When interacting with an item on your phone, whether it’s a chat message, an icon, an email, or a file, it is essential to easily access specific options related to that element. These options are typically accessed by long-pressing the item (for screen reader users, double-tap and hold), or by using a button that opens the available options related to each item. Some apps also offer the ability to swipe a particular item to perform actions, such as swiping on a message to reply.
In addition to those standard methods, Google had introduced “actions”, which are shortcuts to access options specific to a focused item. Those options are displayed in an accessible menu using a screen reader.
Table of Contents
What Are Actions and What Do They Mean for Blind Screen Reader Users?
Actions are a list of available options specified and added by app developers to facilitate user interactions with in-app elements. They can be found within both the system and its apps, as well as in third-party applications. Think of actions as an alternative method designed to help users discover contextually relevant options or as a context menu containing shortcuts for performing actions related to the current focus.
Despite actions being available for a few years now, they are still underutilized in most apps. A prominent example of using actions can be found in launchers. Many launchers, including built-in ones, support actions for various tasks such as uninstalling apps, removing icons, adding icons to the home screen, and moving icons.
To relocate an icon on your home screen, you can utilize the “move” action to display a list of available areas where you can double-tap to place the app, rather than the traditional method of long-pressing the icon and sliding your finger to select the desired location. Additionally, when dealing with widgets, many users find it more convenient to use actions to select “add to home screen” instead of long-pressing the widget and manually specifying its placement.
Besides launchers, actions are usually present to expand or dismiss notifications or to reorder quick settings items.
It is worth noting that the norm currently is for apps not to support actions. Even Google, the creator of actions, hasn’t implemented them in most of its apps. You’ll often find actions absent in apps like Keep, Chrome, and Messages, to name just a few examples.
How to Use Actions?
It’s beneficial to become familiar with using actions and to test any app you install to see if it supports them. Typically, you may find that many apps do not support actions, but there are exceptions like Telegram, Tusky and Gmail. X (formerly Twitter) still uses actions, but it has significant accessibility issues that reverse the good accessibility practices of the past.
Using Actions with Talkback:
if you are a TalkBack user, You can access actions from the “TalkBack menu”, which can be reached by swiping down and then right or by tapping with three fingers. Although there is no default gesture for actions, you can assign one through the TalkBack settings.
Google’s TalkBack incorporates actions as part of reading controls, which are the granularities or navigation types that you can cycle through using down then up and up then down swipes. alternatively, you can use swiping down or right with three fingers for the next reading control and left or up with three fingers for the previous one. To navigate within the specified reading control, you use up /down one-finger swipes .
When an element in focus has associated actions, the reading control automatically switches to actions mode. Swiping down and up will cycle through the available actions, and double-tapping will activate the desired action.
To avoid this automatic switch, which may be annoying to some users, there is currently no other option than removing actions from reading controls in TalkBack settings.
Note that for Samsung TalkBack users who are still on Android 13 or lower, “Actions” is not available as a reading control. As a result, they can only access actions through the TalkBack menu or by assigning a gesture.
Jieshuo:
Similar to Talkback, the Jieshuo screen reader also supports actions. When you focus on an item that has actions, you’ll find an “Actions” option available in the
Main menu
as a dynamically generated focus-related option when swiping left from the cancel button. Additionally, actions can be accessed in the list of all functions within the main menu.
You can assign a gesture to actions through the gesture scheme configured in your Jieshuo settings.
Another method to access actions is by including them in the functions menu, which is typically accessed by default via swiping up and then right. To enable this feature, navigate to “Advanced Settings” and then “Menu Customization Settings”. Check the option that says “Show Actions in the Functions Menu”. Once enabled, whenever actions are available, they will be directly accessible within the functions menu.
Additionally, actions are also available when selecting “Actions” as the navigation type. However, the implementation differs from TalkBack’s. Unlike TalkBack, Jieshuo does not automatically switch to actions when focus lands on an element with actions; instead, users must navigate to actions manually.
Furthermore, the “Activate” item, which performs the function of activating the focused element, is not included among the actions. This means Jieshuo users must select a different navigation type after choosing an action from the list, as double-tapping will execute the selected action.
Moreover, “Actions” is the only navigation type that cannot currently be removed, unlike in TalkBack, where users can remove actions from the reading controls if desired.
Final Thoughts
It’s essential to familiarize yourself with the standard methods used in apps or within the system to access context menu options. However, having alternative methods like actions can be valuable, sometimes providing a more accessible way to access these options. Actions, when properly implemented, offer alternative and accessible pathways to specific functions. Developers have the opportunity to enhance the experience for blind users by incorporating actions into their apps.
For interested developers, you can learn more about adding actions
here.
Whether more users prefer actions and applaud apps that make use of them, or they prefer to stick with and learn the standard methods for accessing context menu options, actions should remain a viable choice. Developers should be knowledgeable about how to implement them and encouraged to harness their potential. Google needs to take significant steps to ensure its development teams consider actions across the entire suite of Google apps, setting a strong example for other developers and promoting wider adoption of this often-overlooked feature.
Comments