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CAREN CHANG: The best way to make your app more accessible
is through testing, and Accessibility Scanner
is one of the tools that can help with your testing flow.
In this episode, we'll talk about what Scanner
is, what it looks for, and how to use it
for testing your own apps.
Scanner is an Android app that scans the screens in your app
to provide suggestions on how to improve
the accessibility of your app.
Scanner was built to allow everybody-- not just
engineers-- the ability to audit an app for accessibility issues
and propose potential solutions.
Under the hood, Scanner uses the Accessibility Test Framework
and provides specific suggestions
after looking at features such as content labels, touch target
size, clickable items, and color contrast for text and images.
Let's start by setting up Scanner on an Android device.
Scanner is available for devices running Android 6 and above,
and you can download it from Google Play.
Once the app is downloaded, you need
to enable the Scanner Accessibility Service
through the Settings app.
Depending on which Android device you're running
and what Android version is running on the device,
the steps to enable the service may vary.
However, if you open the Scanner app on your device,
it will guide you through the appropriate steps.
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Now that we've set up the Scanner Accessibility
Service on the device, let's use it to scan
for potential issues in an app.
Here we've opened our favorite task-tracking app in dark mode.
And you notice that there is an Accessibility Scanner
floating action button displayed over the app.
Using Scanner, we can either snapshot a single screen
of the app or record a workflow within the app that
involves multiple screens.
When we record a workflow in our app,
Scanner records a series of snapshots
and analyzes the elements on each snapshot.
For this video, let's go through the process
of taking a single snapshot for Scanner to analyze.
In the task-tracker app, let's take a snapshot
of the screen that lets users view the details of a task.
Once we've taken a snapshot, Scanner
displays the results of the scan with possible areas
of improvement outline in orange rectangles.
Here, Scanner has flagged a few elements.
For each element outlined in orange,
we can click on the element to see
why the element was flagged.
Let's dig into the results to learn more.
One of the elements that has been flagged
is the Start button.
After clicking on the Start button,
we see that Scanner suggests making the touch target
of this clickable item larger.
Scanner also gives further information
about the current size of the element and the recommended
touch target size for the element.
Next, let's look at why the Edit button has been flagged.
Clicking on the element, we see that it's missing a label.
The suggestion regarding the missing label
is to add an item label or a content description in order
for the element to be readable by screen readers.
The last suggestion flags the color contrast of the Back
button on the top nav bar.
When Scanner detects a possible color-contrast issue,
you can tap into the result to experiment
with the foreground and background colors.
Here on the left side, we see the contrast ratio
that is currently detected and a suggested contrast
ratio for the element.
And on the right side, we have the ability
to see what the contrast ratio would
be if a different foreground and background color were selected.
You've seen how Scanner can be a useful tool to automate testing
for accessibility.
However, it's important to remember that it should not
replace manual testing.
For example, if any accessibility information
is missing entirely, Scanner may not
be able to know that something should have been flagged.
The best way to test the accessibility of your apps
is by working with actual users and by using
accessibility services such as TalkBack and Switch Access.
To sum things up, Scanner is an Android app
that can help you improve the usability
of your app for all users.
Scanner scans for issues based on snapshots taken in an app.
Scanner can provide suggestions for improvement
based on auditing features such as content labels, touch target
size, clickable items, and color contrast for texts and images.
And lastly, while Scanner is helpful in surfacing
potential accessibility issues in an Android app,
it should not be a replacement for manual testing.
Always be sure that manual testing
is part of your accessibility testing workflow.
Thanks for tuning in, and look for more accessibility
tips coming your way.
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