This time next week, I will be presenting on VoiceOver and Voice Control to all of the iOS and macOS developers at the /dev/world conference in Melbourne. Over on this AppleVis thread I asked for your pet peeves and examples of VoiceOver near misses, and I'm still interested in those.
But here, I have a simpler question: what do you wish developers knew?
My plan is to present to those developers exactly what you sayâby quoting you to them. Let me carry your voice straight to them. (Even better, should you want to record in audio/video, I would love to present your literal voice. Let me know and we can arrange how to get that to me.)
Awesome problem I might have: so much material, I can only present extracts. But I will present at least a quote from everyone who posts here...
Comments
accessibility matters
Accessibility matters!
One of the things that gets me is if an app says in it's discription that it's fully Vo. supported, I'll get it. If you don't make an app accessible, you're missing out on a huge market. For example, I have allergies, & I find 1 of the hardest app categories to find accessible apps for is in this category. That & weather radio apps.
Learn about accessiblity, & if your users come 2 you & say they have an issue related to that, respond, & work with them.
I think you should tell them about this site. And I think you should take a look at Weather Gods & explain the story of this app to devs next week. Abut how the app wasn't accessible @ 1st & how active the dev is on here. This is a prime example of accessibility & response & feedback.
I wish there was one chat/messaging app designed for braille use
usimg most message apps in braille is awful. Usually we must limit it to one other chatter
and a very slow message rate. Because:
The focus usually jumps around with every message
the screen is full of non-chat items.
Consistency
One thing developers could do is offer consistent button placement across an app. Some examples...
In Dice World, the Roll button is at the bottom left of the screen. However, it moves slightly, and muscle memory isn't enough to find it if one plays multiple types of dice games. It's close, but, the same finger placement doesn't find it when switching from Farkle, to Threes, to Yahtzee. It's a small thing, but it makes a difference.
In a larger example, I use Amble App as an interface with our local shared ride taxi service. When booking a ride, sometimes the Done button, for example the date input, is above the picker, and then on the next screen for time input, it is below the picker. Having it in one place would make it easier to find and the use of the app more efficient.
Thanks for presenting ideas to developers who may have no idea our world of access exists.
a simple accessibility test
When designing an app, show the developers with VO on, flick and double tap and have them try it and listen to what is spoken by VO.
Devs Who Add VO Should Be Able To Use Their App Themselves
When a developer is going to add Voiceover to their app, I would think that, despite the time it takes to learn the Voiceover user interface, they would know whether or not Voiceover actually works as they expect it to, before ever releasing the app. After all, if they cannot use it with the Voiceover active, as they can with it turned off, how would someone without sight be expected to interact with the app. this also goes for the other accessibility features, as well. I realize it's more work on their part, but if they want their app to be used by all, then spending their time to learn and actually use the accessibility features themselves would save them a lot of time and frustration in the end.
Voiceover changes and voices
There should be a way for blind users to know when the battery reaches 100% when charging your phone. Itâs very easy to over charge your phone, do you to not being able to tell when itâs done. If it could make a sound when the battery reaches 100% to tell the blind person itâs done, that would be incredible. Either a repeating sound or a notification on the phone would be super handy, that way you donât overcharge the battery and wind up cutting the phones life short. When creating games, keep in mind that there are blind people who love to play. Weâre all gamers so why not make everything accessible to everyone. By not doing that, youâre creating a very hurtful impression. It cuts very deep, like a knife to the heart when you find a good game but itâs not VoiceOver compatible. Developers need to keep in mind that everyone, whether or not they have site, loves to play games. Those who have half hazard Lee attempted to put voiceover in or not fixing the rest of the game when suggestions have been made available to them. By their continuously not listening to that person/ideas, the person canât play the game and feels even more like an outcast. If youâve put voiceover in, please make sure the entire game is accessible. Otherwise, the blind gamers cannot play and that is unfair. Please consider everyoneâs feelings regarding playing games. When you forget/neglect those with out any and all site, youâre creating a huge divide and making us feel like no one cares and we donât matter one bit. Please keep all of this in mind, when it comes to voiceover. Thanks so much.
If there was a âVirtual
If there was a âVirtual Screenâ feature built-in to VoiceOver itself, it certainly could help along with many applications that arenât acccessible out of the box (especially âUnityâ ones,) though it is up to the devs themselves for properly adding the Accessibility to said applications natively if possible.
Virtual Screen
Hi Trenton,
Can you explain to me how a Virtual Screen would work? Want to be sure I understand the idea. Thanks!
Here is how "Virtual Screen"
Here is how "Virtual Screen" works with an Android screen reader called "Commentary" (also known by its Chinese name "Jieshuo," " with info taken direct from its user guide from with in the help section. (For screen readers on Windows that have a similar feature to Virtual Screen, it is towards the end of this long explanation.)
" Virtual screen (member function):
The OCR recognizes the content on the screen, displays the result according to the text position, clicks the result text to activate the corresponding focus, long presses the word to split the focus, and clicks the word to activate the position of the corresponding word.
Android 7 or above double-click to activate, Android 6 below three times to activate."
The term" Member Function, " refers to it being an" online" feature, though it is a "paid" feature thus needing the premium version of Commentary itself as an "in-app" purchase.
Some Games that folks have tried using the Virtual Screen feature include, though not limited to:
1. Elder Scrolls
2. Final Fantasu Run Keeper.
3. HarthStone
I have tried using Virtual Screen with Wizards Unite, though at he current time have not had much luck with it.
I haven't tried other apps that may work well on my S10E yet with said feature above.
Other screen readers such as Jaws and Non Visual Desktop Access have a similar Virtual Screen-like feature built-in to their respective screen readers, and Seeing AI also has a similar feature where ya can interact with pictures by moving your finger around, though ya can;t click on objects within the picture.
I hope the above message explains things better, and have a good day!
PS. So to not talk about Commentary so much on here, since it is an Apple forum after all, If you would like to learn more about Commentary itself, please feel free to join of the following Telegram groups:
Official Support Group:
https://t.me/jieshuochat
English Only Group)(Which is also the one with "less" traffic):
https://t.me/jieshuoenglish
cross platform accessibility for all
I believe that itâs very important to have Accessibility and all apps not just for the iPhone but for all platforms for something as simple as just labeling all buttons with what theyâre actually supposed to do and not focusing so much on images and more on just making the app functional for all
Gestures, Direct touch, and the rotor.
Gestures really need to be understood in order to give good Accessibility. Gestures in an app May conflict with gestures for voiceover.
Hardly anyone uses direct touch. This allows gestures in the app to be passed through from voiceover. It is really important when using direct touch to make it possible to turn it off. Sometimes if Direct touch is on, there is no way to turn it off using the rotor. Because you can't get to the rotor.
Speaking of the rotor. developers don't always use all the possible actions available in the rotor. Example is the YouTube app only has headings and does not have links or line navigation available.
Thanks for all the input
A much belated thanks for all the input in this thread. This was most helpful and informed my presentation to the /dev/world conference at the time... the videos weren't uploaded to the public until a long while after the conference, and so it kind of passed me by. Glad to finally loop back and be able to provide a link here to the video of the presentation for anyone who wants to access it.
I referenced the AppleVis community specifically in the presentation, and my intention was to all attribute each of the individual contributions I was able to include to the people who provided them. In the limited time I couldn't cover absolutely everything of course. /dev/world attendees specifically told me after the presentation that they really appreciated hearing your input and feedback as end users, something that doesn't get a voice that often at developer conferences. So thanks everyone! :)
Too much clutter
A UI that is very busy and cluttered is difficult for a person using any kind of screen reader to use efficiently. The UI of any app or web page should be clean and as sparse as possible.
Sighted folks can glance at a page of info to quickly find what they want. Folks using any kind of screen reader have to navigate to each item one at a time on the display to find what they are looking for. This can be slow and inefficient.
I often make the distinction between an app being "accessible" versus "useable". An app is "accessible" if one can navigate to, read, and interact with all elements in the UI. However such an app may not be "useable" in terms of being efficient and/or productive for the user to use. Keyboard shortcuts, uncluttered and logically laid out UI designs, and well labeled elements sticking to coventions make an app "useable" and not just "accessible".
--Pete
I think
I think compare the different what is the most accessible design an the completely inaccessible apps to tell them the important of accessibility
ARE YOU STILL TAKING ENTRIES
Are you still taking entries? how do I get it to you?