Skip to main content
Version: Next

AccessibilityInfo

Sometimes it's useful to know whether or not the device has a screen reader that is currently active. The AccessibilityInfo API is designed for this purpose. You can use it to query the current state of the screen reader as well as to register to be notified when the state of the screen reader changes.

Example​


Reference

Methods​

addEventListener()​

static addEventListener(
eventName: AccessibilityChangeEventName | AccessibilityAnnouncementEventName,
handler: (
event: AccessibilityChangeEvent | AccessibilityAnnouncementFinishedEvent,
) => void,
): EmitterSubscription;

Add an event handler. Supported events:

Event nameDescription
accessibilityServiceChanged
Android
Fires when some services such as TalkBack, other Android assistive technologies, and third-party accessibility services are enabled. The argument to the event handler is a boolean. The boolean is true when a some accessibility services is enabled and false otherwise.
announcementFinished
iOS
Fires when the screen reader has finished making an announcement. The argument to the event handler is a dictionary with these keys:
  • announcement: The string announced by the screen reader.
  • success: A boolean indicating whether the announcement was successfully made.
boldTextChanged
iOS
Fires when the state of the bold text toggle changes. The argument to the event handler is a boolean. The boolean is true when bold text is enabled and false otherwise.
grayscaleChanged
iOS
Fires when the state of the gray scale toggle changes. The argument to the event handler is a boolean. The boolean is true when a gray scale is enabled and false otherwise.
invertColorsChanged
iOS
Fires when the state of the invert colors toggle changes. The argument to the event handler is a boolean. The boolean is true when invert colors is enabled and false otherwise.
reduceMotionChangedFires when the state of the reduce motion toggle changes. The argument to the event handler is a boolean. The boolean is true when a reduce motion is enabled (or when "Transition Animation Scale" in "Developer options" is "Animation off") and false otherwise.
reduceTransparencyChanged
iOS
Fires when the state of the reduce transparency toggle changes. The argument to the event handler is a boolean. The boolean is true when reduce transparency is enabled and false otherwise.
screenReaderChangedFires when the state of the screen reader changes. The argument to the event handler is a boolean. The boolean is true when a screen reader is enabled and false otherwise.

announceForAccessibility()​

static announceForAccessibility(announcement: string);

Post a string to be announced by the screen reader.


announceForAccessibilityWithOptions()​

static announceForAccessibilityWithOptions(
announcement: string,
options: options: {queue?: boolean},
);

Post a string to be announced by the screen reader with modification options. By default announcements will interrupt any existing speech, but on iOS they can be queued behind existing speech by setting queue to true in the options object.

Parameters:

NameTypeDescription
announcement
Required
stringThe string to be announced
options
Required
objectqueue - queue the announcement behind existing speech
iOS

getRecommendedTimeoutMillis()
Android
​

static getRecommendedTimeoutMillis(originalTimeout: number): Promise<number>;

Gets the timeout in millisecond that the user needs. This value is set in "Time to take action (Accessibility timeout)" of "Accessibility" settings.

Parameters:

NameTypeDescription
originalTimeout
Required
numberThe timeout to return if "Accessibility timeout" is not set. Specify in milliseconds.

isAccessibilityServiceEnabled()
Android
​

static isAccessibilityServiceEnabled(): Promise<boolean>;

Check whether any accessibility service is enabled. This includes TalkBack but also any third-party accessibility app that may be installed. To only check whether TalkBack is enabled, use isScreenReaderEnabled. Returns a promise which resolves to a boolean. The result is true when some accessibility services is enabled and false otherwise.

Note: Please use isScreenReaderEnabled if you only want to check the status of TalkBack.


isBoldTextEnabled()
iOS
​

static isBoldTextEnabled(): Promise<boolean>:

Query whether a bold text is currently enabled. Returns a promise which resolves to a boolean. The result is true when bold text is enabled and false otherwise.


isGrayscaleEnabled()
iOS
​

static isGrayscaleEnabled(): Promise<boolean>;

Query whether grayscale is currently enabled. Returns a promise which resolves to a boolean. The result is true when grayscale is enabled and false otherwise.


isInvertColorsEnabled()
iOS
​

static isInvertColorsEnabled(): Promise<boolean>;

Query whether invert colors is currently enabled. Returns a promise which resolves to a boolean. The result is true when invert colors is enabled and false otherwise.


isReduceMotionEnabled()​

static isReduceMotionEnabled(): Promise<boolean>;

Query whether reduce motion is currently enabled. Returns a promise which resolves to a boolean. The result is true when reduce motion is enabled and false otherwise.


isReduceTransparencyEnabled()
iOS
​

static isReduceTransparencyEnabled(): Promise<boolean>;

Query whether reduce transparency is currently enabled. Returns a promise which resolves to a boolean. The result is true when a reduce transparency is enabled and false otherwise.


isScreenReaderEnabled()​

static isScreenReaderEnabled(): Promise<boolean>;

Query whether a screen reader is currently enabled. Returns a promise which resolves to a boolean. The result is true when a screen reader is enabled and false otherwise.


prefersCrossFadeTransitions()
iOS
​

static prefersCrossFadeTransitions(): Promise<boolean>;

Query whether reduce motion and prefer cross-fade transitions settings are currently enabled. Returns a promise which resolves to a boolean. The result is true when prefer cross-fade transitions is enabled and false otherwise.


setAccessibilityFocus()​

static setAccessibilityFocus(reactTag: number);

Set accessibility focus to a React component.

On Android, this calls UIManager.sendAccessibilityEvent method with passed reactTag and UIManager.AccessibilityEventTypes.typeViewFocused arguments.

Note: Make sure that any View you want to receive the accessibility focus has accessible={true}.