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About

This site was initially developed as part of my master's thesis, and it's intended to be a helpful resource for Android developers who want to build more accessible Android apps. I plan to develop it further once the thesis is ready and published.

My Thesis​

The title of my thesis is "Towards More Accessible Android Applications - An Actionable Accessibility Checklist for Android Developers". The research method I was using is the Design Science Research Method, and the final artifact of the work is the accessibility checklist you can find on this page. If you're interested in checking the thesis out, you can find it from Osuva: Towards More Accessible Android Applications - An Actionable Accessibility Checklist for Android Developers.

Who's Behind This Site?​

Hey, Eevis (or Eeva-Jonna), the creator of this page here! 👋🏻 I'm studying in the master's program of Technical Communication at Vaasa University, Finland. I would link the master's program, but the site is only in Finnish (as the program is taught only in Finnish).

I'm also a senior Android developer and accessibility specialist. You can learn more about what I do and who I am on my website. If you want to contact me, you can either email me (hello(at)eevis.codes) or find other ways to contact me from that website.

But Checklists Don't Solve Accessibility!​

Yes, I do agree that there are no checklists that would guarantee fully accessible apps. And that is not the goal of this checklist. It's not intended to solve all accessibility problems on Android applications.

The idea is to provide a tool for those Android developers who don't know much about accessibility to learn and create more accessible apps, emphasizing the word more.

The idea for this checklist came from research, which shows that the most significant barriers for Android developers to implement accessible apps are the following:

  1. Not Knowing About Accessibility and Lack of Awareness
  2. Companies Ignoring Accessibility Requirements
  3. Little to No Exposure or Background with Accessibility
  4. Accessibility is Only About Screen Reader Accessibility
  5. Belief of Accessibility Having Negative Effects on the App's Aesthetics and Usability
  6. Lack of Tools
  7. Relevant and Usable Information is Hard to Find

I've written a blog post (containing references to research): Android Developers and Accessibility - Challenges and Proposed Solutions.

This checklist (with additional learning material) aims to answer (at least partly) points 1., 3., 4., 6. and 7. I also plan to develop the material further, and I'm happy to accept any contributions (once I get the thesis published).

Future Improvements​

As the initial version of this site was developed for my master's thesis, there are some things I didn't include in it, but I know I will add them later. Here's a list of those:

  • Add a section about test automation
  • Improve the Building Custom Components page to include more information and concrete examples
  • Add a section about testing color
  • Add a section about screen orientation and accessibility