Sonos app and voiceover and ongoing commitment to accessibility

By Cameron Roles, 5 April, 2015

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Hi to those of you who own a Sonos,

I'm thinking of buying a Sonos sound system, and was wondering whether accessibility has been consistent, and whether you have had any interactions, positive or negative,with the Sonos company concerning accessibility? I know the app is currently accessible, but I would like to know more about this company's commitment to accessibility before I shell out $1000 plus on a sound system. Of course any decision to purchase will be mine, and I won't hold you responsible!!!

Take care
Cam

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Comments

By Jurgen on Friday, April 24, 2015 - 22:56

Hi Cam,

Sonos works great with VoiceOver for mor then a year. I know someone who's blind and who was personally involved to make it accessible as a beta tester. He told me they were very interested and open to make it accessible.

So, of course no one can assure it but in my opinion they will go on in this cool direction. Last big update a few weeks ago made no difference in terms of accessibility.

All the best
Jürgen

By fastfinge on Friday, April 24, 2015 - 22:56

I have a Sonos system, and have for 7 months, now. I'm in the Beta program, so am under an NDA with Sonos. But I think it's OK for me to say that the latest major version I've tested has not broken any existing access features.

Everything on the system is completely accessible, with one major issue. When you try to add a music service, swipe does not work on the add service screen; to find the service you want to add, you have to explore around with touch. I've reported this to the developers, but it hasn't been fixed in any Sonos release yet, I think this is more because the devs are having trouble understanding the issue, not lack of willingness. So there is hope! If you get a Sonos system, file this bug and help me communicate about it; I think it's my communication skills at fault, so another bug report would probably move things forward. Other bugs reported in the previous beta (for a while, voiceover couldn't see the time elapsed and time remaining on the now playing screen) have been fixed promptly.

In the meantime, if you want to add a music service to your Sonos system, the best way is to use the Windows or Mac Sonos apps. They are also completely accessible. Unlike many companies, Sonos offers accessibility on all platforms, not just IOS. So I think despite the one bug I listed above, this shows that they're pretty committed.

By Cameron Roles on Friday, April 24, 2015 - 22:56

Thank you very much for this feedback. Cam