App and screen orientation lock

Locking your app’s orientation, whether at the app level or screen level, can significantly impact accessibility. An app that restricts content to either portrait or landscape mode limits user flexibility and can hinder the experience for those who need to use the app in a different orientation due to physical or situational constraints.

Success criteria

The rule checks for the following potential violations:

• Content within the application is restricted to only one orientation (either portrait or landscape).
• Activities or view controllers in the app are set to a fixed orientation, which limits user flexibility.

How to fix?

To fix violations related to app orientation lock, follow these steps:

Android

• Review the application configuration
  
  • Open the AndroidManifest.xml file and check each activity to ensure it is not set to a fixed orientation. Activities should allow the switch between portrait and landscape modes.
• Update activity settings
  
  • Adjust the settings for each activity to support both orientations to ensure the app’s content is accessible regardless of how the device is held.

iOS

• Review the application settings
  Open the app’s .plist file, which includes settings for supported interface orientations. Ensure that both portrait and landscape orientations are listed.
• Update view controllers
  Check all view controllers to ensure they are not locked to a specific orientation. Make necessary adjustments so that each view controller can operate in both orientations.

Example

The following example scan report highlights that the app is restricted to a single orientation.

Violation

• The application is locked to a single orientation, either portrait or landscape. This restriction makes the content inaccessible in the other orientation, potentially affecting users who require a specific orientation.

Fix

For Android:
Review the AndroidManifest.xml file to find any activities that are set to a specific orientation. Ensure these activities are configured to support both portrait and landscape modes.

For iOS:
Review the app’s .plist file to ensure both orientations are supported, and check view controllers to ensure they are not locked to a specific orientation.

Reference

• Learn more about Orientation WCAG: 2.1 - 1.3.4 (Level AA) guideline
• Learn more about Orientation WCAG: 2.2 - 1.3.4 (Level AA) guideline