Measure accessibility for native mobile

Use accessibility IDs to verify that key screens are reachable and usable by screen readers on iOS and Android.

Use accessibility IDs to verify that key screens are reachable and usable by screen readers on iOS and Android. The ~ selector prefix is WebdriverIO shorthand for locating an element by its accessibility ID — this proves the element is correctly exposed to the accessibility layer and keeps your tests stable across visual refactors.

This recipe covers accessibility spot-checking for native mobile. For operationalized a11y monitoring — scheduled runs, trend tracking, aggregated reports, and stakeholder dashboards — talk to your QA Wolf team about full-service accessibility testing.

Examples

Verify a screen’s key elements are reachable via accessibility semantics

const email    = await driver.$("~Email");
const password = await driver.$("~Password");
const loginBtn = await driver.$("~Log in");

await expect(email).toBeDisplayed();
await expect(password).toBeDisplayed();
await expect(loginBtn).toBeEnabled();

If you can’t locate an element using ~, that element is likely missing an accessibility label entirely — an accessibility bug worth raising with your dev team before writing the test.

Assert that icon buttons have meaningful accessible names

const menuIcon = await driver.$("~Main menu");
await expect(menuIcon).toBeDisplayed();

const label = await menuIcon.getAttribute("content-desc");
if (!label || label.trim().length < 3) {
  throw new Error("A11y: menu icon accessible label is missing or too short");
}

When to use

• Your app has key interactive elements that must be exposed to VoiceOver (iOS) or TalkBack (Android).
• Your team wants to catch regressions where a developer removed or renamed an accessibility label.
• Your team wants a lightweight proxy for accessibility hygiene without a full WCAG audit.
• Your app has icon-only buttons that must have meaningful accessible names.

Platform reference

Platform	Attribute	WebdriverIO selector
Android	content-desc	driver.$('~your-label')
iOS	accessibilityIdentifier / accessible name	driver.$('~your-id')

Quick reference

Goal	How to do it
Prove an element is on the accessibility layer	Locate it with driver.$('~accessibility-id')
Assert a screen is navigable via accessibility semantics	Use ~ selectors throughout the full flow
Assert an icon button has a meaningful label	getAttribute('content-desc') and check length
Assert an error or toast is readable	await expect($('~error-id')).toHaveText('...')

QA Wolf does not run a WCAG rules engine against native app views. Native apps don’t have a DOM, so axe-core style scanning isn’t available for native iOS or Android. For deeper audits — color contrast, touch target size, reading order — supplement these tests with manual testing using VoiceOver on iOS, TalkBack on Android, or the Xcode Accessibility Inspector and Android Studio Layout Inspector.

Full sample test

import { flow } from "@qawolf/flows/android";

export default flow(
  "Accessibility — login screen",
  { target: "Android - Pixel", launch: true },
  async ({ driver, test }) => {
    await test("verify login screen elements are accessible", async () => {
      // Arrange
      await driver.$("~Email").waitForDisplayed({ timeout: 10_000 });

      // Act
      const email    = driver.$("~Email");
      const password = driver.$("~Password");
      const loginBtn = driver.$("~Log in");

      await email.setValue(process.env.USER_EMAIL);
      await password.setValue(process.env.USER_PASSWORD);
      await loginBtn.click();

      // Assert
      await expect(driver.$("~Home")).toBeDisplayed();

      const menuIcon = driver.$("~Main menu");
      await expect(menuIcon).toBeDisplayed();

      const label = await menuIcon.getAttribute("content-desc");
      if (!label || label.trim().length < 3) {
        throw new Error("A11y: menu icon accessible label is missing or too short");
      }
    });
  },
);