About iOS Accessibility — book cover
A book for iOS developers

About iOS Accessibility

A practical, deeply visual guide to making iPhone apps usable by everyone. Learn how VoiceOver works, how to adapt your interface element by element, and how to verify the result — with screenshots and real-world examples.

Mikhail Rubanov
Mikhail Rubanov
iOS Lead at Jazari · Accessibility & autotesting expert

Unlock the English edition

A one-time purchase opens every published chapter — and every new one as it lands.

English
English edition
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Translation in progress: the Introduction and the full VoiceOver chapters are available, with more added over time.

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What this book is about

Adapt the app you already have

An app's accessibility is how well its interface adapts to different groups of people. If someone has low vision, can't hear, or can't move — and still uses the app fully — then it's accessible.

This book focuses on the most severe impairments, where it isn't even obvious at first how a person could use a touchscreen phone at all. You don't build a separate version for blind users — you adapt the existing one. VoiceOver turns the graphical interface into an audio one, and this book shows you exactly how to make that experience clear, fast, and complete.

Table of contents

What's inside

01 Introduction Ready
  • What is accessibility?How well an interface adapts to different groups of people — and why that's the whole game.
  • StatisticsThe known numbers on disability, and how to collect your own.
  • Why botherUseful for developers, important for companies, and a skill you can learn.
  • No separate versionYou adapt the existing app rather than building a parallel one for blind users.
02 How VoiceOver works Ready
  • How VoiceOver worksTurning a graphical interface into an audio one that blind people can use fully.
  • Turning VoiceOver onEnable it and learn to use apps in screen-reader mode yourself.
  • NavigationHow to use the phone when you can't see anything on the screen.
  • ActionsThe core VoiceOver gestures for interacting with elements.
  • Before and afterAn unadapted vs. adapted interface, using Apple's Health app as an example.
  • Anatomy of focusHow VoiceOver finds an element, reads its properties, and describes it.
  • Accessibility treeHow the tree is built from the UIView hierarchy.
  • PracticeExercises to get comfortable using VoiceOver hands-on.
03 Describing elements for VoiceOver
  • LabelsLabeling elements so VoiceOver reads them clearly and accurately.
  • ButtonsThe .button trait, activation, text-less buttons, and tabs.
  • ImagesWhen to hide images and when to expose them to give a page structure.
  • Grouped controlsReduce the number of elements and simplify navigation.
  • Cells in listsTurn any cell, however complex, into a single accessibility element.
04 Vertical swipes
  • Vertical swipesHorizontal swipes move focus; vertical swipes change the value inside an element.
  • Custom actionsMove a button's actions into swipe-selected custom actions.
  • Additional descriptionsMove extra text in complex cells onto vertical swipes.
  • CarouselAdapt the horizontal scroll of banners, buttons, and upsell blocks.
  • RotorCustomize the rotor to jump between headings, buttons, and text fields.
05 Navigation for VoiceOver
  • Within a screenElement order, grouping, and notifications.
  • Between screensBack navigation, the primary action, and modal windows.
  • App navigationThe tab bar, navigation stack, and split view.
  • NotificationsHow VoiceOver learns about screen updates — automatically and manually.
  • ScrollA look at how scrolling works for accessibility.
Feature updates

More chapters on the way

The book is still growing. These chapters are in the works and will be added to your edition as they're translated — at no extra cost.

  • Voice Control Coming soonDriving the entire interface by voice, hands-free.
  • Switch Control Coming soonOperating the app with one or two physical switches.
  • Dynamic Type Coming soonAdapting layout and text to the user's preferred font size.
Start reading

Get the English edition

A one-time purchase unlocks every chapter available now, and every new one as the translation grows.

English
English edition
$10 one-time

Introduction and the full VoiceOver chapters, translated — with more on the way.

Buy — $10