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Accessibility testing for dev teams - No experience required
Compliance Data & Impact
Disabilities Affected
- Low Vision
- Mobility
- Cognitive
Requirement(s)
- Platform Violation
WCAG Success Criteria
- Not specified, or not applicable
Section 508 Guidelines
- 1194.31.f Motor/dexterity accessibility
- 1194.25.c Touch screen input method
- 1194.26.b Touch screen input method compliance
How to Fix the Problem
Generally, you want the touchable area of interactive items to meet Apple's minimum recommendation of 44pt by 44pt. Larger touch targets are always better.
Confirm that the touch target size of interactive items in your app is large enough. Set the minimum width and height attributes of each interactive element to 44pt by 44pt or more.
The click/touch target size must be large enough without zooming to facilitate easy use with a finger, and without risking activating an adjacent link or button.
Determining appropriate touch target sizes is tricky. Different device resolutions can make accurate measurement unit conversion. Apple's Human Interface Guidelines a minimum tappable area of 44pt by 44pt for all controls.
Use Apple's 44pt by 44pt recommendation as a guideline and best practice for iOS app development. However, keep in mind that Apple's recommendation is only a suggested minimum. People are unique and have different size fingers. Users who interact with their iOS device with body parts other than fingers may need much larger touch target sizes. Make an effort to implement touch target sizes as large as possible to provide maximum accessibility to all users.
Whatever measurement guideline used, zooming in an app does not affect the touch target size, nor is it represented only by the visible interactive item. The active touch area can, and often does, extend beyond the visible portion of the element.
Why it Matters
Many people have difficulty interacting with small touch targets on a device's screen. People are unique. Some fingers are larger than others. Some people have a motor or visual impairment.
Users with motor disabilities especially appreciate large touch targets. Some people experience hand tremors or imprecise hand movements. Other people cannot use their fingers at all, and must instead use other body parts, such as their knuckles, elbow, or toes. Touch targets that require appropriate sizes to accommodate all users include :
- Links
- Menus
- Submit Buttons
- Custom widget controls (e.g., media player buttons)
Widgets that rely on gestures, touch events, and multi-touch actions are difficult to use by people who:
- cannot move their hands.
- do not have hands.
- have tremors in their hands.
- cannot see where to swipe or touch the screen.
- do not have a device with touchscreen or gesture capabilities.
Whenever you use touch or gesture methods, make sure you create actionable item touch targets big enough to enable interaction for people who cannot use them directly.
Rule Description
The Algorithm (in simple terms)
The Make Interactive Element Touch Targets Large rule detects which UIView's are too small for comfortable and accessible user interaction. The rule analyzes interactive elements in your app. Interactive element touch targets in your app set large enough for easily tapping by users pass the test. The rule is inapplicable to UIView items that are not intended for user interaction such as UILabels or plain text.
Resources
Deque University Course Pages (subscription required)
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