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Android Accessibility Model

Abstract

As is the case with the rest of the platform, Android accessibility is highly customizable. A large part of accessibility is about customizability, so Android has a huge edge here. If Android doesn’t have a system setting that suits a specific need, then any developer can create a custom accessibility service to fulfil that need. We’ll take a cursory look at this in the “Viewing the accessibility tree” activity later. Because of the wide variation in handsets and software versions available, for the avoidance of doubt, I’m using a Google Pixel device running Android 10.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://material.io

  2. 2.

    https://material.io/components/

  3. 3.

    Google has also made Material Design available for iOS, but this is the wrong type of consistency. Using Material Design on iOS means a far greater context switch for users when entering/leaving your app. Using Material Design on iOS will result in a less accessible app. Google warns against this in Material Design’s accessibility guidelines, at the same time as encouraging Material Design’s use on iOS.☺

  4. 4.

    https://material.io/design/introduction/

  5. 5.

    https://material.io/design/usability/accessibility.html

  6. 6.

    https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/accessibility/service

  7. 7.

    https://developer.android.com/reference/android/view/accessibility/AccessibilityNodeInfo.html

  8. 8.

    https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/accessibility/custom-views

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© 2020 Rob Whitaker

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Whitaker, R. (2020). Android Accessibility Model. In: Developing Inclusive Mobile Apps. Apress, Berkeley, CA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-5814-9_4

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