Overview

Screen reader testing ensures your mobile applications are fully accessible to users with visual impairments. By leveraging screen readers, you can simulate the experience of users who rely on spoken descriptions to navigate and interact with your app. This type of testing helps identify accessibility issues related to text descriptions, button labels, and overall navigational flow, ensuring a more inclusive user experience.

Prerequisite

• Log in to the App Accessibility dashboard.

Get started with screen reader

Follow these steps to quickly get started with screen reader:

1. Select the Device and OS combination from the screen reader dashboard.

   

2. Install the app from any of the following sources:
   • Upload the app: Select and upload the app file directly from your computer or provide a URL link.
   • Install from Apple App Store, or Test Flight: Access and install the app directly from the Apple App Store or via Test Flight.
   • Install from Google Play Store: Access and install the app directly from the Google Play Store.

   

3. Configure settings (Optional):
   • Change the test location using GPS-based and IP-based geolocation changes (see annotation 1). Learn more about location testing.
   • Change the test language to test the accuracy of localized content and functionality across multiple languages (see annotation 2). Learn more about localization testing.
   • Enable Local Testing to retrieve data from your pre-production environment (see annotation 3). Learn more about Local Testing.

   

4. Enable the Screen Reader:
   • On the left toolbar, click Screen Reader.
   • Toggle the Screen Reader switch to on (see annotation 4).

After it is enabled, the Screen Reader will provide spoken descriptions of your app’s elements facilitating thorough accessibility testing. For more detailed information, refer to the screen reader documentation.

Keyboard shortcuts

While using the screen reader for testing, you can utilize keyboard shortcuts to navigate more efficiently. For a list of available shortcuts, refer, navigate the screen reader testing using keyboard shortcuts.

By following the above steps, you can quickly get started with App Accessibility testing and ensure that your mobile applications are accessible to all users, no matter where they are or what device they use.

Next steps

• Learn more about screen reader on Android.