Mobile Tables - Accessibility (iOS vs Android)

Question

iOS - Disclosure Indicators

When this element is present, users know they can tap anywhere in the row to see the next level in the hierarchy or the choices associated with the list item. Use a disclosure indicator in a row when selecting the row results in the display of another list.

Don’t use a disclosure indicator to reveal detailed information about the list item; instead, use a detail disclosure button for this purpose.

Android:

Don't use right-pointing carets on line items

My question is if Android does not use anything close to a 'Disclosure Indicator' how do they pass Accessibility Guidelines? How does a screen reader indicator to a disabled user on Androids that each item is clickable without an indicator or having the text be a different color?

I'm currently having these conversations with my UX team and developers and it is not clear how Android gets away with such a simple approach and not run into Accessibility issues?

Would love any thoughts or information concerning what is outlined above.

Answer 1

On Android:

• a Button should look like a Button, which has affordances to hint that it is a button and thus clickable.
• list items in Android are expected to be clickable by default.

To be honest, this is very shallow stuff to get hitched on. Consider long-presses on Android, there are no affordances for that yet long-press and CAB is really the right way to handle multiple selections on Android. Ask your UX Team what CAB means, if they cannot answer then offer them advice rather than taking it from them.