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Books  by Apple 

  • Reading System Books 
  • Vendor Apple
  • Assistive Technology: Voiceover 
  • OS: iOS 
  • Tested with Braille: No
  • Tested with Screenreader: Yes
  • Input type: Touch

Results for Basic Functionality: 80%

Last updated: 20 January 2022

Test book used: Fundamental Accessibility Tests: Basic Functionality, version 1.0.0

These tests were done by Prashant Ranjan Verma.

Summary

Books 4.2.1 The Apple Books app can be used for leisure reading. It does not support fine navigation within the book text with Voiceover. The tests not supported are TOC hierarchy, determining "Where am I?", selecting text, copying text, adding notes, reviewing image alt text and navigation in book text by blocks/paragraphs. The Maths and long image description support needs to improve.

Test results for Basic Functionality
Test ID Name Description Result Notes
file-010 Operating system/Platform accessibility If you are using a hardware device, it can be started independently and essential accessibility for starting and exiting applications is available. Pass
file-110 The reading system can be activated independently If you are using a reading app that requires you to create an online account then the complete getting started process should be accessible. Pass
file-210 Open content Open the Fundamental Accessibility Test book in the reading system. Pass The test files were sideloaded from email attachments
file-310 Listing documents Check if you can navigate inside the bookshelf. Pass
nav-005 The table of contents in the app presents the content hierarchy Check if the table of Contents is accessible and its hierarchy is presented correctly by the reading system Fail The hierarchy is presented visually by indenting the sub-sections. However, Voiceover is not able to determine the hierarchy and all the items are read alike.
nav-010 Navigate to chapters through the Table of Contents Check if you can navigate to a section by using the table of contents. Pass The Voiceover reading starts from top of the screen containing the selected section/sub-section. Voiceover focus does not precisely move to the section selected in the TOC.
nav-110 Navigate content by pages Check if you can navigate the content by pages. Pass In Table of Contents view tap to view printed page numbers". Then the search feature can be used to type and go to desired page.
nav-210 Navigate forward and backward through reflowed content Use any control or command to navigate forward and backwards in the book content. Pass
nav-310 Read navigation information Use the "Where am I?" or any other similar command available in the reading system and check if you can get information about your current position in the book. Fail With Voiceover it is not possible to determine the name of the current section or sub-section being read. The screen displays the number of page/screen at the bottom and the name of the Chapter and not the sub-section at the top of the screen. Heading navigation is not supported.
nav-410 Perform a search, review the search results Perform a search, review the search results and navigate to the selected search result in the content. Pass Voiceover focus does not move precisely to the searched item, the reading starts from the top of the screen containing the searched term.
nav-510 Move across chapters without using TOC Check if you can move across chapters without having to use the Table of Contents. Pass The reading stops at the end of the Chapter. Page navigation gesture is required to start reading the next chapter.
anno-010 Add a Bookmark or Highlight Some reading systems may have a Highlight feature in place of Bookmarks. The tests for Bookmarks may then be performed with Highlights. Pass
anno-110 Review and navigate Bookmarks or Highlights Check if you can review and navigate Bookmarks or Highlights. Pass
anno-210 Add a note Add a Note at this location in the book. Provide a few lines of text in the Note. Fail The text cannot be selected with Voiceover. The popup menu containing the option to add notes cannot be activated when Voiceover is running.command
anno-310 Review and navigate Notes Check if you can review and navigate Notes. Pass If notes have been added, then they can be reviewed and navigated to using the Notes tab in the TOC view with Voiceover.

Results for Non-visual Reading: 64.29%

Last updated: 20 January 2022

Test book used: Fundamental Accessibility Tests: Non-Visual Reading, version 1.0.0

These tests were done by Prashant Ranjan Verma.

Summary

Books 4.2.1 The Apple Books app can be used for leisure reading. It does not support fine navigation within the book text with Voiceover. The tests not supported are TOC hierarchy, determining "Where am I?", selecting text, copying text, adding notes, reviewing image alt text and navigation in book text by blocks/paragraphs. The Maths and long image description support needs to improve.

Test results for Non-visual Reading
Test ID Name Description Result Notes
reading-010 Initiate "read from here" Focus on the beginning of a paragraph or a sentence and initiate reading. Reading should continue until interrupted by the user or at the end of the current document, e.g. current chapter. The text being read should preferably remain in view, but this is not a requirement to pass the test. Pass
reading-110 Stop and resume reading Initiate reading from any point in the book. Stop reading and note the last read position. Initiate reading again and check if reading starts at the last read location. Pass Reading can be stopped and started at the same location using the two finger single tap gesture of Voiceover.
reading-210 All text should be read in the proper order Sample text has been provided to test the reading order. The Paragraph 2 should be read after Paragraph 1. Note that visually Paragraph 2 is placed to the left of Paragraph 1 but it is second in the reading order. Pass
reading-310 Image alternate text reading Ensure that the alternate text for the image is available. Fail The Alt text is read out during continuous reading of Voiceover. However, it cannot be navigated using words or characters and the image alt text is not available using navigation gestures.
reading-410 Change reading speed It should be possible to adjust (increase/decrease) the speed of reading. This test should be performed using the Assistive Technology being used for accessibility evaluation. Pass
reading-510 TTS allows pause for headings, paragraphs, list items, etc The user should be able to identify the difference between content items such as headings, paragraphs or list items by sufficient pauses in the TTS reading or appropriate formatting in the Braille device. Pass
reading-610 Navigate between the cells, rows and columns in the table Check if you can navigate between the rows and columns of the table Fail The table text can be navigated only by words mode with Voiceover.
reading-710 Navigate between internal hyperlinks Check if you can navigate between internal hyperlinks. Pass The Voiceover interaction needs to be improved. When the hyperlink is inline, it Voiceover does not consistently select it when the link navigation is used.
reading-810 Move to the next block item Check if you can move to the next available page element e.g. paragraph, image or table by using a common key/gesture like swipe right, down arrow etc. Fail Navigation by blocks or even paragraphs is not supported.
reading-910 Navigate by characters Check if it is possible to navigate to next and previous character in the book text by way of any command or gesture. Pass
reading-1010 Navigate by words Check if it is possible to navigate to next and previous word in the book text by way of any command or gesture. Pass
reading-1110 Navigate by lines Check if it is possible to navigate to next and previous line in the book text by way of any command or gesture. Pass
reading-1210 Navigate the content by headings Check if you can move to the next and previous headings in this book without using the Table of Contents. Fail
reading-1310 Select and copy text Reading systems should provide the ability to copy pieces of text that could be used for notes, in quotations, or to facilitate searching terms contained in the book. In some cases, this could be achieved using an AT such as a screen reader, for instance with a dedicated cursor or other procedures. Fail Selection and copy of text is not supported with Voiceover.

Results for Extended Descriptions: 0%

Last updated: 20 January 2022

Test book used: Accessibility Tests Extended Descriptions, version 1.1.1

Summary

Books 4.2.1 Apple Books Assistive Technology: Voiceover OS: iOS 13.5.1

Test results for Extended Descriptions
Test ID Name Description Result Notes
extdescription-010 Detection and Utilization of HTML Details and Summary elements Check if you can use HTML details and summary successfully and read the extended description contained in it. Fail The description can be expanded by using line/word navigation and tapping on it. However the focus moves to the previous page and description cannot be read immediately.
extdescription-020 Technique for linking to a single extended description placed in a separate HTML file via text hyperlinks Check if activating the hyperlink placed under the image takes you to a separate HTML file with extended descriptions, and the back link there brings you back to the image. Fail The main difficulty is that Voiceover does not announce the text to be activated as a link. On tapping it the focus moves to top of target page and the return link also brings focus to the bar chart.