Introduction: Accessibility in the Palm of Your Hand Most of us spend more time on our phones than on our computers. For people with disabilities, mobile devices are often even more important because they have incredible accessibility features built right into the hardware. However, testing a mobile app is a completely different beast than testing a website. You have to think about “touch,” “swipe,” and “shake” instead of just “click.”
The Mobile Toolkit
When testing on a phone, you need to look for three specific things:
- Touch Target Size: Are the buttons big enough? On a mobile screen, buttons need to be at least 44×44 pixels. If they’re too small, users with tremors or limited dexterity will constantly “mis-click.”
- Screen Magnification: Many users with low vision zoom in to 200% or 400%. Does your app layout “break” when the text gets huge? Does it overlap or hide important buttons?
- Native Gestures: Blind users navigate mobile apps by swiping left and right to “hear” elements. If your app uses custom gestures (like “swipe to delete”), you must make sure there is a simple, standard way to do that same action using the screen reader menu.
Don’t Forget the “Orientation”
A simple but often overlooked test: Does your app work in Landscape mode? Many users mount their tablets or phones to wheelchairs in a fixed horizontal position. If your app forces the screen to stay vertical, those users literally can’t use your product. Mobile accessibility is about flexibility—making sure your app bows to the needs of the user, not the other way around.
This final category, Strategy & Leadership, is designed for the decision-makers. These articles move away from the “how-to” of coding and focus on the “why” of business growth, culture, and long-term sustainability. At Aditya Catalyst, we believe that for accessibility to truly succeed, it must be supported from the top down.