May 14th, 2024
Within our iOS team, we are close to achieving a significant milestone. Soon, we may launch one of the few mobile app in the Netherlands that meets compliance status A for digital accessibility in government, a status determined by fifty stringent criteria. These criteria include contrast values, readability, and accessibility, and must be complied with by each municipality in government. This not only means that our app meets the legal requirements, as set forth in the "Decision on Digital Accessibility for Government", but also that we are setting a new standard for accessibility within mobile application development. This concerns our application OmgevingsAlert.
Accessibility features of OmgevingsAlert in our iOS-application
1. Dynamic Text
Our app supports dynamic type, allowing all textual elements on every screen to effortlessly scale with enlarged fonts. Even with extremely large font sizes, everything remains readable and accessible. To achieve this, we have rewritten all views to scroll views, ensuring that nothing disappears below the screen, especially relevant on smaller iPhones.
2. VoiceOver
With VoiceOver, users can access all important elements through swipe gestures. Everything is read aloud, including additional explanations that a sighted user may not need. For example, buttons to increase and decrease the radius of a location are clearly described by VoiceOver, including the new value after selection. This significantly improves the user experience for visually impaired users.
3. External Keyboard support
We have ensured that our app is fully operable with an external keyboard. By utilizing iOS techniques, we bring all shortcuts and combinations into view. Navigation within a screen is done via arrow keys, with the focus order carefully optimized to ensure a smooth experience. This order is also crucial for VoiceOver users, to whom we have paid extensive attention.
4. Contrast Ratio
Throughout the app, we have ensured an adequate contrast ratio, with a contrast ratio of at least 1:3 compared to the environment. Although this sometimes sacrifices aesthetics, accessibility always takes precedence for us.
A step towards digital inclusion
The imminent achievement of compliance status A for digital accessibility is not only an accomplishment for our iOS team but also a step towards digital inclusion for all users, regardless of their limitations. We are proud to contribute to a more accessible digital world.
Would you like to learn more about the progress of our app regarding digital accessibility? Check out our status on Digitoegankelijk.
Do you also want to get acquainted with the OmgevingsAlert application? Visit the website here.
