Checking a Pet Tech App's Accessibility First

Published September 1, 2026 · 5 min read

Quick answer: This is a real, active legal area, not a niche concern — courts have interpreted the ADA to apply to mobile apps as "places of public accommodation" (established in the Robles v. Domino's Pizza case), with WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the practical standard courts reference, and accessibility lawsuits are at a multi-year high. But this site doesn't do hands-on accessibility audits of every pet tech app, so rather than ranking apps we don't have, this is a practical guide to testing a specific app yourself — with VoiceOver (iOS) or TalkBack (Android) enabled, ideally during a return/trial window — before you're committed to hardware tied to an app that doesn't work for you.

Screen reader compatibility, font scaling, and colorblind-friendly design vary a real amount between apps in this category, and it’s worth checking before you’re committed to hardware tied to a specific app — not after.

The legal backdrop, stated accurately

This is a genuinely active legal area, not a fringe concern: courts have interpreted the ADA’s Title III (covering “places of public accommodation”) to extend to mobile apps, established through cases like Robles v. Domino’s Pizza in the 9th Circuit, with WCAG 2.1 Level AA functioning as the practical standard courts reference in these disputes. Accessibility lawsuits hit a multi-year high in 2025, with over 3,100 filed in federal court. This is real context for why app accessibility matters and carries real legal weight for the companies building these apps — but it isn’t a guarantee that any specific pet tech app you’re considering actually complies, and this site has no way to verify that for you across every brand.

What this site can’t tell you, and why

Consistent with the limitation stated on our how we review page — this site doesn’t do hands-on lab testing of products — we don’t have verified, hands-on accessibility audits of pet tech apps to rank or compare. Rather than implying a comparison that doesn’t exist, this is a guide to checking a specific app yourself, since that’s the only way to get a real answer for your actual assistive technology and actual needs.

How to actually check before you’re stuck with it

Download the app before buying the device. Most pet tech apps are free to install even though full functionality requires owning the hardware — this lets you check the login and setup screens with your assistive technology enabled, at zero cost, before spending anything.

Turn on VoiceOver (iOS: Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver) or TalkBack (Android: Settings > Accessibility > TalkBack) and navigate what you can of the app — if the free-to-access parts are already poorly labeled, confusingly structured, or hard to navigate, that’s a real, early signal.

Check font-scaling behavior by increasing your device’s system text size and seeing whether the app’s layout actually adapts or breaks — a common, checkable accessibility gap that doesn’t require any assistive technology to notice.

Read App Store and Play Store reviews specifically for accessibility complaints — a search within reviews for terms like “VoiceOver,” “screen reader,” or “accessibility” often surfaces real user experiences a product page never mentions.

Use a real trial window to test the full experience

The free-app check above only covers so much — full functionality often requires owning the device. This is exactly where a genuine trial or return period matters: test the complete app experience, not just the setup screens, with your actual assistive technology enabled, within Litter-Robot’s 90-day window, Furbo’s or Tractive’s 30-day window, or whichever policy applies to what you’re buying — and actually return the device if the app genuinely doesn’t work for you, the same way that guide recommends for a pet not tolerating a device.

Bottom line

Real legal precedent points toward app accessibility being a genuine obligation, not an optional nicety, but this site can’t verify compliance for you app by app. Check what you can for free before buying (login screens, font scaling, review mentions), and treat a real trial period as your actual test window for full functionality — returning the device if the app doesn’t work for your needs, the same way you would for a pet that doesn’t tolerate the hardware itself. If the need is cognitive rather than sensory or motor — reducing steps and things to remember rather than adapting to vision or dexterity — see our cognitive accessibility guide instead, since the right accommodations are genuinely different.

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