Am I going banana? what happen to Amazon Mobile app accessibility?

By Musicruz, 11 August, 2014

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Hi fellow AppleVis members,
I was wondering if you guys still use the Amazon Mobile app? I have noticed some major accessibility issues on the latest version, which is 4.0.1.
I'm not gonna go on details about the issues, but basically most buttons are now poorly labelled, and I can hardly navigate around with the new UI.
May any of you here confirm this serious accessibility issues for me? I just want to make sure that I'm not going banana as well because usually when a big company like Amazon has broken the accessibility on their app, the AppleVis community is very proactive to address this matter.

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Comments

By Bryan Jones on Sunday, August 24, 2014 - 07:39

Hello Musicruz,

You are not going bananas. Version 4.0.1 of the Amazon Mobile App has a bunch of new accessibility issues. I've detailed some of these in the comments section of the AppleVis entry for this app, which can be found at the link pasted at the end of this message.

If you can, please send an email detailing your findings to Amazon's Accessibility Team. Their email address is accessibility-feedback@amazon.com. Be sure to include the model of your IOS device, the version of IOS it is running, and the exact version number of the Amazon Mobile App you are referencing. This is a universal app, and the version numbers are slightly different on my iPhone 5S and iPad Mini even though they are installed from the same app store link. The accessibility issues also differ in some ways between the two devices.

Here's a link to the AppleVis IOS Directory Entry for the Amazon Moble App. The entry has not been maintained by the original author, but the comment thread includes some good info.
http://www.applevis.com/apps/ios/lifestyle/amazon-mobile

HTH,
Bryan

By claire on Sunday, August 24, 2014 - 07:39

hi, yup seeing this also. ebay app has taken up similar graphical ui. all search results in both apps no longer show results in list view. surprised no one has bought this up on applevis. a lot of apps are becoming less accessible with updates

By Musicruz on Sunday, August 24, 2014 - 07:39

I'm so glad that I still have the older Amazon Mobile, which is still very accessible.
I am wondering though why only few of us complaining about this. Do the other people just give up using Amazon?

By charadani on Sunday, August 24, 2014 - 07:39

I've also noticed the accessibility issues in this app. I think they have changed the layout to adecuate it to the IOS7 way, there are many developers that are doing so but it's clear that in this case they have bbroken accessibility, as we use to say. I hope they will soon fix it and I also think we should write to them and let them know.

In response to the following comment:

I am wondering though why only few of us complaining about this. Do the other people just give up using Amazon?

Personally, I just shop directly on their website, amazon.com, and never bothered with the app. The site works just fine on my iPad, although its accessibility could be a little better. There is also a version of the site which is supposed to be better for screen readers, at amazon.com/access, but I prefer the regular site.

By J.P. on Sunday, August 24, 2014 - 07:39

I'm sure many have noticed! However, Amazon has a reputation of alienating the Accessibility community. They really don't seem to care. So I just think people have given up the fight with them!

By Isaac Hebert (not verified) on Sunday, August 24, 2014 - 07:39

I use the amazon website as well.
I haven't noticed a lot of accessibility issues yet with the amazon app.
The only thing I am noticing when opening the app there is one unlabeled button.

By DPinWI on Sunday, August 24, 2014 - 07:39

I find the main website to be fine using JAWS and have never been tempted to install the app. I've never been thrilledwhen browsing with iOS, and prefer using a computer. There's nothing I need from Amazon that can't wait for me to be in front of my computer.

That said, the app should be fully accessible.

By Toonhead on Sunday, August 24, 2014 - 07:39

Hi, I'm noticing this when it comes to search results. Searching for a product can definitely be done, but getting to the search results can be difficult at times, as focus is not placed where you would expect. So you have to touch the bottom part of the screen and drag your finger around a bit to get things to focus. It's not the worst app I've ever seen for sure but if you want to get things done quickly, things do take a bit longer. Regarding the access version of the Amazon website I've never had a problem finding what I'm looking for, and prefer to use that instead of the regular site. If what I want isn't found on the access version, i'll certainly use the regular site. But after looking for a bunch of different things, I've been able to find everything I'm looking for. Maybe I'm just really lucky? But yes, there do seem to be some focus issues with the newer versions of the Amazon app. If they could be addressed it'd make the app even easier to use for VoiceOver users like us.