If You're Hoping for an Accessible Replacement to Google Reader, you Should Support our Latest Campaign of the Month

Google recently announced that it will shutdown its popular RSS aggregation service, Google Reader, on July 1. If the tech pundits are to be believed, the early frontrunner to be many people's replacement RSS service is Feedly.

Not only has this won Feedly lots of media coverage over the past week, but it has also gained them 3 million new members since Google's announcement. Very few of these, however, are likely to be VoiceOver users, as Feedly's iOS app is currently as near to totally inaccessible as makes no difference.

By disabling VoiceOver and finding the right combination of swipes and taps, it is possible to get past the welcome screens that greet you when you open the app for the first time. If you then re-enable VoiceOver, you can link the app with your Google account. However, anything more than this is impossible. The app uses so many custom gestures, all with seemingly no consideration for VoiceOver users, that it is impossible to locate controls or to move through the app.

If you've, like many, come to rely on Google Reader for keeping up-to-date with what is happening on your favorite websites, it is extremely worrying that what is looking like it will be the most popular replacement service from July onwards is going to be inaccessible to you on your iOS device.

So, we are asking you all to support our latest Campaign of the Month, which is to urge the Feedly developers to add VoiceOver support to their iOS app as a matter of some urgency.

We know that they are a relatively small company with limited resources, but if enough people ask them for improved accessibility ... well, just maybe they will do the right thing and ensure that VoiceOver users will have fair and equal access to Feedly's RSS service.

Simply submit this pre-filled form to have your request for improved accessibility mailed directly to the developer of Feedly. Please note that you will need to be registered and logged in to access and use this form.

For more information on this and past campaigns, please visit the main Campaign of the Month page. On that page, you will also be able to nominate apps for future campaigns.