Use Screen Reader on Android in App Accessibility

Use the Screen Reader feature on real Android devices in App Accessibility.

Manual accessibility testing is crucial to ensure your mobile apps are fully compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and accessible to differently-abled users. The TalkBack screen reader on supported real devices provides spoken feedback for Android apps, enabling users with visual difficulties to navigate and interact with apps.

Google TalkBack allows for element-by-element UI navigation, providing spoken descriptions of each UI element as users move through the app. When testing your app with TalkBack, you ensure that users who rely on screen readers can effectively use your app, offering them a fully accessible experience.

Supported Android devices

App Accessibility supports the screen reader feature on the following Android devices:

Start screen reader testing

Follow these steps to turn the Screen Reader on:

1. Go to the App Accessibility dashboard.

2. On the left menu of the App Accessibility dashboard, click Screen Reader.

   

3. Choose your device and OS combination to start a session.
   A new screen reader device window appears.

4. Find your existing app in the search bar or click Upload App to upload a new app.

   
   The app is being uploaded and installed on the iOS.

5. To start the screen reader, turn the Screen Reader toggle on from the left menu.

   

A Screen Reader has been enabled successfully notification appears. Start exploring your app with screen reader and identify any areas for accessibility improvements.

Navigation when using screen reader

Your app’s end-users accessing your mobile app on an Android device with TalkBack enabled would either navigate your app via using touch gestures or keyboard shortcuts on a Bluetooth keyboard. Navigation behavior on TalkBack (such as moving to the next or previous element or auto-reading from the start of the page) that can be undertaken with these two methods will be referred to using the term “TalkBack actions” from here on.

Both ways are essentially similar in that they undertake TalkBack actions on the device UI such as moving to the next or the previous element or activating/selecting the element in focus. It should make no difference to your app’s accessibility rating whether your end-user is using touch gestures or the Bluetooth keyboard. Once you ensure your mobile app’s WCAG compliance with one, it should work with the other.

For the ScreenReader feature on Android devices, use the following keyboard shortcuts to trigger TalkBack actions:

The following is a video demo of the above actions using the shortcuts:

How to test for end users who use touch gestures on their phones

Any Android device can be seen to have two modes of behavior depending on the kind of action they generate when using touch gestures:

1. During regular use.
2. When TalkBack is turned on.

For example, during regular usage, a swipe left or swipe right gesture may trigger the following actions, depending on where you are on the device:

1. Moves to the previous/next screen on the homepage.
2. Move to the previous/next picture in a photo gallery.

When TalkBack is turned on however, the same swipe left or swipe right gesture may trigger a TalkBack action which is moving focus to the previous or the next UI element on the screen.

These two modes of UI actions/behavior are referred to as regular mode and TalkBack mode respectively in this document.

However, even when using TalkBack with the ScreenReader feature in App Accessibility, touch gestures trigger regular mode actions and not TalkBack mode actions, as defined in the official TalkBack documentation page.

Then, how should you test your mobile app accessibility for end users who use touch gestures on Android phones with TalkBack enabled?

The answer is, you don’t have to. Simply ensure that your app is accessible via keyboard navigation on real devices in App Accessibility.

WCAG compliance and accessibility is for ensuring aspects such as:

1. UI elements and controls on your app are reachable and in the correct order when traversed in linear order via touch gestures like swipe left/right, or corresponding keyboard shortcuts for moving to previous or next element.
2. The description of UI elements and controls on your app is such that it makes sense to a user hearing them via the TalkBack audio readout.

Hence, it makes no difference to your app’s accessibility rating, whether the end user navigates the app via the keyboard, or by using touch gestures when TalkBack is enabled. This is because the underlying ordering of UI elements, their reachability, and their description remains the same. Ensuring that your app is accessible by testing with one mode (keyboard or touch gestures) would ensure that it is accessible even if the end user is using another mode.

Modify TalkBack settings

After you have TalkBack enabled on the device by enabling the ScreenReader feature, you can access and modify TalkBack settings as follows:

1. Navigate to Home Screen.
2. Click Settings.
3. On the Settings menu, click Accessibility.
4. On the Accessibility menu, click Installed Apps.
5. On the Installed Apps menu, click BSTalkback.
   The BSTalkback option is turned on when TalkBack is enabled.
6. On the BSTalkback menu, click Settings to view or modify your TalkBack settings.