Accessibility : Tools

To ensure that accessibility is following all the guidelines ,   there are various tools which can be used by developer , designers and testers .

Here the most common tools are listed :

• Accessibility  Scanner
• Axe
• Accessibility Suite
• Manual Testing(For test to speech)
• Attest
• Asure
• Accessibility  Lint
• Contrast Checker

Accessibility Scanner :

This is the scanner android application by Google , which checks that the whole screen is following the accessibility guidelines or not . It takes the screenshot , and then scan each and every widget of that screen . Developer & QA can test the application on basis of following points using this scanner : touch area , color contrast , illegal announcement  etc. 

It shows the suggestions for the screen , which can be fixed by developer to make that screen more accessible. After installing the application the service will add under  Settings -> Accessibility -> Downloaded Service or External Service . 

Whenever it is required to test the app with this tools , ON the toggle under Settings -> Accessibility -> Downloaded Service or External Service -> Accessibility Scanner , one blue icon will appear like : 

 

Google Play Link : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.accessibility.auditor&hl=en_IN

Axe : 

This is also same as the accessibility scanner application by Deque Systems . The functionality is same , it also takes screenshot and then scan all the widgets and provide suggestions. 

After installing the application the service will add under  Settings -> Accessibility -> Downloaded Service or External Service . 

Whenever it is required to test the app with this tools , ON the toggle under Settings -> Accessibility -> Downloaded Service or External Service -> Axe , one purple guy icon will appear like : 

Google Play Link : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.deque.axe.android&hl=en_IN

Accessibility  Suite : 

This is the bundle of apps/tools which are required to test the accessibility , provided by Google. The services which are provided by : 

• Accessibility Menu: menu to lock your phone, control volume and brightness, take screenshots, etc.

• Select to Speak: Select items on your screen and hear them read aloud.

• Switch Access:one or more switches or a keyboard to interact with android app

• TalkBack screen reader:text to speech tool

After installing the application the services will add under  Settings -> Accessibility -> Downloaded Service or External Service . 

Google Play Link : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.marvin.talkback&hl=en_IN

Manual Testing : 

To check the focus and the announcement + focus , manual testing is required . To test it , TALKBACK is needed to turn on , which is place under : Settings -> Accessibility -> Downloaded Service or External Service -> Talkback

In few devices talkback is installed already , but in Samsung devices, voice assistance is used for text to speech , in those devices Talkback should be installed from google play . As talkback is considered as the standard announcement tool for accessibility.

Attest :  

This is the desktop application , which worked with axe application , it is also provided by Deque Systems . The axe android application connect locally with this desktop application , and shows the scanned result in attest desktop window . This application is used to generate the attest file , which is the brief description pass and fail result of any app screen .

Assure : 

It is, provided by Deque Systems is step-by-step manual accessibility testing and reporting tool that enable functional testers with minimal accessibility knowledge to create precise, comprehensive and consistent accessibility issue reports for developers.

Accessibility  Lint: Apart from manual testing one another way to apply the accessibility lint to error , when announcement is not added for ImageView :

Contrast Checker : 

There is also one more rule for accessibility i.e. background and foreground color contrast should be correct . There are many cases , where developers are unable to get the correct ratio of foreground and background colors. To check that color ratio is pass or fail , this website helps the developer. 

Website url: https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/

These are most widely used tools to ensure that accessibility is implemented correctly .