Testing Swift VoiceOver & Accessibility: A Guide for Developers

Developers who use the Swift programming language to build mobile applications can benefit from testing their apps with VoiceOver and other accessibility features. In this guide, we’ll explore how to do just that.

VoiceOver is an iOS feature that makes it easier for people who are blind or have low vision to use their Apple devices. It reads aloud what’s on the screen and describes any actions that are taken. VoiceOver can be enabled in the Settings app on an iOS device.

In order to take advantage of VoiceOver in your Swift app, you’ll need to create custom accessibility elements for each element on the screen. This includes labels, images, buttons, and more. For example, if you have a button that triggers an action, you’ll need to add a label to it so that VoiceOver can read it aloud. You can do this by adding the following code to your view controller:

button.accessibilityLabel = "Trigger Action"

Once you’ve added the accessibility labels to all of your elements, you can test your app with VoiceOver. To do this, open up the Settings app and turn on VoiceOver. Then open your app and use the standard VoiceOver gestures to navigate through it. As you do, VoiceOver will read out the labels that you added.

If you find that VoiceOver isn’t reading out the labels correctly, then you may need to adjust the order in which they appear. You can do this by making use of the accessibilityOrder property. This property allows you to set the order in which VoiceOver should read out the labels. To set the order, you’ll need to add the following code to your view controller:

button.accessibilityOrder = 1

In addition to VoiceOver, you can also test your app for other accessibility features. For example, you can enable the Reduce Motion feature to make sure that animations don’t cause motion sickness for users. You can also enable the Speak Screen feature to make sure that text is spoken out loud correctly.

Testing your app with VoiceOver and other accessibility features is an important part of developing a successful Swift app. By ensuring that your app is accessible, you’ll be able to reach a larger audience and provide a better user experience for all of your users.