[Android test] Auxiliary Function Test

Address: http://developer.android.com/tools/testing/testing_accessibility.html

Testing is an important part of making your applications available to people with various obstacles. It is an important step to develop with reference to design and development. However, secondary function testing can help you discover issues that are not obvious during design and development.

This auxiliary function test list will show you all important aspects of the auxiliary function test, including the overall goal, necessary test steps, recommended test methods, and special considerations. This document also describes how to enable secondary functions on Android devices.

Test Objectives

Secondary function testing should have the following high-level objectives:

• Start and use applications without obvious help
• Task flows in applications can be easily navigated and clear and appropriate feedback is provided.

Required Tests

Make sure that the following test items are completed for the lowest level of accessibility.

1. directional controls: confirm that the application can operate without a touch screen, and try to complete the main tasks in the application with only the direction keys. Use the keyboard and steering wheel in the simulator, or use gesture navigation on devices above 4.1. Note: gestures allow users to get the focus of almost any content on the screen, while the keyboard and steering wheel can only get the focus of the input area and button.

2. Dialog voice prompt: Make sure that the UI control that provides information or allows users to operate has a clear and accurate voice description when Talkback is enabled and the control obtains focus. You can use the targeted control to move the focus between application la S.

3. Touch browsing tip: Make sure that the UI control that provides information or allows users to operate has a clear and accurate voice description when explore by touch is enabled. The content or control in each place should have a voice description.

4. Touch area size: all controls that users can select and perform operations should have at least 48dp (about 9mm) in length and width, as recommended in Android design.

5. Use gestures in voice prompts: Make sure that the gestures used in applications, such as scaling images, moving lists, and switching between pages continue to work normally when Talkback is enabled. If these gestures do not work, you should provide an alternative operation method for these actions.

6. Sound feedback should not be the only one: Sound feedback must have another feedback mechanism for deaf users. For example, when you receive a text message and send a sound reminder, you should also send a systemNotifications, vibration feedback, or other visual reminders.

Test suggestions

To ensure the accessibility of applications, the following test items are recommended for testing. Without such tests, the overall accessibility and quality of the application may be affected.

1. Duplicate voice prompts: closely related controls (such as a column with multiple content in a list) should not repeat the same voice prompts. For example, in a contact list containing a contact image, name, or position, you should not repeatedly prompt "bob smith" for each item ".

2. too many or too few voice prompts: closely related controls should provide appropriate voice prompts to ensure that users can understand and operate on the elements on the screen, too many or too few prompts make it difficult for users to understand and use controls.

Special cases and considerations:

The following describes the special cases that need to be tested to ensure the accessibility of applications. Some of them may or may not apply to or all of them. You should check against the list below to see if these special situations occur and take appropriate measures.

1. Check the special circumstances of the developer and consider: Check the special cases developed by the accessibility function and test the situation that requires testing.

2. Make a prompt for controls with changed functions: If the buttons or other controls change the functions due to the application flow, make appropriate voice prompts for the current functions of the control. For example, if the function of a button changes from playing a video to pausing a video, you must make appropriate voice prompts to indicate the current status.

3. Video Playback and subtitles: if an app provides video playback, make sure that it supports subtitles and provides subtitles to help the hearing impaired. The video playback control must explicitly indicate whether subtitles are available and enable subtitles in a convenient way.

Test accessibility

To test accessibility features such as voice prompts, touch browsing tips, and auxiliary gestures, you need to set up your testing device. The following describes how to enable these features.

Test voice prompt

Voice prompts on Android devices can read the screen content when you browse applications. By enabling this feature, you can test the experience of visually impaired users when using apps.

The feedback that users can hear on Android devices mainly consists of the conversation accessibility service and the touch browsing system functions. The dialog accessibility service is usually pre-installed on most Android devices, and can be downloaded from googleplay for free. The touch browsing system functions can be used on Android 4.0 and later devices.

Use voice feedback for testing

The intercom accessibility Service works in this way. When the user moves the focus to a control, it reads the control content. This service should also be enabled as part of the focus navigation and voice prompt test.

To enable the intercom accessibility service:

1. Start the "setting" application.

2. Locate the accessibility option and select it.

3. Enable "accessibility ".

4. Enable "talkback ".

Test with touch browsing

Touch browsing is available on Android 4.0 and later devices. It enables a special secondary mode. You can drag your finger on the application interface and hear the content on the screen. This function does not require the elements on the plane to get the focus, but listens to the point stay time on the interface control.

To enable the touch browsing function:

1. Start the "setting" application.

2. Locate the accessibility option and select it.

3. Enable "talkback ". On Android 4.1 and later devices, a message is displayed to enable "lead E by touch". In earlier versions, you must follow these steps.

4. Return the "accessibility" item and enable the "lead E by touch" item. Note that you must enable "talkback" first; otherwise, this option is unavailable.

Test focus navigation

Focus navigation refers to switching focus among a single element in an application using a direction key. Users with poor eyesight or inconvenient hands usually use this navigation mode instead of touch navigation. As part of the accessibility test, you should ensure that your application can be used only with the direction keys.

You can only use the focus control to test the app jump, although your device may not have a direction key. Android emulator simulates a direction controller and you can use it to test the redirection. You can also use eyes-free for example.
A software such as keyboard is used to simulate the direction controller.

Test gesture navigation

Gesture navigation is an accessibility navigation mode that allows you to use a specific gestures to operate devices. This mode is available on Android 4.1 and later devices.

To open the gesture Navigation:

• Enable Both "talkback" and "explore by touch", so that the gesture navigation is automatically enabled.
• You can change the gesture settings through the following path: settings --> assessibility --> talkback --> Settings --> Manager shortcut cut gestures.