Swift Accessibility Pro

Make apps usable by everyone. Treat accessibility as a requirement, not an add-on.

When to use

• Auditing or adding accessibility to SwiftUI/UIKit views.
• Fixing VoiceOver, Dynamic Type, or contrast issues.
• Preparing for accessibility review.

Trigger: /swift-accessibility-pro.

Core principles

• Every interactive element needs a clear label and the right trait.
• Text must scale with Dynamic Type; never hard-code font sizes.
• Don't convey meaning with color alone.
• Respect user settings: Reduce Motion, Increase Contrast, Bold Text.

VoiceOver labels

Icon-only controls are unlabeled to VoiceOver by default.

❌

Button { like() } label: { Image(systemName: "heart") }

✅

Button { like() } label: { Image(systemName: "heart") }
    .accessibilityLabel("Like")

Combine decorative + meaningful elements:

HStack { Image(systemName: "star.fill"); Text("4.8") }
    .accessibilityElement(children: .combine)
    .accessibilityLabel("Rating 4.8 out of 5")

Hide purely decorative images: .accessibilityHidden(true).

Traits

Tell VoiceOver what an element is.

✅

Text("Settings").accessibilityAddTraits(.isHeader)
Image("chart").accessibilityLabel("Sales up 12%").accessibilityRemoveTraits(.isImage)

Dynamic Type

❌ Fixed size — won't scale

Text("Hello").font(.system(size: 17))

✅ Semantic style — scales

Text("Hello").font(.body)

For custom fonts use .font(.custom("Inter", size: 17, relativeTo: .body)). Test at the largest accessibility sizes; use ViewThatFits/wrapping instead of truncation.

Color & contrast

• Don't signal state with color only — add an icon, text, or shape.
• Meet WCAG contrast (4.5:1 for body text). Support @Environment(\.colorSchemeContrast).

❌

Circle().fill(isOnline ? .green : .red)   // invisible to color-blind users

✅

Label(isOnline ? "Online" : "Offline",
      systemImage: isOnline ? "checkmark.circle" : "xmark.circle")

Reduce Motion

@Environment(\.accessibilityReduceMotion) private var reduceMotion
// ...
.animation(reduceMotion ? nil : .spring, value: state)

Common mistakes checklist

• [ ] Icon-only buttons without .accessibilityLabel.
• [ ] Hard-coded font sizes that ignore Dynamic Type.
• [ ] State shown by color alone.
• [ ] Decorative images not hidden from VoiceOver.
• [ ] Headers without .isHeader trait.
• [ ] Animations that ignore Reduce Motion.
• [ ] Touch targets smaller than 44×44 pt.

Output format (when reviewing)

Per issue: file:line, the barrier, before/after fix. Lead with blockers (unlabeled controls, non-scaling text) before enhancements.