Help, the BBC Sounds app seems to be completely inaccessible

By Ken, 20 February, 2019

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

The bbc has recently launched its sounds app putting music radio and podcasts in one place. It appears however to be incompatible with voiceover as it will not respond to taps or swipes and has no buttons. Has anyone had experience with using the app on an iPhone. I have an iPhone 8 and all software is up to date

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Comments

By Pyro2790 on Wednesday, February 27, 2019 - 02:39

What did you search in the app store to find this app? I typed BBC sounds and just BBC and don't see anything with that title. Trying to see if i had any luck with VoiceOver support.

By Eileen on Wednesday, February 27, 2019 - 02:39

This is not my experience of the app.

As with all BBC apps, the level of VoiceOver support is excellent. It's a great app and a breeze to use.

If you haven't done so already, I would suggest that you remove and reinstall the app ... just in case the original installation is corrupt.

By Clare Page on Wednesday, February 27, 2019 - 02:39

Hi! I noticed that the first comment here was about being unable to find the BBC Sounds app: that's the same for me, but I am pretty sure of the reason why, namely that this app is only available in the UK, as far as I can tell, since I can't find it in the French App Store, even though other BBC apps are there. So only people in the UK will be able to test the accessibility of BBC Sounds. This is well worth pointing out, in case anyone outside the UK is tempted to try this app.

By steven carey on Wednesday, February 27, 2019 - 02:39

Hi,

Just like the other person in the UK who posted about the BBC Sounds app, my experience is that it is really accessible.

The BBC Sounds app is a really good addition to the BBC portfolio and is just as accessible as the BBC Wheather and BBC News apps. All i can suggest is downloading again.

Steve.

By Bingo Little on Wednesday, February 27, 2019 - 02:39

My first reaction to this app went further, in fact. It struck me as more accessible than any of the othres, which are already very accessible. Either way, it works very well. So uninstalling and reinstalling is your best bet....unless you have found another app with a similar name and simply have the wrong app?

By alex wallis on Wednesday, February 27, 2019 - 02:39

the bbc sounds app is accessible, but I do have some issues with it, in particular if I am playing a long program the slider to navigate within a program isn't VoiceOver accessible, which means its really not fun to navigate in a long program using the buttons that navigate a few seconds at a time.
Secondly there is no option within the app to submit feedback or contact them to report issues, I tried going on the bbc website but they tried to pigeonhole me through a contact form which was very limited in terms of word count I could use, and I would have preferred just a straight forward email address. I had a go at trying to use the chat feature that is available on the website but I couldn't find a screen reader accessible option to even try the web chat during the times the website says it is operational.
Next they talk about being able to subscribe to podcasts, in the case of programs where iPlayer has both podcasts and as broadcast versions of programs I don't see podcast versions when searching, whereas iplayer raido seems to provide both. also navigating programs I have followed in bbc sounds doesn't seem as simple as in iplayer radio, as it shows all latest episodes for programs rather than just options I can tap on for programs then navigate the episodes, over all I still prefer iPlayer radio and don't plan to switch till I am forced. I am concerned though that they might switch off iPlayer radio without making the slider for program navigation accessible.