The document discusses two Android-based accessibility tools: 1) The Android Accessibility Designer Toolkit, which allows developers to easily create accessible user interfaces for Android apps. 2) An accessible phone dialer and contact manager app that improves accessibility features for users with visual and cognitive disabilities through customized settings and gesture interactions. Both tools were created as part of the AEGIS project to enhance native Android accessibility.

1. Android-based Applications - Holistic Approach
Miguel Páramo, Adrián Rodríguez,
Silvia de los Ríos, Maria Fernanda Cabrera
Life Supporting Technologies - UPM
Developer tool: Stand-alone Android mobile application:
Android Accessibility designer toolkit Accessible Phone Dialer & Contact
AEGIS aims to implement accessibility support for Manager for Android mobile devices
creating Android mobile applications. The Android The application is a phone dialer and contact manager
Accessible designer toolkit enables developers to easily that is accessible to people with visual and cognitive
create in-built accessible Graphical User Interfaces; in a disabilities.
natural way, without extra effort on the implementation of
accessibility.
This toolkit is based on the DroidDraw tool framework [1]. The application improves the
accessibility features; using an
ad-hoc accessibility service
that uses the Android TTS, and
the accessible containers
provided by the Android
Accessibility designer toolkit.
The application allows the user
to customize the visualization
settings such as font size,
layout or color theme.
Figure 3. Accessible Phone Dialer & Contact
Manager main layout.
In addition, the user can interact with the application by
simply drawing a gesture on the screen to perform an
Figure 1. Android Accessible designer toolkit layout. action.
A set of accessible widgets and layout containers have
been developed within the AEGIS project; which
enhance the native Android accessibility and provide
new accessibility features that are not offered through
the Android Accessibility API.
AEGIS Android work
includes:
• An accessibility service
suitable for the AEGIS
approach.
• Android GUI accessible
widgets: calendar, Figure 4. Change font size gesture.
histogram chart, pie
chart, switches…
• Accessible layout The Accessible Phone Dialer & Contact
containers which provide Manager is available on the Android Market.
accessible navigation
using touch inputs, Acknowledgments
trackball or gestures; also This work has been carried out as part of the AEGIS (Open
with audible feedback. Accessibility Everywhere: Ground-work, Infrastructure,
Standards) project partially funded by the EU.
Figure 2. Example layout.
References
[1] http://www.droiddraw.org
www
www.aegis-project.eu