Setting accessibility identifier programmatically on UIBarButtonItem

Question

The accessibility identifier is a developer generated ID for GUI objects, which can be used for automation tests.

A UIBarButtonItem does not implement UIAccessibilityIdentification. However is there a possibility that I can assign an accessibility identifier?

Answer 1

You could subclass UIBarButtonItem and implement the UIAccessibilityIdentification protocol in that subclass, lets's say BarButtonWithAccesibility.

In BarButtonWithAccesibility.h:

@interface BarButtonWithAccesibility : UIBarButtonItem<UIAccessibilityIdentification>

@property(nonatomic, copy) NSString *accessibilityIdentifier NS_AVAILABLE_IOS(5_0);

The only (strict) requirement for adhering to this protocol is defining the accessibilityIdentifier property.

Now in your view controller, let's say in viewDidLoad, you could set up a UIToolbar and add your subclassed UIBarButtonItem:

#import "BarButtonWithAccesibility.h"

- (void)viewDidLoad{

    [super viewDidLoad];

    UIToolbar *toolbar = [[UIToolbar alloc]  initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 320, 44)];

    BarButtonWithAccesibility *myBarButton = [[BarButtonWithAccesibility alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:UIBarButtonSystemItemDone target:self action:@selector(buttonPressed:)];
    myBarButton.accessibilityIdentifier = @"I am a test button!";

    toolbar.items = [[NSArray alloc] initWithObjects:myBarButton, nil];
    [self.view addSubview:toolbar];
}

And within the buttonPressed: you could verify that you have access to the accessibilityIdentifier:

- (void)buttonPressed:(id)sender{
    if ([sender isKindOfClass:[BarButtonWithAccesibility class]]) {
        BarButtonWithAccesibility *theButton = (BarButtonWithAccesibility *)sender;
        NSLog(@"My accesibility identifier is: %@", theButton.accessibilityIdentifier);
    }
}

Hope this helps.