Making React Native Apps Accessible
Article Summary
Facebook's Ads Manager app demonstrates how React Native's Accessibility API makes mobile apps usable for everyone, including people with vision loss. Here's how they built it.
This Facebook Engineering post from 2015 introduces React Native's Accessibility API, designed to mirror familiar patterns from Android, iOS, and web accessibility. The team walks through real implementation examples from their own Ads Manager app to show developers how to build inclusive mobile experiences.
Key Takeaways
- React Native's AX API mirrors Android/iOS patterns for familiar developer experience
- Two core props: accessible={true} and accessibilityLabel enable screen reader support
- Facebook's Ads Manager app serves as real-world implementation case study
- API works consistently across iOS and Android platforms
Critical Insight
React Native provides a cross-platform accessibility API that lets developers build mobile apps usable by people with disabilities using familiar patterns from native development.
