IRS2Go accessibility guide

Get help accessing features in the IRS2Go mobile app with assistive technologies on iOS, iPadOS and Android. These include native screen readers and external keyboards.

On this page

• Application overview
• Assistive technologies supported
• iOS and iPad OS guidance and known issues
• Android guidance and known issues

Application overview

IRS2Go is a mobile application for iOS, iPadOS and Android phones and tablets. It lets you check your tax refund status and link to payment options, free tax filing assistance and resources on IRS.gov. You can also sign in or create an IRS account from the app.

Both iOS and Android applications have the same features and functionality.

To download the app, select your app store link at IRS2Go mobile app. Or search for “IRS2Go” in your device’s official app store. 

Assistive technologies supported

You can use IRS2Go with built-in mobile screen readers (VoiceOver and TalkBack) and keyboards as well as external keyboards. The application works best with the native, built-in mobile keyboards.

iOS and iPad OS guidance and known issues

Guidance for iOS and iPadOS

Read on for guidance on standard Actions and Commands when using screen readers with the external keyboard.

If you use Magic Keyboard or a Bluetooth keyboard with iPhone or iPad, you can use keyboard shortcuts to activate VoiceOver commands.

You can also use VoiceOver Help to learn the keyboard layout and the actions associated with various key combinations. VoiceOver Help speaks keys and keyboard commands as you type them, without performing the associated action.

Choose the VoiceOver modifier

The modifier is a key or set of keys you press with one or more other keys to enter VoiceOver commands. You can set the modifier to be the Caps Lock key or the Control and Option keys pressed at the same time.

1. Go to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Typing > Modifier Keys.
2. Choose the modifier for VoiceOver commands: the Caps Lock key or the Control and Option keys.

This modifier is abbreviated as “VO” in the following tables.

VoiceOver Actions and Commands for iOS and iPadOS with external keyboard:

Quick Nav using the arrow keys

Turn on Quick Nav to control VoiceOver using the arrow keys.

IRS2Go has the following known accessibility issues on iOS and iPadOS:

Navigation:

• Screen titles are announced the first time the user is interacting with the screen. After the initial interaction, the user needs to swipe backwards to get to the page content as the focus is set to the bottom of the screen.
• In iOS version 13, the Back and Right arrows of the numeric keyboard are announced as "possibly."
• Placeholder text disappears for input fields when data is entered. It may make it difficult to determine the purpose of the input field if the onscreen label is not present. To identify the field, delete the data entered to see the field label.
• After making or cancelling a phone call from the IRS2Go app, focus returns to the top of the screen, rather than to the Call button that was in focus.
• VoiceOver users may be unable to select an item from a drop-down (picker) menu on webpages loaded within the IRS2Go app. The workaround for this is to select the “Open in Safari” button from the Safari in-app browser toolbar, which is the last option at the very bottom of the in-app browser. Once the webpage has loaded in Safari, VoiceOver users will be able to select an item again.
• Opening a link in an external browser may reset the screen reader focus to the top of the screen on returning to the app, rather than the activated link (version 6.0).

Announcing text in unexpected ways:

• Abbreviations for days and months may be read as it is written rather than announcing it as the whole day or month that it is abbreviating.
• The hyphen or dash separator in a phone number or Social Security number may be announced as "minus", indicating it is a mathematical minus sign when it is not.
• The screen reader may announce the IRS website incorrectly as “IRS (dot) governor” instead of “IRS (dot) gov.”

Refund status screen:

• Only one telephone number can be accessed by tapping the paragraph that contains multiple phone numbers. 

Free tax prep site locator results screen:

• The screen title is not announced when the Free Tax Prep Site Locator opens. The focus is instead set to the “current location” button, which can be double tapped to search for free tax preparation sites near the user’s current location.
• On the Free Tax Prep Site Locator, the “X” button to clear the ZIP Code input field is not accessible using a keyboard or VoiceOver. The workaround for this is to select the input field and press the delete key to remove the numbers in the field.
• On the Results screen, the hours in some locations are left blank and the Service Detail section is not formatted with a bulleted list to increase readability.
• The phone number contained in the Service Detail section is not selectable with a tap.

Android guidance and known issues

Guidance for Android

TalkBack Actions and Commands/Gestures for Android devices with external keyboard:

Global actions

Navigation

Known issues for Android

Navigation:

• When navigating with an external keyboard, there is a loss of focus on all screens before the Refunds tab and after Security tab. Users need to tab multiple times before the focus is visible. With TalkBack on, the users need to tab only once before the Refunds tab and after Security tab.
• On some screens, focus may go to the top of the screen instead of the previously selected control when navigating backwards such as the Get Status button.
• On the Refund Status page, the Navigate Up button visible focus is very hard to see.  Once the text is scrolled, it is not possible to go back to the Navigate Up button with a keyboard.   Use Alt + ctrl + backspace to go back to the refunds screen. Use Tab to navigate the text
• On the Privacy Notice/Get Status/ screens, it is not possible to select the Navigate Up button with a keyboard. Use Alt + ctrl + backspace to go back to the refunds screen.
• When you open the Accessibility page, and other screens displaying external web pages, the close button (X) is not easily accessible with a keyboard and for TalkBack users it could use a description as to what it does. Use Alt + ctrl + backspace to go back to the previous screens.
• Tabbing through the Tabs with Talkback on, Talkback announces the label of each Tab correctly, and when navigating the Tabs again it announces Unlabeled.
• Navigation tabs and buttons are missing a Role that is programmatically determinable. The workaround for the missing bottom navigation Role is provided in the form of the hints that are given to the user to double tap on a tab to go to the screen content.
• Placeholder text disappears for input fields when data is entered. It may make it difficult to determine the purpose of the input field if the onscreen label is not present. To identify the field, delete the data entered to see the field label.
• When navigating with controls menu by swiping the screen with 3 fingers and then swiping down to the Tabs, TalkBack announces “Unlabeled” rather than the Tabs labels.
• TalkBack doesn’t announce links when navigating with the Links Menu. The workaround is to swipe through the page content and identify links via hints that are announced by TalkBack.
• On the On the Payments and Tax Help screens, there are 3 elements (containing the heading and text) that are in the tabbing order and are not announced by Talkback. Continue tabbing to the heading to select.

Refund status screen:

• The page title is announced by Talkback as IRS2Go instead of Refunds.
• Middle and last 4 digits SSN fields are announced as unlabeled and then Talkback announces each field’s correct label.
• The screen reader may announce repetitive messages, such as “1 replaces 1” instead of the digit, when entering or deleting a number in the SSN, ITIN, or Refund Amount fields (version 6.0).

File for free screen:

• The screen reader may incorrectly announce the bullet points by failing to indicate the item positions in the list such as “1 of 3, “2 of 3,” and so on (version 6.0).

Free tax prep site locator results screen:

• When viewing results, TalkBack announces the telephone number after swiping from the provider name’s heading but does not indicate that the number announced is a phone number.

IRS phone numbers screen:

• After the screen title is announced, the next swipe selects the “navigate up” back button instead of selecting the screen content. The workaround is to swipe again to begin reading the content.
• The screen reader may incorrectly announce a 1-800 phone number as a whole number, in hundreds and thousands, instead of reading the phone number digit by digit (version 6.0).

Related

• Accessibility guide for IRS.gov
• Accessibility guides for IRS applications
• Accessible IRS tax products
• American Sign Language (ASL) videos