Apple to Devs: ‘Make Your App More Accessible with VoiceOver’

Since iOS 3.0, iPhones and iPod touches support VoiceOver, a solution developed by Apple to help users with visual impairments. The UI Accessibility programming interface introduced by Apple in iOS 3.0 helps developers make their applications accessible to VoiceOver users. Apple is now encouraging developers to make their apps VoiceOver-supported.

Apple designed VoiceOver so that the function describes an application’s user interface, helping them navigate through the application’s views and controls, using speech and sound.

The feature stems form Mac OS X, and is available on a plurality of Apple devices, including the screen-less iPod shuffles, and some iPod nanos.

“Make Your App More Accessible with VoiceOver,” Apple says on the Developer section of its web site.

The company goes to note that “iOS comes standard with accessibility features that help people with disabilities experience all that iPhone, iPad and iPod touch have to offer including VoiceOver, the world's first gesture-based screen reader.”

“Users can simply touch the screen to hear a description of the item under their finger, then double-tap, drag, or flick to control their device,” it adds.

According to Apple, “it's simple to incorporate VoiceOver compatibility in custom views using the accessibilityLabel property” - a side of iOS many developers should be familiar with already.

Those enrolled with the company’s $99-a-year developer program can implement VoiceOver using three elements provided by Apple in iOS and the iOS SDK (software development kit):

1. Making standard UIKit controls and views accessible by default

2. Supplying the UI Accessibility programming interface, which defines a streamlined process for making an iPhone application accessible

3. Providing tools that help you implement accessibility in your code and test the accessibility of your application.

Apple assures programmers that all of the built-in views and controls can support VoiceOver automatically.

Cupertino provides a wealth of information on the topic via the Accessibility Programming Guide for iOS, which devs can access to get all the details on how to add accessibility to their app.

Those who need to start from scratch (as in, familiarize themselves with the basics of VoiceOver) can visit Apple’s Accessibility web page, where VoiceOver and other accessibility features are detailed.