React Native A11y Order

React Native A11y Order Library: Advanced control of screen reader order.

Setting the right reading order can be a challenge, but there is a way to do it. The react-native-a11y-order is a native-first library designed to solve problems with the ordering of screen readers on both Android and iOS platforms.

iOS reader	Android reader

• Bridgeless
• New architecture
• Backward compatibility

Installation

npm install react-native-a11y-order

yarn add react-native-a11y-order

Usage

A11y.Order, A11y.Index

There is always a question about how to set the focus order for a screen reader in React Native. A11y.Order and A11y.Index are designed to assist with this task. A11y.Order is a container component that defines an ordering group, while A11y.Index is a wrapper component that helps define a position within the order.

To illustrate, let's look at an example:

import { A11y } from 'react-native-a11y-order';

// ...

export default function App() {
  return (
    <View style={styles.container}>
      <A11y.Order>
        <A11y.Index index={1}>
          <Text style={styles.font}>
            First
          </Text>
        </A11y.Index>
        <A11y.Index index={3}>
          <Text style={styles.font}>
            Third
          </Text>
        </A11y.Index>
        <A11y.Index index={2}>
          <Text style={styles.font}>
            Second
          </Text>
        </A11y.Index>
      </A11y.Order>
      <Text style={styles.font}>Fourth</Text>
      <Text style={styles.font}>Fifth</Text>
      <Text style={styles.font}>Sixth</Text>
    </View>
  );
}

Additionally, for dynamic interaction scenarios, setting focus programmatically can be very useful. This can be achieved using the focus command via a component ref.

import { A11y, IndexCommands } from 'react-native-a11y-order';

// ...

export default function App() {
  const ref = React.useRef<IndexCommands>(null);

  return (
    <View style={styles.container}>
      <A11y.Order>
        <A11y.Index ref={ref} index={1}>
          <Text style={styles.font}>
            First
          </Text>
        </A11y.Index>
      </A11y.Order>
      <Button onPress={() => ref.current?.focus()}>
    </View>
  );
}

Note

Because of its native nature, it is important to wrap all components inside A11y.Order with A11y.Index. Components not wrapped in A11y.Index may be skipped from the reading order on iOS, or read at the end on Android. If you need to manage many elements, try to group them with a view and then control them via the ordering system. You can find an example below.

Don't:

export default function App() {
  return (
    <Viw style={styles.container}>
      <A11y.Order>
        <A11y.Index index={1}>
          <Text style={styles.font}>
            First
          </Text>
        </A11y.Index>
        <Text style={styles.font}>
          Third
        </Text> // <===== Do not leave components unwrapped
        <A11y.Index index={2}>
          <Text style={styles.font}>
            Second
          </Text>
        </A11y.Index>
        <Text style={styles.font}>Fourth</Text>  // <===== This is also incorrect
        <Text style={styles.font}>Fifth</Text>
      </A11y.Order>
      <Text style={styles.font}>Sixth</Text> // <===== This is correct because it is outside of `A11y.Order`
    </View>
  );
}

Do

export default function App() {
  return (
    <Viw style={styles.container}>
      <A11y.Order>
        <A11y.Index index={1}>
          <Text style={styles.font}>
            First
          </Text>
        </A11y.Index>
        <A11y.Index index={3}>
          <Text style={styles.font}>
            Third
          </Text> 
        </A11y.Index>
        <A11y.Index index={4}>  // <===== attention here, we group four and five to manage correct order flow
          <View>
            <Text style={styles.font}>Four</Text> 
          </View>
          <View>
            <Text style={styles.font}>Five</Text>
          </View>
        </A11y.Index>
        <A11y.Index index={2}>
          <Text style={styles.font}>
            Second
          </Text>
        </A11y.Index>
      </A11y.Order>
      <Text style={styles.font}>Six</Text>
    </View>
  );
}

A11y.Index Props:

Props	Description
ViewProps	Default View props includin style, testID, etc
index	number, position in order
ref: focus	focus command for setting accessibility focus

A11y.Order Props:

Props	Description
ViewProps	Default View props includin style, testID, etc

A11y.Group

A11y.Group can be used to enhance the experience of screen readers navigating through ScrollView or FlatList with the horizontal property enabled. You can skip this if you are using the new architecture; however, it is the best for applications that have not yet migrated.

View	A11y.Group

import { A11y, IndexCommands } from 'react-native-a11y-order';

// ...

export default function App() {
  return (
    <ScrollView
      style={styles.slider}
      contentContainerStyle={styles.sliderContainer}
      horizontal
    >
      <A11y.Group style={styles.slide}>
        <View>
          <Text>Title: 1</Text>
        </View>
        <View>
          <Text>Desctiption: 1</Text>
        </View>
      </A11y.Group>
      <A11y.Group style={styles.slide}>
        <View>
          <Text>Title: 2</Text>
        </View>
        <View>
          <Text>Desctiption: 2</Text>
        </View>
      </A11y.Group>
    </ScrollView>
  );
}

Props	Description
ViewProps	Default View props includin style, testID, etc

Migration

Why?

The previous versions of this library used native modules to update order, but in a world with Fabric components and new architecture, there is no visible future for managing native components via modules or findNodeHandler.

I thought a lot about retaining the previous API for support and compatibility, but after investigation, it was decided to deprecate the 'old' API and remove it in future releases.

The new approach is better: we no longer need to manage refs, worry about attaching nodes to the screen, and it works natively. Additionally, this new approach follows the React Native concept, which will make it easier to support in the future (hello there: bridgeless).

1. Update: A11yOrder to A11y.Order

  Previous: <A11yOrder a11yOrder={a11yOrder}>
  Now: <A11y.Order>

2. Wrap components in A11y.Index

  Previous: <Text style={styles.font} ref={refs[0]}>
    First
  </Text>
  Now: <A11y.Index index={1}>
    <Text style={styles.font} ref={refs[0]}>
      First
    </Text>
  </A11y.Index>

3. Remove unnecessary refs

<A11y.Index index={1}>
  <Text style={styles.font}>
    First
  </Text>
</A11y.Index>

4. Remove deprecated hooks and utilities: useFocusOrder, useDynamicFocusOrder, useA11yOrderManager.

That's all. The index changes, removals, etc., should work out of the box.

Contributing

See the contributing guide to learn how to contribute to the repository and the development workflow.

License

MIT

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Made with create-react-native-library