Mobile Accessibility Challenges

What challenges do companies face with mobile accessibility and what mobile accessibility information is not available?

Challenges

Libraries are large and takes a lot of bandwidth
Custom widgets are challenge
Different interaction paradigm (no longer keyboard focused)
- Touch area (size)
Testing is complex - many combinations and variations
- Baseline needs to be defined and whether or not this is sufficient
- Consider browsers, OS version, AT and combinations of AT usage
Keyboard interfaces are built into iOS, Android (dPad), and Windows Phone (starting with 8.1) / Windows 8
- Developers are forgetting that they are there
- Even if it is keyboard accessible, touch vs. mouse cause usability problems
- Also speech control is not really available
Developers need requirements and guidelines to code apps to
Actual devices are required for testing as virtual device emulators (DeviceAnywhere, etc.) do not support gestures or Bluetooth keyboards
iOS Read all from current location or from top read things differently than touch and explore
Many developers are unfamiliar with Accessibility coding requirements
3rd party development tools that allow "one code" for multiple native apps often do not support accessibility constructs for the supported OS's
Companies feel WCAG 2.0 is only for web and are not on board with Mobile APP Accessibility as just as important
Development for separate platform, and identification of what the features of the different mobile platform are, so people can make good choices
Feature Conflict
The browsers may want to implement things ahead. When do you remove a feature that has been put into the OS?
The 3rd party suppliers say that there are no standards for mobile, so they feel that WCAG doesn't apply to mobile devices, and therefore they don't have to do it.
Lack of call from disability groups for mobile apps to be made accessible. That lack of call from the market, makes vendors think there is no need.
Lack of data on the use of mobile devices for people with disabilities
Zoom functions usually lead to views with blurred edges (of text)
What do you support – make sure people with disabilities can develop, enable themselves
Color contrast not well supported across platforms
Cannot increase font size to 200% on iOS and Android (or only for those elements within apps that support dynamic text)
No conventions exist where and how to set the visible frame when changing between views/screens in apps
Platform zoom defaults when changing views often not optimal ('zoom out' on Android requiring new zoom in, 'leave at same position' at Windows Phone with often sub-optimal results such as 'sea of black' views)
Built-in zoom functions on mobile platforms often lack intelligent re-framing (such as resetting the position of the visible frame to include focused element) - currently only available in iOS 7.1 with VoiceOver on

Customisation Options

Zoom customisation
- Lack of customisation options regarding the handling of zoom (zoom state, frame position) when calling up apps or screens/ views within apps or refocusing via swipe gestures or keyboard
- Lack of customisation options for follow-focus when using screenreader and zoom simultaneously
Text customisation
- Existing text size customisation options such miss crucial elements on system views (app icon legends) and in apps
- Bold text option currently only available on iOS 7
Contrast customisation
- User selectable high contrast colour schemes currently only available on Windows 8 touch devices
- Available contrast settings such as inverted views on iOS and some Android skis such as Touchwiz (Samsung) ) cannot compensate poor text contrast
- Inverted views not intelligent as they include elements that should usually not be inverted (images) - should be customisable to restrict inversion to text
Virtual keyboard customisation
- No option to exclude keyboard from zoom on iOS ? Windows Phone 8, Windows 8
- No option to include keyboard in zoom on Android
- No independent settings for increasing text size, weight or contrast of keys in virtual keyboards (sorely needed on some Android skins)
Screen readers
- Turning the screenreader on / off dependent on situated need is cumbersome on Android (no two-way shortcut as on iOS)

Missing Information

Conflicting information: developing for the different platforms/devices have different guidelines. There are no standards across all platforms.
- For example, touch size differs in their recommendations. MIT did a touch study
Problems getting a Bluetooth keyboard to work
Blind users do not have information on how to set up the phone to get it to work
- Needs to be guidance on how to set up the AT and other keyboards etc.
Information difficult to find
- Very few examples
Not a lot of examples of sites and applications that are accessible
ARIA is mature on the desktop but not on mobile
- Landmarks are not specified
- Some ARIA not supported at all (e.g. grid)
Mobile gestures and the changes when AT is enabled
- Different from keyboard and Bluetooth keyboard support is an issue
- Keyboard events do not exist; may be due to touch interface
- Need to have different widgets for different contexts
- Key is to have items in sequential order; apps are easier than responsive/mobile websites
Developers do not see standards for mobile therefore they don't think it applies
- Websites vs. mobile apps