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Run accessibility checks on a Serenity sample repo

Try out App Accessibility Automation with BrowserStack’s sample repository.

BrowserStack App Automate supports running Serenity tests on a wide range of real Android and iOS devices. You can integrate your existing Serenity test suites with App Automate to run accessibility checks on your mobile apps.
This guide helps you run your first Serenity test build on a real Android or iOS device on BrowserStack.

Prerequisites

Ensure you have a BrowserStack Username and Access Key. Obtain your userName and accessKey from the Account & Profile section on the dashboard.
If you have not yet created an account, sign up for a free trial.
Ensure you have the following installed and configured in your system’s PATH:
- Java 8 or higher
- Latest version of Apache Maven
- Latest version of Appium

Run a sample build

Get the sample project

Get the BrowserStack sample Serenity project using one of the following options:

Option 1: Download repository

Download the sample Serenity repository to your system.

Option 2: Clone repository

Clone the sample Git repository using the following commands:

git clone  https://github.com/browserstack/serenity-appium-app-browserstack.git

Option 3: Use Maven archetype

Set up a new sample project using the Maven archetype. The following command creates a project with your BrowserStack credentials preconfigured.
Replace YOUR_USERNAME and YOUR_ACCESS_KEY with your BrowserStack credentials, and run one of the following commands based on your operating system:

      
            macOS or Linux
          
            Windows PowerShell
          
            Windows Cmd
          
          Copy
        
mvn archetype:generate -B -DarchetypeGroupId=com.browserstack \
-DarchetypeArtifactId=browserstack-sdk-archetype-setup -DarchetypeVersion=1.1 \
-DgroupId=com.browserstack -DartifactId=serenity-browserstack -Dversion=1.0 \
-DBROWSERSTACK_USERNAME=YOUR_USERNAME -DBROWSERSTACK_ACCESS_KEY=YOUR_ACCESS_KEY -DBROWSERSTACK_PROJECT_REPO=serenity-browserstack 
mvn archetype:generate -B -DarchetypeGroupId="com.browserstack" -DarchetypeArtifactId="browserstack-sdk-archetype-setup" -DarchetypeVersion="1.1" -DgroupId="com.browserstack" -DartifactId="serenity-browserstack" -Dversion="1.0" -DBROWSERSTACK_USERNAME="YOUR_USERNAME" -DBROWSERSTACK_ACCESS_KEY="YOUR_ACCESS_KEY" -DBROWSERSTACK_PROJECT_REPO="serenity-browserstack"
mvn archetype:generate -B -DarchetypeGroupId="com.browserstack" -DarchetypeArtifactId="browserstack-sdk-archetype-setup" -DarchetypeVersion="1.1" -DgroupId="com.browserstack" -DartifactId="serenity-browserstack" -Dversion="1.0" -DBROWSERSTACK_USERNAME="YOUR_USERNAME" -DBROWSERSTACK_ACCESS_KEY="YOUR_ACCESS_KEY" -DBROWSERSTACK_PROJECT_REPO="serenity-browserstack"

Update the serenity configuration file

Skip this step if you downloaded the sample project using Maven Archetype in step 1.

Add your BrowserStack credentials to the serenity.conf file to use the Serenity BrowserStack plugin to run the sample build.
If your credentials are not already set as environment variables, manually add them to the serenity.conf file of your test platform (Android or iOS).

Android
iOS

        
        Navigate to the directory that contains the configuration file:
     cd serenity-appium-app-browserstack/android/src/test/resources
Open the serenity.conf file and add your BrowserStack credentials:
     webdriver {
     driver = remote
     remote.url = "https://hub.browserstack.com/wd/hub"
     remote.driver = "appium"
 }

 browserstack.user="YOUR_USERNAME"
 browserstack.key="YOUR_ACCESS_KEY"

        
        Navigate to the directory that contains the configuration file:
     cd serenity-appium-app-browserstack/ios/src/test/resources
Open the serenity.conf file and add your BrowserStack credentials:
     webdriver {
     driver = remote
     remote.url = "https://hub.browserstack.com/wd/hub"
     remote.driver = "appium"
 }

 browserstack.user="YOUR_USERNAME"
 browserstack.key="YOUR_ACCESS_KEY"

Go to the platform directory

Based on your test platform, navigate back to the platform’s root directory.

Android
iOS

        
        Navigate back to the android directory:
    cd ../../..
Ensure you are in the ../serenity-appium-app-browserstack/android directory:
    For macOS/Linux/PowerShell:
        pwd
For Windows Command Prompt:
        cd

        
        Navigate back to the ios directory:
    cd ../../..
Ensure you are in the ../serenity-appium-app-browserstack/ios directory:
    For macOS/Linux/PowerShell:
        pwd
For Windows Command Prompt:
        cd

Modify the configuration file

The browserstack.yml file defines the required capabilities to run tests on BrowserStack. It is platform-specific and located in the corresponding platform folder (android/ or ios/). Make sure you modify the file that corresponds to your testing platform.

Open the browserstack.yml file.
Add your BrowserStack userName and accessKey.
Set the framework to serenity.
Set the accessibility flag to true. The default value is false.
Save the file.

The projectName and buildName config must be static and not change across different runs of the same build. This is a deviation in approach as specified by BrowserStack App Automate since Automated tests will automatically identify different build runs.