Hi Sieghard, Thanks for trying this. It’s similar to the response I received through Customer Support, only much more blatant. I was a bit more encouraged by the response to a direct message through Twitter, but only time will tell. I agree that the more requests for VoiceOver accessibility they get, the more likely they are to respond.
One thing that could be tried through Customer Support, is to specifically request they forward thie issue on to what they call Tier 3. I learned about this when dealing with Customer Support about a possibly defective unit. I understand Tier 3 to be their home office folks, which I believe are in California. I believe Customer Support to be widely distributed among at least several countries, based on the range of accents I have encountered during phone support sessions. Keith From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Sieghard Weitzel Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2016 11:36 AM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: My exchange with Neato Robotics customer care regarding accessibility Hello, I don’t currently own a Neato robotic vacuum, but I’m interested and of course was not optimistic when I read recently that accessibility of the Neato app has taken a step backwards in recent updates. This makes me wonder if they decide to release an update in a month or in 2 or next year which will make the app completely inaccessible. Then I spent several hundred Dollars extra to get a connected vacuum for nothing. I decided to write to Neato via their website. I actually also called their support and explained to the person who answered what I was after. He was actually sympathetic and promised he would bring this up with management or his supervisor, but he als encouraged me to send in feedback via the website. In my message I explained about Voiceover and how many large companies like Apple, Google and others are putting significant efforts and resources towards accessibility but also that individual developers must do their part. I explained what I heard about the Neato app regarding accessibility and asked if Neato Robotics would not take a look at the resources that Apple makes available on their developer portal regarding accessibility guidelines and so on. The first reply I received totally missed the point and the customer service person asked if I was tryingt o control Neato with Alexa or voice commands. I wrote another email again describing what Voiceover is and does and below is the reply I received: ##- Please type your reply above this line -## Your request (306672) has been updated. To add additional comments, reply to this email. Dermot (Neato Robotics) Dec 1, 14:11 UTC Good Morning Mr Weizel . I have read your mail and unfortunately at this time can I help you. There may be a work around via Alexa. This can be Purchased from Amazon you can give voice commands to the Neato via Alexa. It is a similar to Siri, There is a link to Amazons site. https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201848700 You can give Alexa Voice commands to clean cycles . I hope this can be of assistance to you Have a nice day Dermot Neato Robotics Customer Care I just replied that this message is not at all helpful and that I am not willing to accept it as is. I told the guy that just because I am blind I should not be expected to spend another $180 on top of an already expensive product just so I can use said product. Furthermore I told him that I am in Canada and Amazon Canada does not even offer the Echo here and it is not officially supported. I asked that my message is forwarded to a higher level of support or a manager/supervisor. Given by the guys English it is obvious that he probably sits in some call/response centre in India or the Philippines and I am curious as to whether I get a reply from somebody else now or if it ends here. I can only encourage all who own a Neato and all who are interested as well as all who simply like to support something which will benefit all in the long run to take a few minutes and write their request to make the Neato app more accessible. If Neato suddenly receives 20 or 30 or 50 requests they maybe take it more seriously than if they receive 2 or 3. Below is the email address and toll free phone number for the US, for those who use social media like Twitter and Facebook more than I do it probably is also a good idea to post there. I think this can be effective since posts and replies can be seen by everybody so an unhelpful reply like the email above is probably not a good thing for any company. Here now the info: Customer care email: customerc...@neatorobotics.com<mailto:customerc...@neatorobotics.com> Toll Free: +1-877-296-3286 Best regards, Sieghard -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. 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