Building apps for everyone - Accessibility with React Native

Paul defines accessibility as combining inclusive design with assistive technology such as screen readers. He argues it benefits more than people with disabilities: temporary injuries, lost glasses, older devices, slow connections, and stressful emergencies can all make an app harder to use.

Paul recommends adapting layouts to different form factors, using sufficient contrast and readable typography, and keeping vital information easy to find. He cautions against hiding important actions in menus where users may struggle to locate them.

Paul explains that React Native supports iOS VoiceOver and Android TalkBack without extra libraries. In his to-do app demo, he removes an accessibility setting that caused list content to be read as one combined item, then adds a button trait so screen readers explain how to activate it.

Paul covers labels, traits, platform-specific component types, and settings that control which views screen readers focus on. He recommends Accessibility Inspector on iOS and Accessibility Scanner on Android, and says teams should include accessibility in user personas and make it everyone's responsibility.