Visible wireless is a prepaid carrier that is in the USA. It runs on the Verizon network. Last week my best friend tried to use the hotspot on more than one device. This is supposed to be included on the $45 plan It didn't work. After 10 hours of chatting in and not getting it fixed I did get Visible to admit it is an issue on their end. Note that didn't happen until the next day when it was sent to teer two. If you are willing to overlook that what you can't overlook is there lack of commitment to accessibility! below is what I posted to their forum in its entirety.
so the unlimited hotspot still doesn't work on more than one device on my best friends account. More over in looking at other companies I decided to
see are other companies as bad as Visible with accessibility? could I successfully and quickly chat with a human? why yes I could. Could I choose my
reason for chatting in? Why yes I could. Can I get a sound to play because being totally blind you aren't going to see the flashy thing that pops up.
Yep see another companies statement on accessibility.
https://www.cricketwireless.com/support/accessibility/accessibility-for-all
Oh and BTW to turn on the chat sound you simply go into chat settings. it says "play sound off" you just press enter. All messages are automatically
read by a screen reader when both sent and received. And they actually have "accessibility experts and an email to contact them should you find something
they missed. If only Visible had this level of commitment to accessibility for all they would be 10 stars! Note this is being posted after more than
a year of complaining numerous times about Visibles accessibility. When you can't pick the reason you want to chat in its a problem! When you can't independently
upgrade your plan even though you have an iPhone which has the best accessibility for a blind person because it isn't accessible because Visible failed to follow the WCAG guidelines and make it fully accessible with Voiceover its a problem! When you can't successfully shop in the app because it is not accessible with Voiceover its a problem! These are major issues! Visible has shown through their actions it is not a priority for them to fix these problems!!!
Comments
I'm in the UK but
It's great you're getting the word out there, these people need to be heled accountable.
I tried to work with them
I repeatedly tried to work with them. I keep getting the lip service it is "on our road map" When they roled out the new visible plus 2.0 I expected the sign up screen to be fully accessible. It is not. in a brief test of Cricket wireless website and app all WCAG guidelines are followed and it is night and day a different experience.
Are yo uable to switch?
I'd do it in a heartbeat if I were you,, it's clear they don't care in the slightest.
yes will be switching
Yep I will switch next week The other advantage with Cricket over Visible is 1 the ability to call and speak to someone.
2 physical stores should you need them.
3 everything is accessible.
4 discounts if you have more than one line.
5 if you needed to change your bill do date you can do that.
6 bridge pay. That gives you the avility to pay part of your bill this week and the other part in another week.
Sounds great!
Good luck.
please share
Please share this post. The word needs to get out. Thanks.
I recently switche to them I'm happy
I'm paying a lot less for arguably more stable service, my hot spot works as intended and I've had no issues with their chat on the windows side other than the typical issues with scripted tech support reps. I'm sorry the iOS app is giving you trouble, truly I am, but I haven't found a comparably priced plan that meets all my needs especially for hot spot. You get 10 mbps down and up on their plus plan, and it's unlimited, that matters a lot to me since I use multiple devices on the go.
the unlimited hot spot didn't work on a iPhone when last checked
It was just checked a week ago and it didn't work. If you got it to work using a iPhone consider yourself lucky. I agree that chat works if on a windows computer. However if it is any kind of major problem expect to be waiting days for it to get resolved if it does. They continue to struggle with complex issues often having you repeat the same steps multiple times. As for the app not working there is no excuse for it. They should be following the WCAG standards and they aren't.
Satisfied Visible customer here.
Hi Dennis, I’ve been a Visible+ customer for a year, am happy with their wireless service, and am mostly satisfied with the accessibility of the Visible products and services I’ve used, including customer support chat and their iOS and Android apps. If you could provide or point me to details of the accessibility issues you’ve encountered, I’ll take time to try replicating the issues, and if I can replicate them I’ll submit my bug reports to Visible. I’ll need the following standard bug reporting details:
Cheers, Bryan
iOS app not accessible in the following areas
1 go to chat.
2 select live chat
3 type why your chatting with them
4 then there is a combo box. Voiceover reads the choices as all one choice you can't select the one you need.
Also in the app if you go to switch to the new visible plus plan you can't do so with out using screen recognition because the last screen where you try to confirm everything is not accessible.
Their chat is awful, but I'm still a happy customer
I've had some major problems with their chat in the past, so generally try to not go to them for help unless absolutely necessary, and every now and then I look at switching--both sets of problems with them have been around eSims not working if that helps. Over all, though, I've really enjoyed my service. It's stable, and I've gotten hotspot working well, too. I can't find anything that gives me as much data for as little coin, with service as steady as theirs is. Until that happens, I can put up with the less than stellar customer service experience, especially because I don't need it often. It's so strange, though, because the first time I had to reach out to them for a problem I got someone fabulous who helped me solve the problem so quickly. I have no idea what happened.
this has been a problem
This has been a problem and despite people who are part of their forums and engaging with the company they aren't resolved nor are the accessibility issues. Again not being able to use the app do do all things including purchase phones, chat, switch plans etc is a problem. They are a chat based company with no phone number. If you don't have a pc you are up the creek. Compare this with Cricket who follows all accessibility standards and the only thing they don't give you is the unlimited hotspot. Which what good is Visibles hotspot if you can't have more then one device connected at a time. If you are paying for multi device hotspot that is what you should get.
Was with Visible before also, not impressed.
I had a lot of the same issues. Even doing things like enabling face id was a royal pain. Wouldn't go back even if they paid me instead of the other way around, unless you did chat via windows, it was a disaster. One of the worst apps I used while still on iOS. Not sure how their Android app stacks up, but also not eager to find out. lol
Right now I'm using Straight Talk, but might look in to Cricket. Have heard pretty good things about them.
In case anyone's unaware
If this has not been clear before, let me give you a heads up on all this "low cost' companies. I'm with one myself, Spectrum mobile. I love the price point but the service outside my complex, which should be getting better but I don't hold my breath yet, isn't their fault. Why isn't it, you ask? Because Visible, probably cricket, Spectrum mobile, all piggyback on larger companies towers. So AT&T probably has cricket, Spectrum mobile i know for a fact uses verizon, t-mobile probably also uses a large company, see where i'm going with this? The reason these companies can charge so low is they're not paying for the upkeep of the towers, the cost to put new ones in, the matinance of the towers that might not be working right. Hopefully you get what you need out of any company you choose. I just wanted to clarify that point. I'm not faulting anyone cell choices or are commiserating on what service might be good or bad.
You cannot tell people what…
You cannot tell people what they should and should not use. You can state your view and the reasons that support that view, but you can't straight up say to people that they shouldn't use it just because of what you think. That places you in a bad position, because according to some people here, they are not having the issue.
Never Heard of that Company But...
I hadn't heard of Visible Wireless before, but it sounds like my new mail-order pharmacy might have the same setup i.e., they're piggybacking off of other pharmacies. The pharmacy website happens to be very accessible on the Mac with VoiceOver, so no problem there at least for now. Additionally, I got my meds on time and they are the correct ones. But the only reason I bring this up is that some of these smaller companies do care and want to do the right thing.
I can't always agree
I would agree with you accept for the last year I've been stressing the importance of accessibility I even sent them the apple developer guidelines on how to make their app accessible. They roled out a new plan and it along with the chat combo box still wasn't accessible. That is a huge problem.
@justin
Justin cricket is an example of what a company should do. Everything is 100% accessible. There is an option for the chat sound at least on a pc you go into chat setting it says play sound off you hit enter its on. Not only that I had a friend who is on a trial he had a tower down. He chatted in with them They knew what they were doing and said it will be fixed on this date. Also in the link I posted on my original post it is to Cricket's accessibility statement. Why is this important. In that link is an email if we missed anything or could do better please contact us. That goes miles. That is an company that wants to get it right. They care!