Using Netflix app with VoiceOver on iPhone

By peter, 26 January, 2015

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

I have been trying to use the Netflix app on my iPhone 6 running iOS 8.1.2. There are several issues I've encountered when trying to use this app with VoiceOver and wonder if anyone else has experienced these issues and/or has developed some workarounds.

1. Often when I click on the title of a video (which VoiceOver identifies as a "button"), nothing happens. Sometimes I will have to double tap the video title / button four or five times before the phone goes into landscape mode and starts playing the video.

2. On the screen with my wish list, I do see a line entitled My Wish List" with various videos below it. Above this, however, I also see a line that says "continue watching". Below this line are the titles of videos which I've watched (these are also identified as "buttons"). Question: How do I get rid of these already watched items? They are beginning to pile up and clutter the display. Again, tapping on these items doesn't reliably work to open them. I'll sometimes have to double tap a number of times before any item is activated.

Are these problems just associated with using voiceOver with the Netflix app or is this just a poorly designed application?

Also, there are several buttons near the top of each display that appear to not have any lables.

Thanks for any suggestions using this app.

--Pete

Options

Comments

I just looked at the app again. When you find the show you want to watch double click on it and a popup box will appear. You will need to move your finger around the screen for VO to recognize the box. Once in it you can swipe to rate the show, get a discription, add it to your list and play the movie or show. the play button is on the upper left corner and the close button is on the upper right corner. I hope this helps.

By Usman on Friday, February 13, 2015 - 02:20

Whats with all the unlabelled buttons?

By James Malone on Monday, April 13, 2015 - 02:20

Hi everyone. So I listened to the podcast and read the guide on using this app both which were posted some time ago. It would appear that a lot has changed though. In no way have I been able to explore the screen or access the lists under each heading. At the top I see a landmark, followed by a heading that says trending, under which are a bunch of movies headings and things. Is this app even remotely useable now? I can't even see anything like a button to switch genres, etc.
Any help would be really appreciated.

By peter on Monday, April 13, 2015 - 02:20

I have observed many of these same issues with Netflix when using voiceOver. the interface is not intuitive and difficult to use with VoiceOver. I'm surprised they did such a poor job of this. I think it is time for us to start writing to their support department to make them aware of these issues. There is no excuse for such a poor design these days.

--Pete

By James Malone on Monday, April 13, 2015 - 02:20

So I got a chance to try it on an iPad, and it works fine. You have to explore around to get to the buttons you want, but I was expecting that. I got a friend with an iPhone 6+ to test it and it works fine, does anyone successfully use it on a 5S? I don't have an iPad. I've also been told it works on an Apple TV, I've never really messed with those so yeah I'm not sure.

By Jesse on Monday, April 13, 2015 - 02:20

I've been using this app successfully ever since I got my phone 2 years ago. It might not be perfect but I don't think we need to write every company that has an app that isn't 100 percent efffective for us. It's just a matter of using the work-arounds.

By treky fan on Monday, April 13, 2015 - 02:20

Hi. I have been using Netflix for a few months now. It works pretty well on a 5s, although, you do have to do some explore by touch to find some things on the screen.

By James Malone on Monday, April 13, 2015 - 02:20

Exploring isn't the problem. In fact, from what I've seen from other people the app seems quite useable. As I drag my finger round the screen, its literally reading nothing. I could swipe 10 times and finally hear something like, season 1. Same happens when dragging my finger round, I'll randomly land on an icon but exploring around it or even remotely near it still yields nothing.

By Mlth on Monday, April 13, 2015 - 02:20

Hi

I've been using the netflix app fairly successfully with the iPhone 6 and iPod touch for a while.
The two unlabeled buttons are search and a sort of menu button (for browsing by genre, switching profile and such).
Regarding the focus on the video in question, I found that scrolling sometimes helps (with 3-finger swiping til you get to the page VoiceOver is focused on in sync with the screen).

Best, Malthe.

By Julia on Monday, April 13, 2015 - 02:20

Hello,
My name is Julia Marks and I work at Disability Rights Advocates, a non-profit legal center (more info at dralegal.org). We are investigating complaints about screen-reader access barriers on the Netflix website and mobile applications. If you are interested in sharing your experiences with barriers on Netflix, please contact me at (510) 665-8644.

By bonerobot on Saturday, May 13, 2017 - 02:20

Hello,

i use the netflix app on a Iphone 6 which runns with IOS 10.3. I tested Netflix 2 years ago and I noticed that Netflix gets many many improvements. 99% of all labels are labled and the play/pause rewind menue gets more accessible.
But I've a question about the scrolling from episodes of a tV-show.
For example: I want look "The walking dead" if I swipe right to check all episodes it automatically swipe back. I don't want to swipe with three fingers up it's unconfortable and it's a strange way. I want to check all episodes without getting automatically back.
I'm a big fan of the Amazon Instant Video app on IOS which is 100% accessible and it makes fun to search all shows and movies. But I want to watch some Netflix
origininals.
thanks