Disney plus

FYI. So a youtube video, many people are having watching the movies or shows. They are not getting the 6 code numbers. Good luck.

I signed up when first announced with 3 years for less than $4 a month. No problems receiving, or redeeming code. Easy login last night.
The Apple TV and Fire TV app have fully accessible interfaces. Easy to navigate.
The iOS app is fully accessible, but interface is somewhat clunky. The adjust value scrolling will require some getting used to. Kind of odd in implementation. I did report one issue to Disney. Sometimes when focusing on a title, and opening detail page... it opens the title above or below the focused title. The search tab is a good workaround at the moment.

Hello all,
I am a bit disappointed in the audio described content. Only some of the movies have it. None of the original content or TV series have it. One of the main reasons I signed up was for the TV shows and original content. Does anyone know if they are going to add audio description to the TV shows and original content?

I have to agree that the accessibility rating should be downgraded. The primary issue I've encountered is the same one mentioned in post #6; when flicking up and down to select a title in a category, the selection is rarely what you intended to select. Occasionally it works, but more often than not it's the title above or below the one you actually had selected. Unfortunately I can't find any rhyme or reason to this behavior, meaning the only consistent way to watch a title I want is to search for it. And with no "Continue Watching" or "Recently Watched" option, this means I have to search for the title I want to watch every time. Very inconvenient.

That said, I'm glad to hear that Disney's team responded and are aware of the accessibility issues. Hopefully if more users continue to report these issues, they'll address them promptly.

Can I also ask for a little more clarification on audio description—specifically, is there any rhyme or reason to which titles have it? I would have assumed that, at the very least, any titles that already had an AD track would include it on Disney+, as well as any originals. However, I watched Monsters, Inc. yesterday (what can I say, I'm nostalgic), and assumed it would have Ad as I believe all Pixar movies do now—but the only audio tracks available in the audio and subtitles section were English and a couple of foreign languages. No AD track, as far as I could tell. Can someone point me to a title that they know has AD, just so I can see how this works on the app?

Hi,

Here is a link to an unofficial list of Audio Described movies and shows on the platform. Hope it helps!
https://insightfulllife.com/disney-plus-audio-description/#movielist

and here is one from the ACB audio description project:
https://acb.org/adp/disneyad.html

I'm able to use this app free for 1 year through Verizon Wireless. So I subscribed and am giving it a try. I love the content but do agree it's not fully accessible. Enabling audio description was a feat in itself, and I think I figured it out completely by accident. The player screen is a bit of a nightmare, and I also have the issue where the show I click on isn't the one that opens. I know I can use the Search feature, and there's also the Watch List, which I have been able to add shows to. But some work needs to be done before the app is considered fully accessible.

After almost two days of use, I have to say that I am finding it almost fully accessible. Close enough that I did go with that rating. You do need to turn on audio description the first time, but once you do, it remains on. All new programming has it. I am nowhere close to looking at everything or even a broad range of things, but so far, I haven't found anything without it, even the 1973 Robin Hood had it.

The player screen is odd, though. I have to do a double or split tap on it, and then I can navigate around to find fast forward, rewind, play/stop, etc.

Is it perfect? No. But so far, all buttons and elements are labelled and I haven't found something I can't access, once I work it out.

For what it's worth, the issue with the player screen probably isn't a bug, accessibility or otherwise—I suspect it's a design feature. Sighted users also probably have to tap the screen in order to bring up controls; all this means is that the app doesn't have the controls on-screen all the time, and hides them after a few seconds. I do wish they would wait a little longer before disappearing, but again, that's a design feature, not a bug per se.

While navigation is odd, it’s fully accessible. Yes, bugs exist for sure. I spoke with Disney about my findings. The worst being wrong title activated.
My experience mirrored JennyM. Once I saved audio description, it saved setting on all platforms.
The playback functionality works better when setting in landscape. I did also tell Disney rep the playback control panel disappears too quickly.

The behavior of playback controls disappearing after a few seconds is how most video players work. The difference is that some apps, including Apple’s own, will detect that VoiceOver is active and will keep the controls on the screen if it is, so that those of us relying on a screen reader don’t have to deal with the usual timeout that sighted users get.

for thoughs who contacted disney about this app how the heck do we do it? whos got the inside info on how we can contact disney. what's the email address we can write to them about the app

Maybe do it through twitter? Someone did just contact them via email and they said they were aware of the issues.

Hey Brandon,
There’s a help link within the More Info tab. Scroll to bottom and there’s live chat, email, and call options. I sent email and received a call. I’m not sure if that was because it was accessibility related. You do provide email and phone though.

Earlier in the comments someone mentioned that there isn't a way to continue watching a show in the app. This is true from what I can tell, but you can continue watching a show if you go to the tv app. You can go to the up next heading and it will show what you were watching in the Disney app and you can choose to continue from there.

to the one that said their was an email option in the app i went to more options and help and it just opened a webpage. I saw no way to email them from their. also, if you guys want to call them to report accessibility issues you can do that as well. the number to call is 888-950-7788

I’m not sure why you couldn’t find it. Links are at the bottom of that webpage. For those who’d rather call... the phone is actually 888-905-7888

People have said that when they use the adjustable selecters and try to choose a title that the correct title doesn't always come up. I have also had this problem but I have found a way around it. This will work every time if you follow these steps.

1. Find the title that you want to watch using the adjustable selecter.

2. After finding the title you need to actually find the title on the screen and touch it. Don't double-tap it. Just touch it to make sure it has focus.
3. Now double-tap and hold on the title. You will be taken to the title that has focus.

This has worked for me every time without fail.

Hi. I saw that you have to turn Audio description on. and I tried going in the menu and I cant find anything called AD track. can I get a little more help please?

I have tried the app on the Apple TV fourth generation and iPhone XS. I have problems with both. The apple TV remote will pause and play content. I have found no way to locate the language options to enable audio description. The usual swipe down to access these controls does nothing. Furthermore, I cannot even make the rodor respond either. I was able to enable AD on the iPhone but it took some work. Someone in this post said that, if AD is enabled on one platform, it should be active on all platforms. Since I was successful in activating it on the iPhone, I thought I might have it on the TV, but it doesn't appear to be the case for me. Here's to hoping that the app is updated soon.

Update: apparently waiting overnight did the trick for turning on the audio description, on the Apple TV fourth generation. Have no idea why it did not work yesterday, but very happy it's working now. I still cannot access the controls to turn audio description back off, but since I'm the only one viewing, that doesn't matter. I certainly hope that they will fix the accessibility issues with this app, soon.

1. First of all, I personally do not access that many video services on my iPhone, so the very last trick I thought of trying with Disney+ on the iPhone was a single-finger double-tap on playing media to access media controls. That may have been obvious to some users, but we are not all Daredevil super-human with our text-to-speech running at hyperspace speed.
2. A far better way to have designed the interface would be for the media controls to appear and disappear as if flipping a light switch. Imagine how frustrating it would be to flip a light switch on, enter a room to do something, then have the light and switch flip back off before you could do what you entered the room to do. This is the experience Disney. Imagineer it, okay?

Scenario:
1. Single-finger double-tap on playing media to flip on media controls like a light switch.
2. Leave controls on screen so blind/VI user has their own ample time to explore controls and do whatever they need or want to do.
3. Sliding a finger to a spot on the screen where nothing is spoken should be a spot where the media controls aren't active, so another single-finger double-tap flips the light switch or media controls back off to reveal playing media screen again.

I have not checked out the Apple TV 4th gen situation to see if titles on there are now playing audio description. However, I am thinking getting to the media controls on Apple TV is even less intuitive and more difficult than on iPhone. For example, when I was messing around with Disney+ on Apple TV 4th gen, a single-click on the touchpad appeared to pause playback, same as if I clicked the play/pause control on the remote. I did try flicking in both cases but heard nothing. I also tried rotoring in different instances but heard nothing. All I could seem to get after starting play was "actions are available". That's lovely, but WHERE are these so-called actions? They certainly weren't under rotor or flicking.

At least with Netflix, and I believe, some other services, if one gets playing content paused, one can flick down and get into a menu system to do things. And should this menu disappear, another flick or a retry of playing, pausing and flicking brings the menu back up. I certainly have never had this menu disappear so quickly that I couldn't explore and find what I'm looking for, unlike this Disney+ Daredevil experience.

We are not all created equally as blind/VI. Some of us have better skills than others, but that does not make some of us stupid or clumsy. We are just different. I doubt I will ever be able to get my text-to-speech jabbering away at hyper-speed with good comprehension. If it works for some, that is all fine, well and good for them, but it does not make them "better" than me. It is merely a skill they happen to have for whatever reason. Perhaps they can comprehend text-to-speech at hyper-speed but can't type worth a darn on the touch keyboard, but I can do the latter better. Again, we are all different, but it seems only certain blind/VI with Daredevil skills tested this stuff.

Are there any other audio tracks? Do they have any description?

Hi Earl, I just tried your trick on my 8 Plus running iOS 13.2.2 and it seems to be hit or miss.

I tried it on one list and it worked, but tried it again on another, and it opened the title above or below the one I wanted. I personally think that using these adjustable list is not really a good idea. It would be best to have each category in a list, then the user selects one and they're brought to another list of all titles under that category, and when the user selects a title, then they're brought to that title's info page.

At least Disney seems to be listening to users and will hopefully push out an update that will fix many of the issues sighted/blind users are encountering.

Thanks Matt for the help. I thought it was English AD but wasnt to sure. Yeah when i selected it the first 2 times it didnt remember i had selected english AD for some reason. I tried again and since then it has kept audio discription on.

Whoever said that this app is completely accessible was wrong. I did mark this app as accessible, however it has serious issues in terms of accessibility. I signed up for the monthly plan, but I will be canceling before my trial ends. Nine times out of 10, you are unable to access the title you want, you are often taken to a title that is above or below the one you selected using the adjustable selectors. The app does offer a wide selection of content, however it’s the accessibility issues that have convinced me to cancel my trial and no longer continue using the service.

Hey Guys,
I reported issues with this app when first released. Some accessibility related. Some usability related and just plain bugs. After a couple conversations, it was clear the rep wasn’t fully grasping my explanations.
While I’ve found workarounds for most things. Things like video playback have no workarounds. I know others have bigger issues than myself. Since we all have different impairments and abilities.
I decided to reach out to the president of Disney Plus. Listing accessibility and usability issues. Along with suggestions. I received a response, along with some hope for improvements. I gave detailed explanations of issues listed in this thread. I’m including the response I received back today.

Dear Mr. S******,
Thank you for reaching out and providing this feedback. Your perspective here is so valuable, and the beta testing is a great idea. The detailed feedback will help our design team with making improvements to the accessibility platform. It is concerning for me hear that our Customer Experience Advocate did not fully understand the issues you have identified. Let me assure you that Mr. Paull has already sent your observations directly to our product team.

As a lifelong Disney fan, we want not only to meet your expectations, but ensure the Disney Magic is brought to all your interactions within The Walt Disney Corporation. We will provide feedback directly to our teams to identify opportunities to improve.

Please feel free to reach out to me directly if you have any other questions or comments. Thank you for your loyalty to Walt Disney.

Sincerely,

Senior Director of Global Customer Experience
Disney Streaming Services

Well, this doesn’t look good for Disney. Thousands of credentials have appeared on sites like Reddit and the Dark web. Keep an eye on accounts. More important, Make sure to have a very strong password. https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-accounts-are-available-for-free-in-hacker-forums-already-2019-11

Subject line says it all. After reading the article that was posted in the last comment, I'm closing my Disney plus account. I'm surprised that disnye apparently has no interest in security, given that people have been locked out of their accounts and the streaming service hasn't been up for a week.

Disney technically wasn't hacked directly. My understanding is that the term of being hacked is a pretty broad statement. Meaning, in this circumstance is that people were being phished to think that Disney sent them an email and the rest is history. The server was never exposed. I really don't like how some media make things seem dire, but merely to get a reaction.

As for Disney+ in terms of usability for VoiceOver users. Yes, there are two areas of to be aware about. One is the categories selection can be a hit and miss. Use the Search tab instead. This area you can still access everything and is easy to use. The other issue is the media play back controls. This is more of a issue for everyone and not just VoiceOver users. The time allocated for one to navigate with in the media controls are way to short but I am pretty certain they will addressed this. My family which are all sighted have mentioned to me that it was to short for them as well. Other than that I don't see any other issues at all.

As I do understand that some people will be turned off because of the current category issue. Those that have a lower tolorate level should wait until an update or fix to the current problem is resolved. As mentioned above the Search tab will be your friend. Be sure to check out the Explore section with in the Search tab. This will make your life much easier.

Disney+ is definetly worth the cost for what you recieve in this package. As long you are aware and understand that this is Disney content. Mostly Marvel, Star Wars, Simpsons, and Disney content is being targeted. Remember that Disney also owns Hulu and my understanding is that the other content owned by Disney will be on that label. Mostly will be filled with Fox movies and shows also, anything that isn't kid's friendly.

HTH

I don't know if you guys are aware but their are quite a few titles in disney plus missing audio description. titles such as the sword and the stone, star wars episode 3, and some of the documentary series like monkey kingdom. I also want to ask to the person who got a hold of the president how do we do this, what is the email address where we can send him an email directly?

There are workarounds for the accessibility issues we're having. If you have a keyboard or headphones/earbuds with rewind/fastforward buttons, those can be used to navigate playback if you want.
AThe Search tab works in place of the adjustable sliders. They even have cattigories underneath the search heading that you can navigate.
lso, people should never email their account info to anyone, ever.
Just my two cents.

Here's a work around to continue watching a title that a friend passed along. Note that this will work on iOS as well as other devices that you may have Disney plus on.Go to the title you want to continue watching. Once on the details screen for that tile, you will find that the play button will change to a resume button. Once you double tap this button, you will pick up right where you left off. I know this applies to movies, but I'm not sure if it applies to tv shows.

for the person talking about resume yes this does apply to tv shows as well as movies. i've done this several times.

Unfortunately this doesn't appear to work if you're connected to a chromecast.

So the work around for that is to play what you intend on watching, then cast it to the chromecast, because if it's connected to the chromecast and you try to pick up where you left off, it's going to play from the beginning.

When you sign into disney+, how do you know if you're on the correct profile?

When you launch the app, there doesn't appear to be a way for a voiceover user to tell if you're using the correct profile.

I find myself going into settings, double tapping on edit profile, then hit done, then pick a profile to sign into, just to make sure I'm in the right one.

I'd use the picker item, but even that doesn't garentee you sign into the right one.

Any tips? or is my round about way of making sure I sign into the right profile the only way for now.

Hi Kool_Turk,
It is much easier to tell on Apple TV and Fire TV. What you’ve been doing on iOS app works. Also, using the adjust value by flick and checking watchlist below. It should be your watchlist. Neither option is great, but work.

In addition to the media controls disappearing too quickly and the difficulty selecting titles in the category picker item menus, I have had a lot of difficulty fast forwarding and rewinding using the tracking bar slider while watching content. I have not been able to figure out how it works at all, so I am left either fast forwarding and rewinding In 15 second intervals or just using the chrome cast and telling the Google assistant to rewind or fast-forward specific amounts of time. Would be really nice if I could flick up and down on the slider bar for time like on the Netflix app.

Also, I do not know why there are so many movies for which audio description definitely exists, but that track is not available in the app. On my phone at least, the audio description track recently disappeared for End Game for no discernible reason.

Overall, they did a really good job with this, but these issues listed above are also pretty frustrating and the kind of significant problems sighted users never have to deal with from a company with Disney’s resources.

There's a little trick to rewinding and fastforwarding, at least in small increments.

I can use the slider to rewind and fastforward in the app to skip in larger increments once I find it, but you have to be quick.

What I'm refering to is something different though.

What I do is use the media controls on the lock screen.

The slider is dimmed out on that screen for some reason, but the go back and go forward buttons work just fine.

I am using voice over, and have to disagree with this app being completely accessible. Although the disney plus app is a wonderful app, and is mostly screen reader friendly, there does seem to be some performance bugs. Firstly, when you open the app, you are brought to an exploration screen, where there are categories of movies and shows to choose from. ,this is displayed to voice over in the form of a slider, very similar to those that control media volume. However, when swiping my finger through the options, my phone seems to have trouble selecting the right one, as the title that was selected is not what was supposed to play. Also, the part that seems very difficult for me is when the video is playing, the screen only gives y less than five seconds with the controls shown, before is hides them and goes blank and just displays the show. This makes it difficult while using voice over because is takes a little bit of time to explore the screen to find the button you are trying to press, and then all the buttons are gone. This makes it difficult to access buttons such as the play/pause button, and the audio and subtitles menu. However, seeing that this app has not been out for long, it is more accessible than originally anticipated. I also very much appreciate all of the audio-described titles, as there are quite a few, and all of the developers’ time and consideration. Disney + is a joy to use.

If I needed to access the subtitles or whatever I used to tap on the blank screen until the controls showed up again.

I really appreciate the changes. As a partially sighted user though, I really wish there was some middle ground for video controls remaining indefinetly or disappearing. I don't want those controls cluttering up my screen, but I also know how annoying they can be when they disappear. What would be really great is a toggle for us. Just touch somewhere on the video and double tap to hide or show controls. Magic! And everyone's happy.

Thanks JP. I'll do that.