Does anyone know whether Amazon 4.1.1 is accessible? I just saw it in the updates and don't want to take it if it's going to break accessability. Thanks for your help.
They've fixed the poor button labelling at least. Still finding the occassional unlabelled thing and getting used to the new layout, but the app seems usable again.
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.
Hello: this seems to be a pretty good improvement over the previous version of this app.
It still how ever as stated in the abo e comments has a long way to go.
I to was one of the people that wrote to amazon asking them to fix a lot of unlabeled buttons with the app.
Its good to see that they indeed are looking into this even if we don't seem to get any response from them when emailing them.
Comments
Yep
They've fixed the poor button labelling at least. Still finding the occassional unlabelled thing and getting used to the new layout, but the app seems usable again.
RE: Amazon 4.1.1
Agreed. This version looks much better.
My findings on 4.1.1 versus 4.0.1.
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.
Re amazon 4.1.1
Hello: this seems to be a pretty good improvement over the previous version of this app.
It still how ever as stated in the abo e comments has a long way to go.
I to was one of the people that wrote to amazon asking them to fix a lot of unlabeled buttons with the app.
Its good to see that they indeed are looking into this even if we don't seem to get any response from them when emailing them.