This section tells you a few things you need to know before you get started, such as what you’ll need for hardware and software, where to find the project files for this book, and more.
Begin your journey into learning about building, testing and customizing accessible apps on Android using WCAG through hands-on, step-by-step tutorials.
Why should you design your apps with accessibility in mind? This chapter presents many reasons why accessibility is a priority in modern app design. From creating a better, more marketable product to treating others with care. It can even increase productivity.
Say Hello to Accessibility! Learn how to use lint to find accessibility warnings
and some simple ways to solve some common accessibility issues in one or two lines of
code. Introduces WCAG and other resources to understand accessibility requirements and
universal design so all users of your app enjoy a cohesive experience.
To understand the accessibility improvements you're making, you need a way to verify your changes. That's why in this chapter you'll learn how you can test for accessibility improvements, as well as how to use accessibility services to experience the same thing your user might.
Understanding the basics about screen readers is key when working on accessibility. In this chapter you'll learn more about this tool, as well as how you can use content descriptions and layouts to make your app more perceivable.
Features including video, audio or animation often focus on a visual and auditory experience. This chapter explores how you can present the same information to users who can't enjoy the full visual or auditory experience you've designed.
In this chapter you’ll gain an understanding of what color contrast is and how you can use it in your app. By investigating types of vision impairments, contrast, and night mode, you’ll have a better understanding of how to make your app more perceivable.
Navigation is important to almost any app. In this chapter you’ll learn how you can allow your users to navigate your app using a variety of assistive technologies.
This chapter continues discussing operability by looking at movement and timing. The way you handle conveniences such as auto-advance and gestures can make a big impact on how easily people can use your app. Here, you’ll learn some tricks about how to approach these kinds of features.
Even if someone can perceive and operate your app, they may not understand it. This chapter will teach you how you can treat language, iconography, consistency and error handling in a way that improves your app’s understandability.
To make a robust app, it needs to know how to interact with the accessibility services on any device. While working with Android’s components, most of this work is done for you. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to interact with accessibility services when building custom views.
Part of making your app accessible includes building it with neurodiversity in mind. By making your app more configurable, contextual and aware of phrasing, you show your users that you care about them.
You recognize the importance of accessibility, but how do you get your team on board to dedicate time to it? In this chapter, you’ll learn how to increase education and buy-in on your team, as well as how to integrate accessibility into your processes.
It’s not easy to remember everything there is to know about accessibility. That’s why this appendix gives you a checklist of items to look for when building your app. You can tailor these for use in PRs or audits.
