> Markdown version of [/videos/1240-is-this-app-accessible-a-live-testing-demo](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1240-is-this-app-accessible-a-live-testing-demo). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md).

---

# Is This App Accessible? A Live Testing Demo

Eeva-Jonna Panula proves you already possess the tools to catch critical accessibility blockers. Watch her live-test Bluesky's mobile app. Uncover hidden focus traps without deep platform knowledge.

- **Speakers:** Eeva-Jonna Panula
- **Event:** WeAreDevelopers LIVE
- **Published:** November 20, 2024
- **Duration:** 32:00
- **URL:** https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1240-is-this-app-accessible-a-live-testing-demo

## Summary

In this live testing demonstration, accessibility specialist and Android developer Eeva-Jonna Panula explores how to evaluate mobile applications for accessibility using standard Android assistive technologies. Taking the popular React Native app Bluesky as a case study, she sets out to demonstrate how developers can proactively identify UX blockers without needing deep platform-specific codebase knowledge. By mirroring her Android device, she walks through a structured testing flow, emphasizing that developers possess the tools right on their devices to catch baseline accessibility issues before they impact daily assistive tech users.

The testing relies heavily on the Android Accessibility Scanner, a powerful automated tool that captures UI snapshots to flag common violations like unexposed text, poor contrast, and insufficient touch targets (suggesting the standard minimum of 48x48 dp). When pushing the app's structural integrity using maximum display and font size configurations, the test reveals that while most of the feed scales beautifully, minor text truncation occurs in user profile statistics. Furthermore, she emphasizes the necessity of the "remove animations" (reduced motion) setting, which is critical for users susceptible to motion sickness, demonstrating that the app correctly respects this system-level preference natively.

For motor-accessibility, Switch Access testing highlights a significant sequential navigation challenge: individual social posts contain multiple nested focusable elements, forcing users to click through every inner component rather than easily navigating from post to post. This highlights a critical insight for developers: structural UI must group elements intelligently to contain focus and respect sequential navigation. Ultimately, the session underscores that while automated tools and configuration tests are essential, applications must also react dynamically to system changes like text scaling without requiring a restart, ensuring a resilient and inclusive user experience.

**Keywords:** mobile accessibility testing, android accessibility scanner, touch target optimization, switch access navigation, reduced motion compliance, dynamic font scaling, screen recording automation, react native accessibility, sequential focus management, ui text truncation, automated accessibility audits, nested container focus, assistive technologies setup, accessibility configuration management

## Chapters

1. **Introduction to testing mobile applications for accessibility** (00:02) — Auditing mobile components with automated scanners and assistive settings uncovers underlying interaction barriers.
1. **Setting up tools for a live accessibility audit** (02:18) — Configuring systemic display and motion settings reveals structural flaws in application environments.
1. **Running automated tests with the android accessibility scanner** (07:32) — Capturing user paths through built-in automated accessibility suites identifies missing component labels.
1. **Analyzing automated accessibility scan results by category** (13:03) — Isolating component errors by category accelerates the remediation of touch target and density violations.
1. **Evaluating applications with maximum font and display scaling** (18:32) — Maximizing typographic scales tests visual responsiveness and identifies unintentional text truncation boundaries.
1. **Configuring physical buttons for switch access navigation** (23:19) — Binding volume controls to directional inputs establishes navigational logic independently of touchscreen layouts.
1. **Optimizing element focus traversal for switch navigation** (26:09) — Grouping interactive child elements within parent containers avoids exhaustive sequential focus cycles.
1. **Summarizing manual and automated application accessibility scan results** (28:58) — Integrating programmatic scan diagnostics with hardware switch validations guarantees robust accessibility compliance.

## Related Moments

- [Testing interfaces with system screen readers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1289-wad-live-22-01-2025-exploring-ai-web-development-and-accessibility-in-tech-with-stefan-judis) (from "WAD Live 22/01/2025: Exploring AI, Web Development, and Accessibility in Tech with Stefan Judis")
- [Finding accessibility issues through manual keyboard navigation testing](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1671-oh-s-there-s-a-new-accessibility-law-and-i-m-not-ready) (from "Oh S***! There's a New Accessibility Law and I'm Not Ready!")
- [Utilizing testing tools to audit web platform compliance](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/403-the-what-why-who-and-how-of-accessibility-on-the-web) (from "The What, Why, Who and How of accessibility on the web")
- [Manual accessibility testing using standard browser screen readers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/2077-accessibility-features-in-chrome-devtools-and-beyond) (from "Accessibility Features in Chrome DevTools and beyond")
- [Utilizing developer tools to test and improve accessibility](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1847-secure-and-accessible-login-systems-ramona-schwering) (from "Secure and Accessible Login Systems - Ramona Schwering")
- [Addressing implementation questions around accessibility patterns and audits](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/507-decoding-web-accessibility-through-audit) (from "Decoding web accessibility through audit")

## Related Articles

- [Find all accessibility problems in a page to take part in the CODE100 final!](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/507-find-all-accessibility-problems-in-a-page-to-take-part-in-the-code100-final)
- [How Developers Can Focus on Maintaining Satisfaction With Accessibility](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/109-how-developers-can-focus-on-maintaining-satisfaction-with-accessibility)
- [12 ways to fix an inaccessible web site  - the CODE100 Accessibility Scavenger Hunt results](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/511-12-ways-to-fix-an-inaccessible-web-site-the-code100-accessibility-scavenger-hunt-results)
- [Native Web Apps: Are We There Yet?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/83-native-web-apps-are-we-there-yet)

## Related Jobs

- [Senior React Native Developer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/1518176-senior-react-native-developer) at **Almedia**
- [Senior Web Designer, Growth](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/102722-senior-web-designer-growth) at **Intercom, Inc.**
- [Engineer, Offensive Security Organization](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/1992296-engineer-offensive-security-organization) at **Twilio**
- [Working Student Frontend Development](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/1185791-working-student-frontend-development) at **ZEISS Group**
- [Qa Engineer (Mobile & Web), Broker](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/1987685-qa-engineer-mobile-web-broker) at **Bitpanda**
- [Founding Mobile Engineer (iOS)](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/1648532-founding-mobile-engineer-ios) at **Almedia**