Has anybody tried the latest release of the Uber app?

Here, in India, i haven't noticed any accessibility challenges. Though i realise, they keep redesigning ever so often. Each time they release an update they say, please check for new features next week. Although, i haven't really noticed any 'new changes' in a very long time!

hello.
The new Uber app is definitely accessible, but the interface could be a little bit easier to navigate. In previous versions of the Uber app, you were able to tell how close in Uber was from your current location before having to look and see if the pick up location and destination information were correct. In this version, you have to enter your pick up location, then your destination, then swipe to the left or right to see where the closest Uber is to you. Siri might be the best option in order to request an Uber at this point, but as I said before, voiceover reads all the page elements, including the trip screen. From an excess ability standpoint, it's excellent. But the design and the interface could be a little easier to navigate. I would advise you if you have the older version of Uber, you might want to stay with that version. For those of you who have the new were version of the application, congratulations. I hope you have as good of experience with excess ability as I do, and for those who feel the need to write to the Uber team, feel free to do so. It would help all of us out as a blind community, and Uber from what I can tell listens to our feedback, and makes changes if necessary.

From what I can tell, the new Uber app is accessible. However, the one thing I do not like about it is with the old version you used to be able to check where the nearest car was like how far away it was. Now you have to enter your pickup location, then enter your destination before you can tell where the nearest car is. I used to love opening the app even when I didn't have anywhere to go just to check how far away the nearest car was. Also, if I was at a location I used to like to open the app before requesting a ride just to see how far away the nearest car was and whether it was surging. If a car was far away or something I would often close the app and reopen it a few minutes later and then request a ride when an Uber was close. Now with the new update you can't do this and that does really disappoint me. Other than that I like the new app but I wish they would allow you to check how far away the nearest car is like you used to be able to.

The update is accessible. I use Uber every afternoon to transport me from my workplace to the closest railway station, 10 minutes drive away. I like to give my uber drivers a rating at the completion of each trip, but under the new update, I cannot find where to do this.

I had to actually go into the trip screen, and figure out how much I would charge.

I used Uber for the first time this morning, and found the new update, version 3.219.10, to be usable but not 100% accessible. The issues I experienced were:

• VoiceOver was rather sluggish on the Trip Screen. For reference, I'm using an iPhone 7 Plus--so general VoiceOver latency is not an issue.
• At times, while booking a trip, it was not possible for me to change which type of car I wanted if I wanted something other than what was already pre-selected. When this was possible, one could move from page to page by swiping left or right with 3 fingers.
• There were a couple unlabeled buttons on the Trip Screen. I don't know enough about the Uber app (being a first-time user just today) to know what they do, or to have wanted to play around too much to figure out what they do.

Hi there,

I'm facing the following issues using the new Uber app in Bangalore, India:

1. Voice over is not reading out one of the categories of cars.
2. I'm unable to access the menu hence unable to view my history, help, account, profile etc.
3. As people have pointed out, we cannot see the nearest available uber till we provide pick up and drop locations. However, I think this is deliberate and hence do not expect a fix.

I would be reporting the first 2 issues to Uber. I request users to confirm if they are able to replicate the above bugs.

Thanks,
Kunal

Hello.

I would recommend emailing the following address:

support@uber.com

They are pretty responsive when it comes to issues with the application, so might be something to try out and see if anyone gets a response. I've just emailed them, so I'll let you know if I get a response in the comments on this topic.

That email address does not work anymore, it comes back as this email address is not receiving incoming emails.

Thanks I'm doing this now We'll see what happens.

Wearing my journalist hat, I wrote and sent the following email to press@uber.com:

Hello,

Since Uber's recent version 3.219.10 iOS app update, blind customers have been experiencing a number of VoiceOver accessibility issues that limit their ability to use the service.

Several blind Uber users have reported their issues at http://applevis.com/forum/ios-ios-app-discussion/anyone-tried-latest-uber-app.

These concerns include critical functions such as selecting the type of Uber car to be used and determining the amount a trip might cost.

Others have expressed concerns with the accessibility of the driver rating process.

Finally, it appears Uber no longer accepts support email and the help.uber.com website is not screen-reader accessible, meaning blind people are no longer able to receive support or provide feedback to Uber.

I am writing a story for a media outlet covering how Uber intends to address app and service accessibility issues with this most recent app update and moving forward.

I look forward to hearing from someone with Uber no later than Friday, November 11.

Thank you,

Darrell Hilliker
BlindAccessJournal.com

Ok, I got a response I'm very confused about Here it is.

Thanks for reaching out, Sarah.

We are excited to bring the new Uber app everywhere for everyone.

We’ll send you an email when the app becomes available in your city.

You can put your name on this list to be notified about the launch in your city. For more information, visit uber.com/whereto.

I'm not sure what they meant by that, but there it is.

I believe that email was sent out to all customers who use Uber. It's not a direct response from technical support, it's an announcement email.

hi, i got this exact same response when i did a feedback request, and i replied to the email, and asked them quite frankly if this is the kind of email response that everyone is going to get from now on, and if so that it is very disturbing.

Sounds like a big regression to me, it seems that the helpdesk people aren't even aware of what VoiceOver is. Ug. and we were doing so well too. Trust me, guys I am not updating my version of Uber until the issues are fixed, or until the current version stops working.

I also wrote to the Uber folks, and gave them a detailed explanation of the issues people are having, and went out of my way to say that it wasn't an issue that deleting and re-installing the app, or simply rebooting the phone would fix, and that it had everything to do with the re-design of the app and that accessibility features were basicly left completely out. I also told them how disappointed I was that this happened and hopefully the accessibility features would be re-introduced again very soon, because a lot of bblind people rely on Uber, and that the latest app was a real regression with usability for people with visual impairments. i'll let you guys know if I receive anything, most likely a canned response, but we shall see.

I also updated my Uber app and realized it was a big mistake. I cannot figure out how to rate a driver, other than to guess and press the stars in my E-mail post trip, I found I cannot change destination if I want to make more than one stop on my trip, and like others have reported the trip screen is sluggish. I also contacted Uber about the issue. I got a canned response that almost made me wish to toss my device with this shiny app on it across my room. It was some verbiage bout making the app easier for riders. Um... no. Consider that a failed attempt. Anyway, I saw this morning there was already another update. So maybe there have been some tweaks already. Must admit, I'm not too hopeful. That said, we shall see what happens. I'm in hopes hearing from enough of us will bring some action.

Well, one thing I can help you with is how to rate the driver. There are five buttons after it says "rate the driver" in the e-mail. from left to right, they are 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Hope that helps.

Prior to the new version of the app it was possible in my area to schedule a ride in advance. It appears to no longer be possible to do this, at least when using VoiceOver.

Hello,

Uber wants to hear your complaints but not through email. Check out this article. It’s a little old but timely.
http://venturebeat.com/2016/03/30/uber-wants-to-hear-your-complaints-just-not-over-email/

If you folks aren’t getting serious or proper responses to your email, why not contact corporate? I know it sounds tedious but I am willing to bet if you send them a snail mail explaining your situation and why accessability is so important, you will get a response and possibly a direct contact to someone at Uber.

This may not resolve the current issue but think of it as long term once you get the correct contact info.

HTH and good luck.

I doubt that will work. I throw any paper mail I get away and that can easily be done as well as being ignored. It is worth a try but I would not hold my breath.

This is really getting terrible. I received a response but in the app, it just gives me the person's name, and it says how long they replied, i.e. 10 minutes ago. no response other than that, it's like they left their response completely blank. What is going on with them?!

I just received another update today.

I think this update is terrible for me. I can not rate the driver after i use Uber.

Hi I saw that the cars are now split up on to different pages. To get to the other car options such as SUV WAVE and so on flick left with 3 fingers to go through to the second and so on pages. It looks like it is split up into 4 pages.

So I believe I've made some progress with this new design of the app and I was able to successfully set up a trip, but I didn't actually go anywhere because I really didn't need to at the time. I do believe they may have fixed a few of the accessibility issues, because the current version on my phone is 3.219.12, and the initial version where the accessibility problems started was 3.219.09. Ok, here's exactly how it works, or so I'm able to tell. 1. Launch the app, and you are presented with a screen that has a menu button, another button that says where to, and for me, it remembers the last place I went to, which is Kroger. The VoiceOver hint says double-tap to set as destination. 2. Ok, so lets double-tap on where to. We're now presented with a search field where you can enter your destination. you may want to swipe to the left once to make sure that it's got you at the right place. For me, it says home which is right. 3. Swipe once more and you're back to that search field, and if you keep swiping to the right it'll show recent places you've been including home and work shortcuts if you've set them. So lets say for example that I want to go to target. We've got one here in town so I'll type the address into the search field. 4. Ok, it seems to have found it so I double-tapped on the address and VoiceOver reports that it's selected. if I swipe to the left once, VoiceOver says Home, ETA, 3 minutes. You may have to swipe to the top of the screen to get this to work, but it should work ok. 5. now if you keep swiping to the right you'll find a back button, followed by another element that says popular, page . 6. if you keep swiping to the right it shows in my area that UBERx is 5 to 7 dollars, and UBER xl is 9 to 11 dollars. if you swipe to the right a couple more times you'll land on the request Uber x button. I haven't played with it anywhere beyond that, so i'll have to try it next time i'm out and we shall see if they've made any improovements from 3.219.09 to 12.

I just had to chime in once I saw that someone else has the same issue I'm having with the new Uber app. I can no longer rate drivers. Sure, I can give them a star rating through email, butI enjoyed the ability to thank them again in the app for good service. Of course, I thank them when they drop me off, but being able to leave them that little thank you note made me feel good. Both of the drivers I've had since the update hit say that they're not liking it either; they made a bunch of changes to the app for drivers as well, and it seems that most of those changes aren't welcome ones. Updating to add new features or fix bugs is great, but why did Uber have to change the entire interface when it worked just fine the old way? Also, I don't like that we can't enter our pickup address any more; it only says where to. I always send a text message to my drivers to explain where to pick me up at my work place, and even that has changed. It used to just send the message from right within the uber app, but now it completely takes you out of Uber into the messages app. My drivers say it does the same with their GPS. So, over all, no love for the new Uber app, at least not in my area.

Has anyone else been receiving customized, yet nonsensical, responses from Uber?

See the thread below.

Hello Ayanna,

Your response does not make sense, since my iPhone 7 is running iOS 10.1, the latest version of iOS.

I have now received three inaccurate, incomplete, thoughtless responses from Uber on my support request.

Please escalate this case to a supervisor immediately.

Regards,

Darrell Hilliker
BlindAccessJournal.com

On 11/4/2016 4:55 PM, Uber Support wrote:
> UBER
> RESPONSE REQUESTED
> New Uber app feedback
>
> Hi Darrell,
>
> Thank you for contacting Uber Support
>
> So sorry to hear about this. This definitely does not sound like the kind of experience I would want to have.
>
> Unfortunately You will need to update the device.
>
> We appreciate your feedback and time, do have a great day.
>
> Sent by Ayanna W. on Friday, November 4, 2016 at 11:54:51 PM
> Continue this conversation by replying to this email or going to help in your Uber app.
> PREVIOUS MESSAGES
> not A&D, tech issue with latest update.
> Sent by Steve on Friday, November 4, 2016 at 10:39:50 PM
> Hello Bruce T, Your response contained no content. Please advise. Thanks, Darrell Hilliker BlindAccessJournal.com
> Sent by Darrell S. on Friday, November 4, 2016 at 7:30:39 AM
> .
> Sent by Bruce T. on Friday, November 4, 2016 at 5:01:21 AM
> Suggestions For The New Uber App: Hello, Since Uber's recent version 3.219.10 iOS app update, blind customers have been experiencing a number of VoiceOver accessibility issues that limit their ability to use the service. Several blind Uber users have reported their issues at http://applevis.com/forum/ios-ios-app-discussion/anyone-tried-latest-uber-app. These concerns include critical functions such as selecting the type of Uber car to be used and determining the amount a trip might cost. Others have expressed concerns with the accessibility of the driver rating process. Finally, it appears Uber no longer accepts support email and the help.uber.com website is not screen-reader accessible, meaning blind people are no longer able to receive support or provide feedback to Uber. I am writing a story for a media outlet covering how Uber intends to address app and service accessibility issues with this most recent app update and moving forward. I look forward to hearing from someone with Uber no later than Friday, November 11. Thank you, Darrell Hilliker BlindAccessJournal.com
> Sent by Darrell S. on Thursday, November 3, 2016 at 11:31:37 PM
> Uber Technologies Inc.
> 1455 Market Street San Francisco, CA 94103

All this talk of issues with this app kinda makes me want to stay away from it. Ugh.

yes, i've goten bunches of them, and they gave me ten dollars in credit towards my next ride, but i explained to them, that giving me credit doesn't solve the problems we are trying to bring to their attention.

I have no idea if this will end up accomplishing anything or not, but I sent a direct message to @Uber_Support on twitter. I provided the link to this thread, so that if they want to learn what issues we're experiencing, they will be able to do so more easily. It may not accomplish anything, but only took a few seconds, and I figured it certainly couldn't hurt.

hi their, i also have found another issue, when checking on a trip, when checking on a driver, the eta button seems to be hit or mis.

Like I was saying in an earlier post in the thread I've successfully been able to set up a trip, but I haven't actually requested a ride. Have you guys found any issues with contacting the driver, or doing a fare split with a friend? All of this worked beautifully in the earlier version, why couldn't they have just left well enough alone? I understand needing to have a new version but this is truly sad, when a company that finally understands accessibility takes a huge step back like this.

I just wrote them a polite but forceful letter and sent it off via email. We'll see if that makes the right waves. This time I want to make as big of waves as possible.

Ok, I received a less then steller response. It seems very canned. Here you go.

UBER
RESPONSE REQUESTED
NEW UBER APP FEEDBACK

Hi Sarah

I’m Azhar from Uber Support Team. I really hope you are having an excellent day, I'm happy to help with this issue. I apologize for the inconvenience you faced.

We're sorry to hear about difficulties you may have experienced using the new Uber app. We designed the app experience to make Uber even easier to use and to unlock new ways to save riders more time and money. The app redesign also allows us to build even more features that mean the most to riders like you.

Your feedback is valuable and will be reviewed by our team. We’ll be sure to reach out if more information if needed. Stay tuned for future product updates.

Hoping to hear from you real soon and please do not hesitate to raise any concern and we will be more than happy to assist you further. Have a nice day!

Sent by azhar k. on Saturday, November 5, 2016 at 8:42:48 PM
Continue this conversation by replying to this email or going to help in your Uber app.
PREVIOUS MESSAGES
Thanks for the reply, however this has nothing to do with the feedback I sent. Rate screen is absent, at least according to voiceover, the screen reader that ships with iOS 3 and above. Also the contact button is hit and miss with voiceover. Here is a link to some feedback. If this is not resolved, i will be contacting corporate and asking for changes, in a not so nice way. I'm a member of an organization for the blind with a lot of power behind us, so please consider making the app more accessible, or I will be forced to use my powers at be. I don't want to do that by the way. I'd rather see the changes in the next update. Please work with us, not against us. Take care and here's the link. http://applevis.com/forum/ios-ios-app-discussion/has-anybody-tried-latest-release-uber-app#new The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.
Sent by Sarah A. on Saturday, November 5, 2016 at 7:47:41 PM
Thanks for reaching out, Sarah.

We are excited to bring the new Uber app everywhere for everyone.

We’ll send you an email when the app becomes available in your city.

You can put your name on this list to be notified about the launch in your city. For more information, visit uber.com/whereto.
Sent by Etu a. on Friday, November 4, 2016 at 1:32:23 AM
Suggestions For The New Uber App: I'm a user of your app and have some feedback. I'm visually impaired and I and others notice that we are having issues with the latest update. You can view the feedback at the following link. http://applevis.com/forum/ios-ios-app-discussion/anyone-tried-latest-uber-app#new Thanks.
Sent by Sarah A. on Thursday, November 3, 2016 at 11:18:31 PM
Uber Technologies Inc.
1455 Market Street San Francisco, CA 94103

It looks like they will not fix the problem bassed on that response. Thoughts?