Amazon Shopping

Actually, I use this app all the time and find it to be very accessible. If I search for "dog toys," I can browse through the search results and double tap on an item of interest. From there, flick to the right and you'll see the product name as a heading, an action button, and the name of the item again. The product name right after the action button is what you need to double tap on to get product descriptions. After reading product descriptions, you can select the back button to get back to the previous page which lists things such as the price, the seller, customer ratings, and buttons to buy now, add to wish list, and add to cart. You can double tap "customer reviews" to read what other customers have to say about the product. I also find the check out process to be very accessible as well. Personally, I don't have any accessibility issues with this app and prefer it over the web site.

I am using IOS 6 with iphone 4S. When I double tap the Amazon app, it makes the sound as if its going to launch, but never opens. When I open the app switcher, its there, but when I double tap it, still nothing happends. Anyone else having this problem?

*** 28July2014: this app appears to be losing ground in terms of VO accessibility in recent releases. See separate comment on Version 4.0.1. I'm leaving the meat of the original comment here for historical reference. My comments here were written using version 2.12 of the app. *** As other folks have said, the original review of this App is highly inaccurate. The fact is, there are almost no inaccessible elements in the Amazon Mobile App and this has been the case going back many revisions. I'll give a quick response to several of the original reviewer's comments. 1. Accessibility Comments. Original Reviewer says, "Not as accessible as it can be. Poor labeling, not enough discription, and details of products. Search feature is rather poor." BJones response: There is almost nothing about this App that is not fully accessible to VO. Almost every element of this App is properly labeled. I find the descriptions to be thorough and readable, with none of the extra advertising baggage Amazon builds into it's regular site. The search interface is clean and accessible. 2. VoiceOver Performance. Original Reviewer says, "VoiceOver reads a few page elements." BJones response: Actually, VO reads just about everything this App has to offer. The only time I've found issues is when needing to select the color or size of a product, and even then there are usually simple workarounds. 3. Button labeling. Original reviewer says, "Few buttons are labelled." BJones response: Actually, just about every button is clearly and properly labelled.

Just adding that this app is fine. If you upgraded to iOS 6 and it is not, just reinstall it. Personally I choose Price Check by Amazon over this one, but still, this one isn't bad at all.

Version 2.3.1 was released in the US on November 20, 2012. Though most parts of the app retained a high level of VO accessibility, the section dedicated to the "Deal of the Day" and the "Lightning Deals" became less VO-friendly in the following ways: 1. Images accompanying each listing are now exposed to VO which means you will hear a meaningless jpeg filename or names read aloud on each item. 2. The swipe order has been altered to be significantly less logical when moving through each item description or through a list of items. 3. , Swiping right now stops at the bottom of a screen rather than automatically scrolling as in previous versions. This means the User will have a chance to practice three-finger swiping and hunting and pecking. While I wouldn't normally care much about these particular issues, I have found myself watching the lightning deals for possible holiday gifts recently and was annoyed enough that I deleted this version and went back to the older 2.1.2 version which is perfectly navigable with VO on my 4S running IOS 6.01.

The update that came out 2 days ago before you sign in has I I believe 5 or os unlabeled buttons that are supposed to be the featured content. The rest of it looks usable but still. and you see shop by department under the home tab and an unlabeled button. Has anyone reported this to amazon yet? Thanks.

There are a number of UI changes in the latest version of this App, and in my testing it appears as if some of the changes create problems for VO Users.
1. The main buttons have been moved from bottom to top, some have been altered, and the labels were apparently ignored by QA. Fortunately, most of the main buttons are still understandable, they just happen to be prefixed with "gno header icon."
2. There are some unlabeled buttons on the main screen. The unlabeled button following the search field loads the barcode scanner.
3. The scrub gesture seems to be broken in most screens, so you'll need to use the button labeled "gno header back icon" found in the top left corner of most screens.
4. If shopping by department, the first batch of results in each subcategory of each department are spoken as unlabeled buttons.
5. When navigating through the details of some items, VO randomly and inexplicably jumps back to the top of the page, making it difficult to get to certain elements of an item's details.
6. The "TOday's Deals" section remains difficult to navigate with VO,, as focus seems to jump randomly.

iPhone 5S, IOS 7.1.2

This updated accessibility thread is contridicting.
In one section they say that all the buttons and elements are not labled, and in the next they said that voiceover reads all page elements. So, which is it?
Also, I've found no problems using the app thus far.

Hello Will,

Yes, as is the case with many apps the accessibility of the Amazon Mobile app has varied over the past few years. This is why it's important for commenters to provide their device model, OS version & App version in order to be able to compare notes, track changes, troubleshoot, and submit accurate information to Developers when necessary.

Can you take a minute to provide your device model, IOS version, app version, and specific findings when attempting to reproduce the accessibility issues I listed in the comment titled, "Version 4.0.1, possible regression in accessibility?"

Here are a few more issues I'm encountering when using VO with version 4.0.1 of this app.
1. On the search results page, there is a poorly tagged button to toggle how the search results are viewed: either by grid, image or list. While grid view seems to be the friendliest in terms of VO access, I've encountered a number of items where VO seems unable to read much of the content presented in the results list, including prices that are displayed in the results, thus requiring reading of the items details.
2. The unlabeled button immediately following this view order toggle (in swipe order) is the FIlter button. Activating this button pops up a menu of filter options, but the content of this menu seems completely inaccessible to VO. In addition, the "double-tap to dismiss pop up window" does not work to close this pop up.

Here is the list of accessibility issues I reported to Amazon after they released version 4.0.1 of the Amazon Mobile app. I've inserted updates where things have been improved or changed in version 4.1.1. My tests were done on an iPhone 5S running IOS 7.1.2. YMMV.

1. The main navbar buttons are poorly labeled.
** This is partially fixed in 4.1.1.

2. On the main screen, the unlabeled button following the search field loads the barcode scanner.
** This button is now properly labeled as "scan products," and the scan function seems to be accessible.

3. The scrub gesture seems to be broken in most screens, so you'll need to use the button labeled "gno header back icon" found in the top left corner of most screens.
** Scrub gesture still broken in 4.1.1; Back button now properly labeled.

4. If shopping by department, the first batch of results in each subcategory of each department are spoken as unlabeled buttons.
** Still broken in 4.1.1.

5. When navigating through the details of some items, VO randomly and inexplicably jumps back to the top of the page, making it difficult to get to certain elements of an item's details.
** Still broken in 4.1.1.

6. The "TOday's Deals" section remains difficult to navigate with VO,, as focus seems to jump randomly.
** Still broken in 4.1.1.

7. On the search results page, there is a poorly tagged button to toggle how the search results are viewed: either by grid, image or list. While grid view seems to be the friendliest in terms of VO access, I've encountered a number of items where VO seems unable to read much of the content presented in the results list, including prices that are displayed in the results, thus requiring reading of the items details.
** This seems to be fixed for all 3 view modes in 4.1.1.

8. The unlabeled button immediately following this view order toggle (in swipe order) is the FIlter button. Activating this button pops up a menu of filter options, but the content of this menu seems completely inaccessible to VO. In addition, the "double-tap to dismiss pop up window" does not work to close this pop up.
** The Filter button is still unlabeled. The contents of the Filter list are now spoken by VO, but I'm still unable to find a way out of this menu beyond quitting and relaunching the app.

New accessibility issues introduced in 4.1.1:
1. The accessibility of products displayed on the main screen is hit-or-miss. For example, under the heading labeled "Your Recommendations," I am sometimes presented with a list of items simply announced only as "button," but other timesitems in that list are spoken correctly by VO.
2. In the Cart, I sometimes encounter a blank screen after swiping past an item or two. At that point I am no longer able to locate anything within the cart and must navigate to another area of the app and then relaunch the cart to regain access.

"What’s new in version 4.3.0?
Optimized for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus so you can see more content. Search with your Voice on iPhone Cart animation Bug fixes."

My running list of VO bugs, updated to reflect v4.3.0 findings.

1.
Version 4.0.1: The main navbar buttons are poorly labeled.
Version 4.1.1: This is partially fixed. Some buttons remain unlabeled or poorly labeled.
Version 4.3.0: Much improved. I encountered very few unlabeled buttons and only a few poorly labeled ones on main screens, though poorly labeled items still exist throughout the detail pages of some items..

2.
Version 4.0.1: On the main screen, the unlabeled button following the search field loads the barcode scanner.
Version 4.1.1: This button is now properly labeled as "scan products," and the scan function seems to be accessible.
Version 4.3.0: This button has now been retasked as a VoiceSearch button. Assuming the User has granted permission for the app to access the device microphone, activating this button will produce a tone after which the User has a few seconds to speak a search phrase. This worked fine in my testing. Also in version 4.3.0, the fully accessible scan function can be accessed by double-tapping the search field (AKA “what are you looking for” and then performing a one finger swipe right a few times to find the Scan It button.

3.
Version 4.0.1: The scrub gesture seems to be broken in most screens, so you'll need to use the button labeled "gno header back icon" found in the top left corner of most screens.
Version 4.1.1: Scrub gesture still broken. Back button now properly labeled.
Version 4.3.0: Scrub gesture still broken. Back button still properly labeled.

4.
Version 4.0.1: If shopping by department, the first batch of results in each subcategory of each department are spoken as unlabeled buttons.
Version 4.1.1: Still broken.
Version 4.3.0: This appears to be fixed.

5.
Version 4.0.1: When navigating through the details of some items, VO randomly and inexplicably jumps back to the top of the page, making it difficult to get to certain elements of an item's details.
Version 4.1.1: Still broken.
Version 4.3.0: This appears to be fixed, though it is difficult to test fully given the presence of the well-documented scrolling / loss of focus bug in IOS 8.0x and 8.1.

6.
Version 4.0.1: The "TOday's Deals" section remains difficult to navigate with VO,, as focus seems to jump randomly.
Version 4.1.1: Still broken.
Version 4.3.0: Most issues in this section appear to have been addressed. the item images are still poorly labeled and read aloud by VO, and I still experienced some random loss of focus when swiping from item to item.

7.
Version 4.0.1: On the search results page, there is a poorly tagged button to toggle how the search results are viewed: either by grid, image or list. While grid view seems to be the friendliest in terms of VO access, I've encountered a number of items where VO seems unable to read much of the content presented in the results list, including prices that are displayed in the results, thus requiring reading of the items details.
Version 4.1.1: Fixed for all 3 view modes.

8.
Version 4.0.1: The unlabeled button immediately following the view order toggle (in swipe order) is the FIlter button. Activating this button pops up a menu of filter options, but the content of this menu seems completely inaccessible to VO. In addition, the "double-tap to dismiss pop up window" does not work to close this pop up.
Version 4.1.1: The Filter button is still unlabeled. The contents of the Filter list are now spoken by VO, but I'm still unable to find a way out of this menu beyond quitting and relaunching the app.
Version 4.3.0: The Filter button is now properly labeled, the menu items are mostly labeled and accessible, and it is now possible to activate the selected filter options and close the filter menu by manually locating the Filter button and double-tapping it.

9.
Version 4.1.1: The accessibility of products displayed on the main screen is hit-or-miss. For example, under the heading labeled "Your Recommendations," I am sometimes presented with a list of items simply announced only as "button," but other timesitems in that list are spoken correctly by VO.
Version 4.3.0: This appears to be fixed, for the most part.

10.
Version 4.1.1: In the Cart, I sometimes encounter a blank screen after swiping past an item or two. At that point I am no longer able to locate anything within the cart and must navigate to another area of the app and then relaunch the cart to regain access.
Version 4.3.0: This appears to be fixed.

New bugs in Version 4.3.0:
1. The “clear text” button following the search field is labeled as “gno clear text.”
Steps to replicate:
1a. On the app’s home screen, locate the field labeled “What are you looking for” and double-tap it to focus VO and activate edit mode.
1b. Perform a one-finger swipe right to locate the expected “clear” button.
1c. VO will speak the button as “gno clear text,” regardless of the presence or absence of text in the edit field.

2. The “Prime” item in the Filter list is not spoken by VO.
Steps to replicate:
2a. Search for a product.
2b. Double-tap the FIlter button to open the filter menu.
2c. perform a one finger swipe right to reach the item labeled “Amazon Prime, Heading.”
2d. Double-tap to expand the Amazon Prime section.
2e. One finger swipe right and you will hear a single item with no spoken feedback. This is actually the item to toggle the Amazon Prime filter. Double-tapping it will toggle the filter and change the heading to “Amazon Prime Eligible, Heading.”
2f. To clear the Amazon Prime filter, locate and double-tap the item labeled “Clear,” which appears under the Amazon Prime Heading when the filter is active.

3. All items in the “gift Cards” section do not contain accessible labels.
Steps to replicate:
3a. Choose Navigation Menu / Gift Cards.
3b. Navigate through the list of results. All items are spoken as a series of numbers followed by the word “image.”
3c. Double-tapping an item opens the detail page; however, attempting to understand the details of some of these items is difficult or impossible due to poorly labeled elements within the item details.

Tested on iPhone 5S running IOS 8.1, Amazon App Version 4.3.0 (1-12572.0)

Hey Guys,
On March 16th, Amazon was updated to 4.5.0. I thought it was going to be good, they fixed some labeling issues.
Boy was I wrong! When you enter a term to search, it populates list. The issue is that you can no longer swipe through the list.

JP, I can confirm the issue you mentioned as well as a crash problem when attempting to toggle between Grid, Image and List views in the search results. I've reported the following information to accessibility-feedback@amazon.com.

Steps to reproduce:
1. Launch the Amazon App.
2. In the search field, type a search term such as Kindle Fire and double-tap Search.
3. In the list of results, which is defaulting to Grid view on my system, it is now impossible to swipe right or left through the list of results, and attempting to navigate the results by dragging a fingertip through them yields many unlabeled items.
4. Attempting to change view from Grid to Image view or List view causes the app to close.
5. Relaunching the app defaults again to Grid view and an inaccessible list of search results.

Troubleshooting steps attempted:
1. Quit and relaunch the app. No improvement.
2. Quit all running apps, power off/on the device. No improvement.
3. Delete the Amazon App and reinstall it. No improvement.

System tested:
iPhone 5S.
IOS 8.2.
Amazon App version 4.5.0.

Very disappointing. Searching for a product with updated app is nearly impossible. My experience is the same as last poster.

I as well reported issue to accessibility this morning. I also reported by calling executive office at 206-266-1000. Letting them know that this breaks accessibility for blind community with no work around.

I, too, have the same problem as this poster's comments. After conducting a search, it is impossible to swipe through the search results. I tried using the character, word, heading, and vertical navigation options without any further success. If I drag my finger to an item and open it, then I can use the normal swiping option to review the info, however.

I, too, have reported the accessibility issue noted above to accessibility-feedback@amazon.com.

Whatever Amazon did in 4.5.0 has completely broken things, or so it would seem. As the previous commenter said, it's now seemingly impossible to swipe through search results. For me this is a huge problem, and since this household is an Amazon power-shopping zone this is not cool in the slightest. I'm hoping someone has figured out some kind of workaround, otherwise it's back to the old PC, which has its own issues as of late.

Thank you for your valuable feedback. We are investigating the issues with the iOS app accordingly. While we investigate you can utilize Amazon.com through your iOS Safari browser. More accessibility features are being developed for all of our products so please stay tuned for items such as audio description Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience this update has caused you. Larry Darrah Sr. TPM Website Accessibility

Wow. What was once my go-to app for shopping has been reduced to this? Amazon sure dropped the ball on this one. Hopefully the next version will have better accessibility. After all we do have money and are willing to use the app if we can.

Echoing everyone's previous sentiments, this is especially disappointing. It's a real shame that massive companies can continue to pump out apps where it is very apparent that Voiceover testing is very much a secondary consideration, leaving it up to us to bug report and trouble shoot. Particularly disappointing as previous incarnation was absolutely fine. In saying that, I do expect that they will come out with some kind of an update as soon as they can. I was really enjoying the app too!

On March 24th, Amazon updated app. They fixed scrolling issue. You can now swipe without a problem.

I think we should all write to the Amazon feedback address and let them know how much we appreciate this. It might give them a reason to keep accessibility in mind in the future. If they know lots of people would appreciate their efforts, it'll give them a reason to keep up with VoiceOver support.

The Amazon iOS app 4.5.1 has been released to the app store to day and will address the VoiceOver issues you have experienced. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience this has caused and stay tuned for more Accessibility features being developed in our products

Larry Darrah

Hi there,
I'm not sure if it fully works because it seems to not work when viewing the lightning deals. The page also seems to refresh every second when viewing the lightning deals of the day.
I tried scrolling and swiping but got nowhere.
Can anyone else confirm this?
I'm on an iPhone 6 plus, if that matters.

Selecting size/color on a lightning deal, using the Amazon deals app, is difficult, and often impossible. Buttons for color are not labeled, and double-tapping the size/color element often doesn't bring up the choices.

For the past several months, Subscribe and Save has been broken, under Safari. It is fine under Firefox under Windows. Is this a Safari issue, VO issue, or Amazon issue? I showed it to a "genius" at an Apple store and he could see the items on the screen, but, VO wouldn't read them.

So it's prime day, July 11 and I've been buying lots of items and tracking deals using the app without any difficulties at all. It just updated itself a few days ago and is up to version 9.12.0. Works fantastic with VoiceOver and makes deal tracking a snap. Coped fine as well when my ride hit a dead spot with no internet coverage. So glad I waited for prime day to get some of these things we were needing or wanting purchased.

But I've read that next to the search bar is a microphone icon and when pressed it lets the user converse with Alexa. I have a Kindle and my mom has an echo so I've used Alexa plenty, but I usually have my phone with me and would use her more if it was easy. Today I wanted to try some of those exclusive Alexa deals but for the life of me, I could not find that button. Thoughts?

So I actually came to this page specifically to ask about the no microphone issue. I know about 3 or 4 weeks ago that microphone was there, but when I open my app now the microphone is no longer there...Does anyone know if there is another way to do a voice search or use alexa on the app?

Hi all, Today after a recent update, this app now has Alexa. Tried it out. Fantastic! You double tap when prompted (after you allow access to the microphone) and she will find options for what your looking for. This is really neat!

I recall being able to setup Touch ID for Amazon, so when viewing orders or completing one, you could use Touch ID to log into your account. After installing the app on my new iPhone, when I came to set this up, couldn't find where in the app you could set it up. Unless if they've taken this out, but if not, anyone know how to find it and set it up?

While Amazon has never been the best with accessibility on the mobile app, version 11.17.0 has worsened the experience tremendously.
They have implemented search changes which have made losing focus a common occurrence. Many product labels in search read odd and unintelligible characters.
When in lists, a window to share with friends and family pops up. The window can't be closed unless voice over is deactivated.
I have noticed some careless accessibility related issues within other Amazon products. It would seem that accessibility is again taking a backseat at Amazon.