Screen Orientation

What We Check For

Your app should not restrict the user's preferred display orientation. For example, if a user has their device set to landscape mode, the display should rotate to match — not stay locked in portrait mode.

At a Glance

• This rule has a serious impact for users
• Do not lock your app to a single orientation
• Support both portrait and landscape in your app's deployment settings

Impact to Users

Some people have a phone or tablet mounted in a fixed orientation. If the app cannot support that orientation, it becomes unusable for the user.

Confirm Screen Orientation Issue

1. Rotate the device 90 degrees from portrait mode to landscape mode
2. One of the following will happen:
   • Inaccessible: The display will stay in portrait mode and not rotate to landscape mode.
   • Accessible: The display will rotate from portrait mode to landscape mode.

Fix Issues

UIKit, SwiftUI, React Native

1. Open your Xcode project or workspace.
2. In the Project Navigator select your main project file. The project settings panel will open in the main window.
3. Select your application's target in the Target List.
4. Open the General tab.
5. Find the Deployment Info section and ensure that Device Orientation has Portrait and at least one variation of Landscape selected.

Flutter

Do not restrict the app to a single orientation using SystemChrome.setPreferredOrientations.

// Failing — locked to portrait only
SystemChrome.setPreferredOrientations([
  DeviceOrientation.portraitUp,                                                   
  DeviceOrientation.portraitDown,
]);                                                                               
                                                                                
// Passing — all orientations allowed
SystemChrome.setPreferredOrientations(DeviceOrientation.values);

Can I Ignore This Rule?

Screen Orientation has a Serious impact for users. We recommend remediating this issue in nearly all cases. If your app is specifically designed for a device that is physically constrained to one orientation (such as a point-of-sale terminal), ignoring this rule may be appropriate. Learn more about ignoring rules.

Resources

• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, W3C Recommendation
  • Success Criterion 1.3.4 - Orientation
• WCAG 2.1 Understanding Docs
  • Understanding 1.3.4 AA - Orientation