App Quality Alliance Establishes New Android Accessibility Testing Criteria

To help publishers ensure their apps provide as much accessibility as possible for individuals with disabilities the App Quality Alliance (AQuA), with support from the Mobile Manufacturers Forum (MMF), has created a set of accessibility tests designed to help publishers make applications more accessible and easy to use for those with disabilities in certain categories - including vision, hearing, speech, dexterity and cognition - on an Android devices.

According to the Alliance, “We’ve been talking to people in the industry and it’s become apparent that there are not enough apps out there that are truly accessible. We know that both hardware and software have evolved their accessibility features, however for the apps themselves, this is not always the case. So it seemed like a good idea to try and help developers to make their apps accessible, and as a result, enable them to tap into a wider audience.”

The Accessibility Testing Criteria was created with input from many different industry organizations including:

- Mobile Manufacturers Forum (MMF), their members and the GARI website

- W3C WCAG 2.0 recommendations on accessibility

- Android developer community recommendations on accessibility

- AT&T recommendations on website accessibility

- AQuA members experience and their Accessibility teams

The new accessibility testing criteria can be found on the Alliance website. Those who would like to contribute additional suggestions for criteria are encouraged to do so.