Accessibility in iOS: Making Apps Inclusive with SwiftUI

In today’s digital age, ensuring that apps are accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities, is not just a courtesy—it’s a necessity. Accessibility is about designing your apps to support the needs of people who experience disabilities such as limited vision, hearing difficulties, or motor impairments. Apple’s SwiftUI framework is equipped with powerful tools that make it straightforward to incorporate accessibility features into your iOS apps. In this blog post, we will explore how to implement these accessibility features in SwiftUI, using an expense split app as an example to demonstrate practical applications.

The Importance of Accessibility

Accessibility in app design ensures that all users, regardless of their physical limitations, can interact with your app effectively. This not only broadens your app’s user base but also complies with legal standards and ethical practices in software development.

Implementing Accessibility in SwiftUI

SwiftUI provides several accessibility modifiers that can be easily integrated into your app’s UI components. These modifiers help people using assistive technologies such as VoiceOver to better understand what’s on their screen and interact with it appropriately.

Example: Accessible Expense Split App

Let’s consider an expense split app that allows users to add expenses and split them among friends. We’ll focus on making the main interface accessible.

Structuring Accessible Views

Here’s a basic view of our expense split app, where users can see listed expenses and add new ones:

struct ExpenseListView: View {
    @State private var expenses: [Expense] = [Expense(name: "Lunch", amount: 20.00)]

    var body: some View {
        NavigationView {
            List(expenses, id: \.self) { expense in
                HStack {
                    Text(expense.name)
                    Spacer()
                    Text("$\(expense.amount, specifier: "%.2f")")
                }
                .accessibilityElement(children: .combine)
                .accessibilityLabel("\(expense.name), \(expense.amount) dollars")
            }
            .navigationTitle("Expenses")
            .toolbar {
                Button(action: addExpense) {
                    Image(systemName: "plus")
                }
                .accessibilityLabel("Add new expense")
            }
        }
    }

    private func addExpense() {
        expenses.append(Expense(name: "Coffee", amount: 5.00))
    }
}

Accessibility Features Used

1. Accessibility Label: accessibilityLabel provides a voice description of what the element contains. For the list items, we provide a label that combines the expense name and its amount, making it easier for VoiceOver users to understand the content without seeing it.
2. Accessibility Element: accessibilityElement(children: .combine) is used to treat the entire HStack as a single accessible element. This is particularly useful when you have multiple pieces of information in a view that should be read together by assistive technologies.
3. Descriptive Labels for Interactive Elements: The button to add a new expense is labeled clearly using accessibilityLabel, ensuring that users understand the button’s function when using VoiceOver.

Why This Matters

Implementing these accessibility features does not drastically change the visual design or functionality of the app for users who do not use assistive technologies. However, for those who do, these features can significantly enhance the usability of the app.

Conclusion

Building accessible apps in SwiftUI is not just about adhering to best practices—it’s about inclusivity and ensuring that everyone, regardless of their abilities, can benefit from what your app has to offer. By integrating simple yet effective accessibility modifiers into your SwiftUI views, you can make your apps more usable and accessible to a wider audience. This approach not only improves user experience but also fosters a greater sense of community and respect among your user base. Remember, an accessible app is a better app for everyone.