Is it possible to get an `XCUIElement` by its `accessibilityId` when it is not an accessibility element?

Question

I have custom UITableViewCell with some child images and labels. I have made the entire cell as a single accessible element. I have set accessibility ids to all the elements - cell and its subviews, hoping to be able to use it in the XCUITests.

Now, I am not able to get the image, say, using XCUIApplication().images["cell_image_acc_id"].

What should I do to get these elements? I am a newbie at XC ui testing. Please let me know if there is something basic that I am missing.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

If you set up a view as an accessibility element its subviews are not available for VoiceOver users, and as a result not testable. While it is good for accessibility users, it may affect testability.

You can pass an environmental variable or a launch argument for your app while testing. Do not set isAccessibilityElement in your app code if such variable (or an argument) is set. https://developer.apple.com/documentation/objectivec/nsobject/1615141-isaccessibilityelement https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xctest/xcuiapplication/1500477-launcharguments https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xctest/xcuiapplication/1500427-launchenvironment How to detect if iOS app is running in UI Testing mode

This way you can still deliver a great experience for VoiceOver users and test your code properly.