Part 3: Green Builds, Blind Spots: Testing Compose Accessibility Layer by Layer

Build for Everyone · Part 3 of 5

Green Builds, Blind Spots: Testing Compose Accessibility Layer by Layer

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Previously: Part 1 (“Raising the Floor”) set the baseline rules, and Part 2 (“From Five Stars to One Sentence”) built a custom rating control with real semantics. This part makes sure none of that quietly breaks.

TL;DR Accessibility regressions don’t crash, don’t change a single pixel, and don’t fail a single existing test. You catch them by testing the semantics tree, in five layers:

1. Targeted assertions on the nodes that matter.
2. Bulk assertions across groups of nodes.
3. Touch-size checks.
4. Automated audits with Google’s Accessibility Test Framework (ATF).
5. A short manual TalkBack routine for everything machines can’t judge.

Each layer catches what the one below it can’t.

The regression nobody noticed

Here’s a migration that happens in real codebases. The design system team ships a new AppIconButton to replace scattered IconButton usages. It looks like this:

@Composable
fun AppIconButton(icon: ImageVector, onClick: () -> Unit, modifier: Modifier =…