Hi Anything for iPhone please? Keep it up Bhavesh...
rgs On 9/30/13, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: > M-Indicator: Implementing accessibility can help make a difference > > The second one in ‘App a Month’ blog series by BarrierBreak to talk about > Mobile App Accessibility! This time Bhavesh, who is blind chose to review > one of the most popular travelling apps – the ‘M-indicator’. He shares his > experience below. > > Why M-Indicator? > Every day I travel from Vikhroli to Goregaon to come to office and vice > versa. Sighted people can see the indicator as soon as they reach the > railway station. However for me, this app is very useful, as I can check > the time table of the trains or buses in real time, whenever I need > without sighted assistance. This app also helps me to check which buses > arrive on a particular bus stop wherever I happen to be. This is very > helpful when there are no people nearby whom I can ask about the timings > and do not have to be dependent on someone for the train or bus details. > > M-Indicator with Talkback > The app was reviewed for accessibility on the stock android, running > Jellybean 4.3 OS, on the Google nexus 7 tablet. The app was tested using > “Talkback”, a free screen reader available for android platform, which > enables the visually impaired users access the android devices based on > spoken descriptions. > > Features of the app > The following are some key features that this app offers: > > Railway: Checking the railway time table for the trains across Mumbai, > View Indicator Symbols used to indicate station names on the railway > station indicator, Railway ticket fare etc. > Get quick updates on rickshaws and taxi fares per KM, so that you know how > much to pay while traveling. > Bus: includes buses arriving at particular bus stop, Search buses between > source and destination. > View category wise list of picnic spots e.g. Beaches, Hill stations, > Waterfalls, Caves etc. > Note: at this point, the talkback screen reader does not support the auto > complete feature in the case of apps. The auto complete feature is where > you enter data in an input field, and the list of suggestions gets > populated. > > So let’s get on with the review. > > My experience > Railway > When I launch the app for the first time, the talkback screen reader read > the advertisements which appear on most of the screens, followed by the > list of features such as “Railway”, “Bus” etc. However it did not announce > the element type such as link or button for each item that is present on > the screen. The screen reader also did not announce the Hints to activate > the element. Hints are descriptions which are provided specifically for > screen reader users; that include information about gestures that required > to be used to interact with an element. > > I did some guess work and double tapped on “Railway” to see whether it > opens another screen, and it worked! The app loaded “You are at” screen of > the railway section. I noticed that first Talkback screen reader announced > “Button” for some buttons, followed by “Home 1″, “Home 2″ and > so on. When I asked a sighted friend who was next to me, he told me that > visually the information was laid out differently for sighted users. > > Actually the screen was divided in to 2 rows, and the buttons correspond > to “Home 1″ and “Home 2″, and “Office 1″ and “Office > 2″ icons respectively on the screen which was very confusing. When I > activated the first button, a pop-up was displayed containing the > instruction to click on “*” icon to make a bookmark for home and another > “*” icon to make it a bookmark for office. However this instruction went > over my head like a bouncer goes over the batsman’s head in a cricket > match. In other words the instruction did not specify the necessary steps > to achieve the same. > > After reading the instruction from the pop-up, I search for “OK” button or > “Close” button for the pop-up to close. However the same was not present > on the screen. > > Next, from the “You are at” screen of the railway section I tapped on “W” > for western railway (Again through guess work!) as the same was not > announced as a button. On the activated screen, I had to select the > direction I needed to go. Again the information was laid out differently > for sighted users. Screen reader announced “Churchgate followed by > “Button”, and then a “Button” followed by “Dahanu road”. This was > frustrating! > > Once I selected the direction, the list of trains was displayed. A good > thing to note here is that the screen reader read the list of available > trains, including their expected timings. I could select the train I need > to catch and know the list of stations it halts at. > > Next I accessed the “Ticket fare” screen of the same section. But I could > not enter the source and destination in the respective input fields. I had > to manually select the stations displayed after activating the unlabeled > buttons besides “Source” and “Destination” input fields respectively to > get the ticket fare. > > The rail map was displayed using images that lacked alternate textual > description, due to which I could not access the information that was > conveyed using the map. > > Bus > I accessed “Bus number” screen from this section. I entered the bus number > in the “Search” input field. However there was no “Search” button. Instead > the list of suggestions gets populated on the screen, as soon as I started > entering the data. > > Conclusion > While the app seems really useful to get the information at hand, it is > not accessible for visually impaired users. > > Note: Although I have discussed the findings of the elements present in > the railway and bus sections, the findings apply to all of the internal > screens where such elements are used. Apart from the issues I mentioned > above, issues, such as inaccurate and incomplete titles for screens, > incomplete labels for input fields, incorrect instructions and missing > instructions on some screens make the app more difficult to use. > > If this app is made accessible, this will surely become my favorite app! > Let’s hope that this review helps to identify the issues present in the > app to make it accessible. I would urge developers to develop more of such > apps and make them accessible, so that all can use them effectively, > including the people with disabilities. > > > Thanks & Regards > Ramya Venkitesh - BarrierBreak > > > > Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of > mobile phones / Tabs on: > http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > [email protected] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the > person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails > sent through this mailing list.. > -- "Security is a superstition. Avoiding danger is no safer than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing." "What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us." - Ms. Helen Keller Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
