Developing Inclusive Mobile Apps: Building Accessible Apps for iOS and Android

by Rob Whitaker

Chapter 1: What is Accessibility? • Intro to accessibility - great accessibility is a great experience for everyone • Intro to disability - ie, its not all visual • Why mobile is the best for accessible innovation Chapter 2: What is Digital Inclusion? • Brief history of accessible thinking • Inclusive design & the persona spectrum • Empathy Chapter 3: Accessibility Tools on Android • Brief overview of the accessibility features & tools built into Android. What these mean for users, and how to leverage them as developers • Including code snippets Chapter 4: Accessibility Tools for iOS • Brief overview of the accessibility features & tools built into iOS. What these mean for users, and how to leverage them as developers • Including code snippets Chapter 5: Ensuring good accessibility • User research • Testing with accessibility tools Chapter 6: Visual Impairments • Practical tips for improving the experience for people with visual impairments • Including code snippets Chapter 7: Motor issues • Practical tips for improving the experience for people with motor issues • Including code snippets Chapter 8: Deaf & Hard of Hearing • Practical tips for improving the experience for people with auditory impairments • Including code snippets Chapter 9: Anxiety & Mental Health • Practical tips for improving the experience for people with visual mental health issues • Including code snippets Chapter 10: Dyslexia, Autism and Learning Difficulties • Practical tips for improving the experience for people with learning difficulties • Including code snippets Chapter 11: Poor Digital Skills • Good accessibility is not just about disability, but ability too • What skills are essential for digital life, and how do we measure up • Practical tips for improving the experience for people with poor digital skills Chapter 12: Life Circumstances • Good accessibility is not just about disability, but people's circumstances too • How circumstances such as low income, poor education etc can affect your digital interactions • Practical tips for improving the experience for people with with difficult life circumstances Chapter 13: Age, Gender & Sexuality • Theres a huge gap in digital use between 18 year olds, and those aged 60+. • How do we make sure we're not prejudicing based on age or experience, gender or sexuality when creating software Chapter 14: Internationalization

362 pages, Paperback

Published April 26, 2020

Reviews

[Quintin Balsdon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Broad sweeps and specific detail without overwhelming

The book covers a wide range of topics in the accessibility field, and provides a much needed specific look at the generation of mobile content. It’s wonderful to be able to have a resource like this.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for anyone looking to build or evaluate an accessible mobile app. The author outlines the accessibility model and features of both iOS and Android, along with clear examples and downloadable coding resources to follow along with. iOS is given slightly more attention, mainly due to the maturity of Apple’s platform when it comes to accessibility, although Android is not far behind. My only criticism is that the author tops and tails the book with fairly generic chapters on accessibility and digital inclusion, which anyone with more than a passing interest in the subject will already be familiar with. But anyone wondering how to make their app accessible (or how to test it), will find this a great place to start.