile retail, financial and other apps continues to increase and open more opportunities to how we use mobile devices in everyday life. The benefits to people with disabilities are potentially more dramatic than those for the general population. Accessible mobile devices increase the ability of people with disabilities to communicate, shop, learn, integrate, and interact with society. Common mobile devices can replace expensive specialized devices that many people with disabilities rely on such as augmentative and alternative communication devices, way finding, and reading. The trend toward mobile use can be seen among the disability community via the most recent WebAim Screen Reader Survey 4 reported that 71.8 percent of respondents indicated that they use a screen reader on a mobile device, a 600 percent increase in mobile screen reader usage since the first survey was conducted just 17 months ago. This also suggests a large shift away from “feature phones” to “smart phones”.
Feature phones are closed devices which run software written by the manufacturer and embedded into the firmware of the phone. They generally do not allow for the development, installation or launching of third-party applications. As with all closed devices, any existing accessibility support is built into the device by the manufacturer or provided by attaching a peripheral device. The number of feature phones on the market which include accessibility features is very small, and none of the feature phones on the market today provide access to all functions of the device for all users. In contrast, smartphones run operating systems which may or may not be developed by the phone manufacturer and allow for the development, installation and launching of third-party applications. This approach has created numerous new opportunities for people with disabilities by allowing them to gain access to a greater number of the device’s features (all features in some instances) and also to a large number of third-party applications. The availability and demand for included and third-party assistive technologies on many smartphones today has allowed users with disabilities to make the shift to smartphone devices along with their peers. As the trend is clearly moving in the direction of smartphones, this post will focus on the accessibility of the major smartphone and mobile platforms.
iPhone Accessibility
The iPhone from Apple revolutionized the cell phone industry and continues to be a market leader today. The iPhone was one of the first to exclusively use a touch screen interface as its sole method of input and control. As such, initial iPhone models posed accessibility challenges for many constituents with disabilities. Apple has listened to the demand from the disability community and, with the release of the iPhone 3GS in 2009, the Voiceover screen reader which is built into the Mac desktop platform was introduced into the iPhone. Apple devised a unique set of gestures to allow a user to nonvisually control the iPhone using Voiceover. As a user’s finger moves over or taps an element, the name of the element is spoken. Double tapping on the screen activates the element which has focus. A user can flick their finger from the left side of the screen to the right side to navigate through the elements in sequence without having to know the element’s onscreen location, and a right-to-left flick gesture sequentially navigates in reverse order. Over the past four years Apple has introduced a number of features to better improve the accessibility of the iPhone. Some of the other available features on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad include:
Alternative input and output modalities available through the support of a number of Bluetooth keyboards and refreshable Braille Displays
The assistive technology Zoom, which enlarges the entire screen up to 500 percent. This feature works across all apps and is similar but different from the pinch zoom features that can be found in some apps such as browsers.
AssistiveTouch, which allows for gesture creation and support for adaptive input devices. This feature allows one touch point access to gestures that might normally require multiple touch points. This feature allows users who may be using a head pointer or mouth stick to operate iOS devices and apps. iOS devices have capacitance based screens – thus, special styli available for a nominal price are needed for alternative touch input.
Invert colors, which inverts the colors on the screen — dark colors become light and light colors become dark. This feature is often used by people with low vision to create a high contrast type view with colors that may be less harsh.
Siri introduced with the iPhone 4s which allows the user to control many features of the device and retrieve information using speech recognition
Hearing aid and TTY compatibility, support for open and closed captioning within iTunes and customizable vibratory alerts for users who are deaf or hard of hearing
For a review of the Apple iPad tablet which runs on the same platform that powers the iPhone, see iPad Accessibility – My Perspective. The introduction of these features and improved accessibility over time demonstrates Apple’s continued commitment to universal access for all. This commitment is further demonstrated by a Siri promotional video which includes a blind iPhone user and a video shown at Apple’s developer conference featuring several iPhone users with disabilities. Apple’s commitment to universal design and the level of accessibility built directly into the iPhone has made it increasingly popular among users with disabilities. As an example, WebAim reported in its Screen Reader Survey 4 results that Apple accounts for 58.5 percent of primary mobile screen reader users, up from 32.6 percent in just 17 months and notably higher than usage for the standard population. Another reason that the iPhone has gained popularity is that many iPhone apps are highly accessible using the Voiceover screen reader without extra effort on the part of the developer as demonstrated by this iPhone app directory.
Apple continues to improve the accessibility of the iPhone and further demonstrate its commitment to all users. New accessibility features in version 6 of iOS include:
Guided access, which allows the user to focus on the task at hand by restricting touch input to one app or area of the screen (for more on Guided Access watch this video demonstration of Guided Access
Voiceover support for the redesigned Maps app that will be included with the new iOS release
The ability to run Voiceover concurrently with Zoom and AssistiveTouch (not possible with versions before 6)
Support for upcoming third-party Bluetooth 4.0 hearing aids designed for the iPhone 4s
iOS related accessibility best practices for app development can be found at webaccessibility.com.
Android Accessibility
Android is an open-source operating system for mobile phones created by Google. Android phones currently dominate the standard cell phone market but receive significantly lower usage among some disability user groups. For example, the WebAIM Screen Reader Survey 4 results indicated that only 7.9 percent of respondents use Android as their primary mobile platform. While Google makes phones which run the Android OS such as the Galaxy Nexus, phones which run Android are available from other manufacturers, giving the consumer choice over which Android-powered phone they wish to use. One down side to this approach is that many of the Android-powered phones cannot run the latest version of the Android OS, Android 4.2.1 (also called Jelly bean). One benefit to using the Galaxy Nexus line of phones and tablets such as the Nexus 7 is that they are updated directly by Google whenever new versions of the operating system (OS) are available and accessibility is included by default.
The open source philosophy behind Android has led to the adoption of a more “wild west” model of accessibility where developers are expected to create accessibility solutions rather than having them provided centrally. Still, Google did introduce some accessibility features into previous version starting with Android 1.6, including:
TalkBack – an included service which speaks the results of actions, events and notifications
KickBack – a service which provides haptic (vibratory) feedback for different actions
SoundBack – a service which plays sounds for different actions
Since phone manufacturers have complete control over how Android is provided with their phone, some of these accessibility services have been removed from their Android distribution. If this occurs, users can still often download TalkBack, KickBack and SoundBack from the Android Play market. Manufacturers have also been known to replace default Android apps such as the home screen with their own customized versions. Even within Google’s core Android distribution, Android accessibility solutions often had to be pieced together. For example, the home screen which shipped with Android 2.1 was not compatible with TalkBack, requiring users to replace it with an alternate interface called the eyes-free shell.
Google has continued to improve the accessibility of Android with subsequent versions. For example, in earlier versions of the platform TalkBack only announced components which gained focus via a keyboard or four-way directional pad, limiting its use to phones possessing these functions. Google solved this problem by introducing a “virtual keyboard” into a subsequent version which emulated keyboard entry on phones which only possessed a touch screen. The latest version of the Android platform 4.2.1 contains accessibility improvements such as Explore by Touch which allows a user to touch their screen and hear the name of an object under their finger, and additional accessibility options to modify the font size and sound settings of the phone. The current version also provides a gesture to nonvisually activate TalkBack and Explore by Touch during initial phone setup which previously could only be enabled via the Accessibility Settings menu. Increased support for the default browser including its accessibility when embedded in app’s were also included via an accessibility option. In addition, additional gestures were introduced including a gesture to read the entire screen, move back a screen, and activate the home screen. However, the Android platform still does not include an invert colors accessibility option. While version 4.0 of the Android platform did include the Explore by Touch feature it was not truly usable by a person who is blind until version Android 4.1. With the combined features for default and embedded browser support in Android 4.2 the Android platform finally contains the required elements for independent use by people who are blind or visually impaired.
The open architecture design of the Android platform allows for the easy development of third-party assistive technologies and accessibility solutions. As an example, alternatives to the TalkBack screen reader are available. One such alternative is an open-source screen reader called Spiel which provides a JavaScript-compatible scripting interface to control or limit the presentation of poorly-behaving widgets. Code Factory, manufacturers of screen reading software for several mobile platforms, makes a commercial screen access package for the Android platform called Mobile Accessibility. It consists of a screen reader which offers output through speech synthesis and supported refreshable Braille displays, and input via a keyboard and trackball, touch screen gestures, and speech recognition. The full product also comes with a suite of 12 apps to provide alternate access to the Android-included apps for features of the phone and the operating system, including an alternate web browser and music player. (The web browser and music player are also available as separate purchases independent of the screen reader and apps suite.) Several carriers make branded versions of Mobile Accessibility available to their customers with disabilities free of charge. In the United States, AT&T makes the suite of accessible apps available free to customers under the name Mobile Accessibility Lite. Sprint, Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile USA make the apps available free to their customers under the name Wireless Accessibility.
In spite of the limitations and fragmentation of Android accessibility, the Android platform has a loyal user base with disabilities. This Android app directory as of this writing contains submissions for 253 apps which were reviewed for compatibility with Android screen access software.
Like Apple, Google continues to make accessibility improvements in Android as new versions of the platform are released. In 2012 Google released Android Jellybean (4.2) Additional enhancements included:
Speech recognition is now local to the device, no longer requiring the device to be connected to the Internet in order to use it
Gesture support allowing for greater nonvisual control of the device using the touch screen
Native support for refreshable Bluetooth Braille displays
For more on accessibility developments and implementing accessibility in Android apps, check out this Android accessibility video presentation from Google I/O 2012. Android related app development best practices are also provided on webaccessibility.com.
Blackberry OS Accessibility
The Blackberry is a device manufactured by Blackberry (formerly Research in Motion (RIM)). Like the iPhone, Blackberry exclusively makes the hardware which is powered by the Blackberry operating system (Blackberry OS). The Blackberry was one of the first convergent devices on the market to offer a phone with access to corporate E-mail, web browsing functionality and connectivity to corporate networks. Blackberry devices receive wide popularity among the government and corporate industries because of their ability to meet organizational security requirements and interface with internal networks.
Many Blackberry devices provide features to support users with disabilities. The accessibility support however has not consistently been brought to new versions of the phone and to the Playbook tablet. Some available features include
hearing aid compatibility
support for captioned multimedia content
compatibility with TTY and TDD terminals
customizable vibratory alerts
single-handed operation
inverted color contrast support
customizable fonts
browser zoom
In addition, Blackberry recently released the Blackberry screen reader that formerly was Oratio as a free, downloadable assistive technology for the Blackberry Curve 9350, 9360 and 9370 smartphones. It provides nonvisual access to core applications such as the phone, E-mail, calendar and text messaging.
Recently Blackberry announce version 10 of its operating system and included mention of several accessibility features that will be provided. These features include a magnification option, font size adjustment, and TTY support, however, no screen reader support for Blackberry OS version 10 is provided. Little information was also provided on accessibility applications programming interface (API) information for version 10 of the OS.
Windows 8 Surface RT Accessibility
Windows Phone 8 introduces some new accessibility features. Previously Windows Phone 7 did not provide accessibility support for third party assistive technology. This was a step back from the prior version of Windows Mobile which allowed third party assistive technologies such as the Mobile Speak products from Code Factory. Windows 8 phone includes support for screen magnification, high contrast, and large fonts. Currently, there is no support for screen readers and no screen reader API available to attract third party screen reader creation.
Windows 8 Surface RT tablets provide accessibility features that are also found in Windows 8. Surface RT is a touchscreen tablet that work exclusively with apps from the Windows store — but otherwise functions just like Windows 8. These features include the Narrator screen reader in addition to the magnification, high contrast, and similar large font features found in Windows Phone 8. Touch support is provided in addition to keyboard based support for the Narrator screen reader. Additionally, support for the web browser and many included apps is provided with Narrator — this is a great improvement from the support Narrator provided on older versions of desktop operating systems such as Windows 7.
Additionally, Windows 8 Surface RT provides many of the other accessibility features found in Windows 8 such as Speech Recognition, various forms of input found on other mobile tablets like on-screen keyboards, blue tooth support, however, braille support is not provided by Narrator. Because the Surface RT only works with apps from the Windows store it is not possible to install third party assistive technologies on it — unless they meet the requirements for the Windows Store. The Windows Surface Pro however allows for the installation of third party applications like assistive technologies that were designed for Windows 7 and higher.
Making Accessible Mobile Content and Interfaces
Many fundamental accessibility best practices will apply to mobile interfaces and content. Text and images must meet relevant requirements for sufficient color contrast, screens must be laid out in an order that permits intuitive sequential navigation, controls must respond to multiple modalities of input, and components must communicate correct information about the name, state, role and value of each component. Visit the best practices library at webaccessibility.com for iOS and Android development best practices.
This entry was posted by Jonathan Avila on February 11th, 2013 and is filed under SSB BART Group. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.