Sometimes, buttons change meaning, for example when toggled. An example is a play button, tap it and it becomes a pause button. In such case, updating its accessibility label will be clearer than trying to convey the change with traits or values.

Sometimes, buttons change meaning, for example when toggled. An example is a play button, tap it and it becomes a pause button. In such case, updating its accessibility label will be clearer than trying to convey the change with traits or values.


The .selected accessibility trait indicates when an element has been selected. You’ll notice that VoiceOver announces “selected” before the accessibility label. You can find that in the system for the selected tab in the tab bar, for example.

Today I want to share something I use a lot. You can convert any article into a “podcast” by enabling Speak Screen in Accessibility Settings, switching to Safari’s Reader Mode and swiping down with two fingers from the top of the screen. I think it is a good example of how if we all knew more about how to use the assistive tech available in iOS, we would find ourselves using more of them, more often, exemplifying quite well that accessibility benefits everyone.

Hacks are accessibility’s worst enemy. An example. There is a ‘trick’ floating on the internet: if you want a button with an icon to the right of the text, set the semantic content attribute to force right to left. Great way to create focus traps.
Content © Daniel Devesa Derksen-Staats on Accessibility up to 11! is licensed under CC BY 4.0. License details