Labeling switches/checkboxes on iOS
Labeling switches/checkboxes on iOS
- Subject: Labeling switches/checkboxes on iOS
- From: Alex Hall <email@hidden>
- Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2015 21:30:35 -0400
Hello everyone,
I have another vision-based question: how are UISwitch objects given labels? Normally, VoiceOver reads some text along with the switch and its state, and I can create that easily with the accessibility settings for my switch. However, there's then nothing visually on the screen to tell sighted users what the switch is for. If I add a label, I'd want VO to skip that label since that would be extraneous information.
I'll give you an example to better explain what I'm going on about. Open Settings, then Control Center. There are two switches--or something very like switches--and VoiceOver announces each. For instance, the first is spoken as "access on lock screen, on. Double tap to toggle setting". Below that is a bit of text explaining the setting. Is the text "access on lock screen" on the screen as well, but hidden from VO, or is the text below the button all the explanation there is visually? Is it common practice to put a label next to a switch, or below it like in this screen?
Another example is Reminders. Each reminder has a checkbox next to it, but VO reads each reminder, then repeats the reminder text again when it speaks the checkbox. For instance, touching a reminder might speak "pick up milk", then touching that reminder's checkbox would speak "pick up milk, unchecked". Is the label holding the text serving as the indicator for the checkbox? If so, this doubling of information--where I have to hear the full reminder twice--is what I want to avoid. Checkboxes or switches should be labeled so that touching them speaks their purpose, but those labels shouldn't just repeat any explanatory text on the screen.
So, to try to summarize: what's the common practice for indicating the purpose of switches, checkboxes, and the like? If there's a label that should go somewhere which is then hidden from VO, where does it go, normally? If there's explanatory text which VO does read, is that all there is, and should it normally go below the switch/checkbox a la Settings > Control Center? If yes, does that hold true even if the text is very short? For instance, if a setting were simply "use absolute dates", that's not much text at all. Would that go next to the switch, or is it Apple's preference that text always goes below toggles like this?
Mostly, I'm wondering if there's anything VO is ignoring on the screen, which I should put in my own apps and then hide from VO. I hope I'm making at least some sense; this question seemed so simple in my head, but I feel I've done a poor job of translating it to text.
--
Have a great day,
Alex Hall
email@hidden
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