Accessibility Assessment in Mobile Applications for Android

Testing accessibility in mobile applications is a big challenge for accessibility experts. Currently, the lack of clear accessibility definitions and adequate methods for testing whether a mobile application is accessible have become a barrier for users of mobile applications. This article proposes a method to measure the accessibility of mobile applications, which allows new processes and experimental to be tested data on the validity and usefulness of the method. As a case study, it was applied to 10 mobile applications, taken randomly, most used in the world according to PCMAG. The method proposes the use of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 with the Accessibility Scanner tool version 1.2 of Google. The results indicate that the mobile applications evaluated do not comply with an adequate level of accessibility. The research proposes some suggestions for the design of accessible and inclusive mobile applications. The method used to assess the accessibility of mobile applications is as follows: (i) select the applications, (ii) install the applications from the Google Play shop, (iii) install and activate the accessibility scanner, (iv) open the application for evaluation, (v) record the results, (vi) analyze the results, (vii) propose suggestions to improve accessibility in mobile applications.