Device Accessibility Info

A Flutter plugin that provides information about device accessibility features, particularly screen reader status detection and real-time change notifications.

Created by Yasin Arik 👨‍💻

Features

• ✅ Screen Reader Detection: Check if VoiceOver (iOS) or TalkBack (Android) is currently enabled
• ✅ Real-time Notifications: Listen for screen reader status changes as they happen
• ✅ Cross-platform: Works on both iOS and Android
• ✅ Easy Integration: Simple API with Future-based and Stream-based methods
• ✅ Well Tested: Comprehensive unit tests included

Platform Support

Platform	Screen Reader	Detection Method
iOS	VoiceOver	UIAccessibility.isVoiceOverRunning
Android	TalkBack	AccessibilityManager + Settings monitoring

Installation

Add this to your package's pubspec.yaml file:

dependencies:
  device_accessibility_info: ^1.0.0

Then run:

flutter pub get

Usage

Import the package

import 'package:device_accessibility_info/device_accessibility_info.dart';

Check current screen reader status

final plugin = DeviceAccessibilityInfo();

// Check if screen reader is currently enabled
bool isEnabled = await plugin.isScreenReaderEnabled();
print('Screen reader is ${isEnabled ? 'enabled' : 'disabled'}');

Listen for screen reader status changes

final plugin = DeviceAccessibilityInfo();

// Listen for real-time changes
StreamSubscription<bool> subscription = plugin.screenReaderStatusChanged.listen(
  (bool isEnabled) {
    print('Screen reader status changed: ${isEnabled ? 'enabled' : 'disabled'}');
    // Update your UI accordingly
  },
);

// Don't forget to cancel the subscription
subscription.cancel();

Complete example

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:device_accessibility_info/device_accessibility_info.dart';
import 'dart:async';

class AccessibilityScreen extends StatefulWidget {
  @override
  _AccessibilityScreenState createState() => _AccessibilityScreenState();
}

class _AccessibilityScreenState extends State<AccessibilityScreen> {
  final _plugin = DeviceAccessibilityInfo();
  bool _isScreenReaderEnabled = false;
  StreamSubscription<bool>? _subscription;

  @override
  void initState() {
    super.initState();
    _checkInitialStatus();
    _listenForChanges();
  }

  @override
  void dispose() {
    _subscription?.cancel();
    super.dispose();
  }

  Future<void> _checkInitialStatus() async {
    try {
      bool isEnabled = await _plugin.isScreenReaderEnabled();
      setState(() {
        _isScreenReaderEnabled = isEnabled;
      });
    } catch (e) {
      print('Error checking screen reader status: $e');
    }
  }

  void _listenForChanges() {
    _subscription = _plugin.screenReaderStatusChanged.listen(
      (bool isEnabled) {
        setState(() {
          _isScreenReaderEnabled = isEnabled;
        });
      },
      onError: (error) {
        print('Error listening to screen reader changes: $error');
      },
    );
  }

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(
        title: Text('Accessibility Info'),
      ),
      body: Center(
        child: Column(
          mainAxisAlignment: MainAxisAlignment.center,
          children: [
            Icon(
              _isScreenReaderEnabled 
                ? Icons.accessibility 
                : Icons.accessibility_outlined,
              size: 64,
              color: _isScreenReaderEnabled ? Colors.green : Colors.grey,
            ),
            SizedBox(height: 16),
            Text(
              'Screen reader is ${_isScreenReaderEnabled ? 'enabled' : 'disabled'}',
              style: Theme.of(context).textTheme.headlineSmall,
            ),
            SizedBox(height: 8),
            Text(
              'Status updates automatically when changed in device settings',
              style: Theme.of(context).textTheme.bodyMedium,
              textAlign: TextAlign.center,
            ),
          ],
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

API Reference

Methods

isScreenReaderEnabled()

Returns whether the screen reader is currently enabled.

Returns: Future<bool>

• true if screen reader is enabled
• false if screen reader is disabled

Platform behavior:

• iOS: Checks if VoiceOver is running
• Android: Checks if TalkBack or other spoken feedback services are enabled

getPlatformVersion()

Returns the platform version string.

Returns: Future<String?>

Streams

screenReaderStatusChanged

A stream that emits screen reader status changes in real-time.

Returns: Stream<bool>

• Emits true when screen reader is enabled
• Emits false when screen reader is disabled

Platform behavior:

• iOS: Listens to UIAccessibility.voiceOverStatusDidChangeNotification
• Android: Monitors accessibility settings changes via AccessibilityStateChangeListener and ContentObserver

Platform-Specific Information

iOS

• Uses UIAccessibility.isVoiceOverRunning to check VoiceOver status
• Listens to UIAccessibility.voiceOverStatusDidChangeNotification for changes
• No additional permissions required
• Works on iOS 9.0+

Testing on iOS Simulator:

1. Open Settings app
2. Go to Accessibility > VoiceOver
3. Toggle VoiceOver on/off
4. The plugin will detect changes in real-time

Android

• Uses AccessibilityManager to check TalkBack status
• Monitors multiple accessibility settings for comprehensive detection
• Listens to system broadcasts and content changes
• No additional permissions required
• Works on Android API 16+

Testing on Android:

1. Open Settings app
2. Go to Accessibility > TalkBack (or Accessibility > Screen Reader > TalkBack on some devices)
3. Toggle TalkBack on/off
4. The plugin will detect changes in real-time

Example App

The plugin includes a comprehensive example app that demonstrates:

• Real-time screen reader status detection
• UI updates based on accessibility changes
• Best practices for handling accessibility in Flutter
• Platform-specific instructions for testing

To run the example:

cd example
flutter run

Testing

Run the unit tests:

flutter test

Run integration tests:

cd example
flutter test integration_test/

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

Development Setup

1. Clone the repository
2. Run flutter pub get in the root directory
3. Run flutter pub get in the example directory
4. Make your changes
5. Run tests: flutter test
6. Test on both platforms
7. Submit a pull request

Author

Yasin Arik
🔗 LinkedIn
📧 yasin.ariky@gmail.com
🐙 GitHub

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Support

If you have any questions or issues, please open an issue on GitHub.

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for a list of changes in each version.