How to improve accessibility in React Native mobile applications
Niemelä, Elina (2022)
Niemelä, Elina
2022
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022060214639
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022060214639
Tiivistelmä
Accessibility is bringing digital services to everyone use. Accessible application can be used by anyone, including people with disabilities. Accessibility directives by EU, has created a list of requirements for digital services. Directives have impacted on the lives of people with disabilities and increased the level of accessibility implementations.
The goal for this thesis was to understand what accessibility is, why is it important, and how it can be improved. This thesis concentrated on mobile applications only. For the client to benefit as much as possible, thesis focus was set to React Native mobile applications. Perspectives were gotten from accessibility user and experts. Additional perspectives were collected from application testing. The head research problem ended up being: How to improve accessibility in React Native mobile applications.
Theory portion of the thesis focuses on understanding what accessibility in mobile applications means, what are the requirements, and what React Native offers in terms of accessibility. Author reviews different accessibility user groups and business perspective. Author also reviews Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and the requirements set for digital services by EU.
Thesis study portion includes three interviews and three application tests. Interviews included one accessibility user interview and two accessibility expert interviews. User inter-view focused on understanding users’ point of view and their needs. Expert interviews focused on experts’ point of view and how expert sees accessibility development. Application testing included three React Native mobile applications, from which one was by that time required to be accessible by law. Selected applications were HSL, S-kaupat, and ABC-mobiili.
Conclusions were based on the understanding gathered from theory and from the inter-views and testing. Conclusions include improvement suggestions for accessibility development process and for React Native. Conclusions also include author’s own interpretation on the matters why accessibility is important and why it should be improved.
The goal for this thesis was to understand what accessibility is, why is it important, and how it can be improved. This thesis concentrated on mobile applications only. For the client to benefit as much as possible, thesis focus was set to React Native mobile applications. Perspectives were gotten from accessibility user and experts. Additional perspectives were collected from application testing. The head research problem ended up being: How to improve accessibility in React Native mobile applications.
Theory portion of the thesis focuses on understanding what accessibility in mobile applications means, what are the requirements, and what React Native offers in terms of accessibility. Author reviews different accessibility user groups and business perspective. Author also reviews Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and the requirements set for digital services by EU.
Thesis study portion includes three interviews and three application tests. Interviews included one accessibility user interview and two accessibility expert interviews. User inter-view focused on understanding users’ point of view and their needs. Expert interviews focused on experts’ point of view and how expert sees accessibility development. Application testing included three React Native mobile applications, from which one was by that time required to be accessible by law. Selected applications were HSL, S-kaupat, and ABC-mobiili.
Conclusions were based on the understanding gathered from theory and from the inter-views and testing. Conclusions include improvement suggestions for accessibility development process and for React Native. Conclusions also include author’s own interpretation on the matters why accessibility is important and why it should be improved.