The Hitchhiker's Guide to mobile accessibility

Mobile devices have become easily portable and powerful, from complexly equipped with alien-like antennas, short battery lives, and bulky casings. Current mobile device interfaces are so usable, accessible and intuitive that toddlers have quickly learned touchscreen gestures and fundamental UI patterns.

We have seen prominent evolution in the usability of mobile devices over the last few decades as the result of curious, innovative, creative, and empathic minds. They developed things by watching real end users fail and succeed by making hundreds of iterations. Users' device-driven abilities and expectations elevate along with the evolution of accessible technologies. Mobile-specific heuristics are malleable and should be updated to reflect this dynamic relationship along with our testing strategies. Many people prefer things to be more accessible, but they don't know where to start. Or for them tackling accessibility is just too hard, too big or too much to do, or they are just scared! Start where you are.

As testers, we have to advocate accessibility and need a point-of-view gun. We still need to get the point of view gun. We have to use our communication skills and our advocacy strategies. Collaboration delivers long-lasting results in accessibility in part because it builds relationships. Here the very cover of the Hitchhiker's Guide can help, Don't Panic! Accessibility is essential to everyone – not everyone using your mobile app, device or wearable will be fully functioning: either because they have a disability or are engaged elsewhere.

We will discuss the things essential to avoid when designing mobile apps, devices and wearables to ensure everyone can use them. Also, understand the effective ways to test specific mobile accessibility features and system accessibility settings. In this talk, we will translate some research insights into updated sets of mobile testing heuristics focusing on accessibility!