Setting up Accessibility Insights for Android

Welcome to Accessibility Insights, tools that help developers find and fix accessibility issues. Accessibility Insights for Android allows you to quickly test Android apps for common accessibility issues such as low contrast, missing names or inadequate touch target sizes. In this video, you’ll learn how to install and set up Accessibility Insights for Android, to test an app running on a hardware device or virtual device. This video shows a Windows computer but you can also use the tool on a Mac or Linux computer, and the setup steps are the same. Before you begin, you’ll need to prepare your test environment.

00:42 - You’ll need Android Debug Bridge (ADB) or a similar tool configured to communicate with your device. And if you are testing on a hardware device, you’ll need to enable developer options and debugging. Now you’re ready to set up Accessibility Insights for Android. The first step is to connect to your device. If you’re testing on a hardware device, connect it to your computer via USB. A message will appear on your device, asking if you want to allow the connected computer to access the device’s data. Select Allow. If you’re testing on a virtual device in Android Studio or the Android Virtual Device Manager. Choose a virtual device and then select Run. The second step is to install the Accessibility Insights for Android Service. Download the AccessibilityInsightsforAndroidService.apk file to your computer.

01:40 - Then open a Command Prompt or Terminal session and navigate to the directory, where the dot apk file is stored. Enter the following command: adb “space” install “space” AccessibilityInsightsforAndroidService.apk The system will report success when installation is complete. The next step is to turn on the service. On your device go to Settings > Accessibility > Downloaded Services In some Android versions it’s Installed Services rather than Downloaded Services. Select Accessibility Insights Service. Toggle on the service. Two dialogues will ask for permissions. The wording in the dialogues depends on your Android version.

02:27 - Next, install the Accessibility Insights for Android app on your computer. Download and run the correct file for your operating system. The final step is to configure port forwarding. Open a Command Prompt or Terminal session and enter the following command: adb “space” forward “space” tcp:62442 “space” tcp:62442 Setup is complete. Let’s verify that everything is working. On your computer, launch Accessibility Insights for Android.

03:05 - Under Android device port number enter 6 2 4 4 2 and select Validate port number. After a moment your device and app will appear under connected device. And the Start testing button will be enabled. You’re ready to run Automated Checks. Learn more about Accessibility Insights for Android at accessibilityinsights.io .