NHL

Category
Sports and Activities

Description of App

NHL GameCenter™ is the official app from the National Hockey League. It is the only hockey app that lets you watch out-of-market games live, see in-game highlights and stream live game audio. NHL GameCenter™ Features include: - Live Scores and Stats for Every Team and Player - Live Game Simulation with Near Real-Time Shift Changes, Boxscore, and Play-by-Play - Post-Game Video Highlights - Video on Demand Content Including Videos from your Favorite Teams and the Best Selections from NHL Editors - Full Season Schedule and Standings - Customized Game Alerts - Player Profiles with Headshots, Bios and Stats for all Active NHL Players - Customize up to 5 Favorite Teams Upgrade to NHL GameCenter™ Premium** for: - Live Radio Broadcasts (home and away) - In-Game Video Highlights - Condensed Game Replays One-time fee of $4.99 for access to the entire 2012-13 season Upgrade to NHL GameCenter LIVE™ for: - Live Out-of-Market Game Video (home and away) - Access on Multiple Devices* - All NHL GameCenter™ Premium Content *Access for current NHL GameCenter LIVE™ subscribers is available for no additional charge, simply log in with an existing username and password. ** Verizon iPad customers will get access to NHL GameCenter™ Premium and other exclusive content for FREE! Exclusive Verizon iPad content includes: - Live NBC National Games - NBC’s Inside the Glass - Live Streaming of NHL On The FLY™ - Other Exclusive Video On Demand

Version

3.0.123

Free or Paid

Free

Apple Watch Support

Not Known

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone

iOS Version

6

Accessibility Comments

With the new version comes new accessibility issues, with some resolved. The choosing of a favorite team is now accessible and these buttons are clearly labeled. However, I was unable to access the schedule on either my iPod or iPhone. Now, on my iPod and iPhone, when I go into this view, the only options are an unlabled button, a left and right arrow to go through the months, and the month that is displayed is also being read by VoiceOver. However, selecting a month brings up another schedule I can not read. Scrolling around with the 3 finger gestures yields no results for me, but apparently others have somehow had luck with this. I wish they would have kept the old schedule format, as it was easily readable. The audio and video sections of the app are still accessible.

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads most page elements.

Button Labeling

Most buttons are clearly labeled.

Usability

There are some accessibility issues with this app, but it can still be used if you are willing to tolerate these issues and learn how to work around them.

Other Comments

Sadly, the Twitter feeds and news sections of this app have been eliminated. However, if you're after the audio content thrown in to one package so that you don't need to use another program to hunt for streams, it's still worth having.

App Store Link

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nhl-gamecenter-2011-2012/id465092669?mt=8&ign-m…

Developer's Website

http://www.nhl.com

Options

Comments

By Mike Freeman on Monday, January 21, 2013 - 23:55

Has anyone tried the 2012-2013 version with audio upgrade yet? Some of the buttons are unlabeled; others have rather cryptic labels that do give an idea of their functions. So far, I have not been able to get audio. I hear a sound when I click on audio making me suspect that audio is not available for the games I'm interested in. If this is so, SHAME ON NHL! If NHL can't get it right, it should just list a set of Internet streams where the games can be heard. But then -- gasp -- NHL might lose revenue! And we all know how badly it wants that, given how long the strike went on. (har)

By RLH on Monday, January 21, 2013 - 23:55

It should be noted that the original comments for this app do not reflect full accessibility of the 2012-2013 version. Selecting favorite teams is now fully accessible. Some buttons are not labeled, but their context does give a pretty good indicator of what they do. Some content regions (schedule, for example) need to be scrolled using the three-finger swipe up and down to see all content. Some screens must be closed by using VO's two-finger scrub to "back" up, as a back button is not visible. Note that using the live game audio or video (available via an in-app upgrade) uses location services. This A: can suck down battery life, and B: means that you must enable the app to use Location Services. This can be done when you first start the app, or via Settings. Final note, game audio (and presumably video, though I didn't try that yet) is delayed by 30-90 seconds, depending on the feed. Playback dives when VO speaks, works with external audio controls, and recognizes the VO two-finger-double-tap gesture.

By dvdmth on Sunday, February 21, 2016 - 23:55

Today the NHL app was updated to version 7.0. I have been looking forward to this update ever since the NHL teamed up with MLB Advanced Media for their online services. Given how accessible the MLB app is with VoiceOver, I was optimistic that, when they released the all-new NHL app, it would have the same VoiceOver experience.

This initial release of the new NHL app isn't perfect, but it's way better than the previous versions. I am happy to say that MLB AM has not disappointed me here. Those who used the MLB app might notice some similarities in the design, such as with the notification settings screen, but the app overall is still quite different from the MLB layout. Nevertheless, everything I looked at so far is quite accessible, although I think the scores tab could still use some work.

This release should be treated as if it was a version 1.0, because it really is. It has its share of bugs, such as crashing on my iPad when I switch between landscape and portrait modes, and the TV information for upcoming games seems to be missing some channels like NBCSN and NHL Network. Overall, I really like where the app appears to be headed, and as a big hockey fan I can't wait to see what else is in store.