axe DevTools Mobile February 14, 2024 Release Notes

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February 14, 2024

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Component Versions

  • axeDevToolsMobile Appium Plugin v1.0

What's New?

Improved Appium Solution

  • We're excited to announce an improved solution for using Appium to perform accessibility testing on your mobile apps. Previously, axe DevTools Mobile supported Appium testing with native iOS or Android apps and it required you to embed axe code into your app. We now offer an Appium plugin enabling you to test any app – native or cross-platform. You can use any Appium client for your test scripts, and you don't need to embed any Deque code in your app. It's easy to install and get started. Get started with Appium
  • The initial release of the plugin covers five rules based on WCAG standards. We will be enhancing our ruleset over the coming months. Appium Rules
  • If you’re already using our original Appium capabilities to get the mobile accessibility testing you need, you can keep using it for now. We will be transitioning to the new Appium plugin in the future once the ruleset is complete. Stay tuned for more updates.

Known Issues

If you're experiencing any of the below issues, please contact us at helpdesk@deque.com or support.deque.com. We will then be able to notify you once it's resolved or of an identified workaround if none is listed.

important
  • axe DevTools Mobile automated testing runs on native iOS, native Android, and React Native applications. Please contact your Deque representative for accessibility testing solutions on your tech stack.
  • While you may get some results from web views or rendered PDFs, we highly recommend testing using axe DevTools HTML or axe Monitor for the most comprehensive accessibility testing for the web.

axe DevTools Mobile for iOS

Error in Analyzer Project & Testing by Bundle ID in 2.8.1

Functionality with testing an application by bundle identifier was broken in version 2.8.1 which resulted in an error titled "No target application path specified via test configuration: ...". Update to 2.8.2 or the latest version to resolve the error. Update to the latest within the iOS Analyzer project.

Views off-screen may show results for SwiftUI apps tested in iOS 17

With version 2.8.0 (View Release Notes), results are no longer reported on views that are not visible, including off-screen or hidden by another view. We've discovered in SwiftUI applications being tested in iOS 17, some results still show. (#1383)

Supports Dynamic Type rule not working with iOS 15 Pro simulator

There is an issue affecting the iPhone 15 Pro simulator that prevents the Supports Dynamic Type rule from running. If you are opted in to the Supports Dynamic Type rule, you will not be able to test it using an iPhone 15 Pro simulator. A bug has been filed with Apple.

Rules against Nested Controls

While looking at an improvement for our rules, we found that in XCTest, nested controls are not returned in the accessibility tree. A bug has been filed with Apple. (#1110)

False Positive: In Scroll View, ActiveControlName

We are actively working on fixes for the following false positives and will update this list as fixes are released.

In Scroll View
May report issues for text within banner-behaving elements. To make these elements available to those that require larger text, use UILargeContentViewer. (#622) ActiveControlName
If an UIImageView has an `accessibilityIdentifier` set but is not focusable by VoiceOver, and it has focusable controls nested within it, ActiveControlName may report a false positive on the UIImageView. Removing the `accessibilityIdentifier` resolves the issue. A bug has been filed with Apple. (#1226)

False Negative: Image View Name, Focusable Text in iOS 13 through iOS 14.8.1

We are actively working on fixes for the following false negatives and will update this list as fixes are released.

Image View Name
If an UIImageView has an `accessibilityIdentifier` set but is not focusable by VoiceOver, ImageViewName may report a false negative on the UIImageView. Removing the `accessibilityIdentifier` resolves the issue. A bug has been filed with Apple. (#1226) Focusable Text
Elements marked as non-accessibility elements may report improper results due to a bug in Apple's framework.

axe DevTools Mobile for Android

Crash when using Proguard

If your debug or test build is utilizing Proguard, follow the steps to ignore Deque in your Proguard settings.

Crash when `minifiedEnabled` is set to true

If minifying your build, you'll see a crash with an error log reporting an adapter could not be found when trying to login to the axe DevTools library. Disable minify for your debug builds with axe DevTools implemented. (#729)

Builds with r8 enabled throw an error

A build with r8 enabled may attempt to minify the axeDevTools library resulting in an error similar to:

Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException: throw with null exception
at g.b.b.a$a.a(Unknown Source:1)
at g.b.b.a$a.a(Unknown Source:0)
at g.b.b.a.a(AccessToken.java:190)
	
To resolve this error add the following line to your ProGuard file to keep axeDevTools classes:
keep class com.deque.** { *; }

Error message similar to:
Expected exactly '1' node but found '2' nodes that satisfy: (isRoot)

If you encounter an error along the lines of `Expected exactly '1' node but found '2' nodes that satisfy: (isRoot)`, please contact us at helpdesk@deque.com or support.deque.com for assistance. Under certain conditions, there may be two Compose root nodes existing at the same time.

axe DevTools Mobile Dashboard

Missing Screenshot

If the screenshot is missing from the scan details page, your app may be preventing screenshots from being taken. Often this is for security reasons in your production application. Consider removing this requirement for your testing build to allow for full functionality in the axe DevTools Mobile Dashboard.

Some Android scan names are unformatted

Some Android scan names that are defaulted to the screen title will appear as the full class name including the bundle identifier. In a future release, this will be resolved so that the screen title is formatted into a more readable name. As a workaround, you can set the scan name from the dashboard or frameworks. (#1643)

axe DevTools Mobile for Appium

False Positive: Active View Name

Due to limitations in information available via the Appium platform, we've identified a false positive for Active View Name when using the labeledBy property to provide a label for a button element. We are exploring solutions and expect a fix in a future release.

React Native: Label In Name & Label At Front

Due to limitations in information available via the Appium platform, we've identified the Label In Name & Label At Front rules aren't able to run for apps built with React Native. We are exploring solutions and expect a fix in a future release.

React Native: Inspect View Hierarchy Showing Past Screen

Sometimes the Appium page source property needs extra time to get updated between scans. If this happens, you'll see a previous screen's view hierarchy when using the inspect feature on the dashboard. To fix add a small timeout before calling the page source API to prompt the accessibility scan. Example:

			await driver.pause(1000);
    		const result = await driver.getPageSource();