App inventor as a developing tool to increase the accessibility and readability of information: a case study

In this work, App Inventor is presented as a potential tool to develop an accessible app in order to convey contents and information. As use case, we considered the readability of a leaflet used to provide useful information to the general public. Usually this type of contents is presented in a static PDF format, which cannot be easily read on a touch screen. In this work, App Inventor is used to convey information in a more interactive and readable way via a mobile app. The study was specifically aimed at investigating(1) the accessibility support provided by App Inventor, and (2) the usage of an interactive mobile app as a possible tool to enhance content readability on a touch-screen device. The designed app showed that accessibility is supported by App Inventor, although some minor issues have been detected in the user interface design. Finally a set of possible design suggestions has been proposed.