A few weeks ago I wrote about accessibility issues in an iOSapp from The University of Wisconsin app for following Badger football. This is just a short update to say that the University has been very responsive around these issues and corrected the problems I detailed within a couple weeks. The latest update to the app has improved support for VoiceOver.
Leave a CommentCategory: Accessibility
As I’ve written here previously, I’m an alum of the University of Wisconsin and take pride in having attended the school and my degree. I’m also a sports fan so enjoy following the Wisconsin Badgers and fall Saturdays still remind me of the many rich traditions in Madison that go along with Badger football. Today I noticed a tweet from @BadgerFootball talking about a new Wisconsin Football Gameday app to stay in touch with,…
Leave a CommentMuch has been written about the accessibility challenges posed by CAPTCHA systems on the internet. Today the most common solution to address accessibility for individuals who are blind is to have some sort of audio replacement for the typical visual verification of characters in an image. Shortcomings of this solution aside, this is the system that Ticketmaster uses when you attempt to purchase tickets. Recently I tried to buy tickets to a Seattle Mariners…
Leave a CommentEvery March I do an annual hunt for an online site to complete an NCAA basketball tournament bracket in an accessible fashion. I’ve yet to see one of the major sports sites figure out how to make this experience accessible. Terrill Thompson’s accessible bracket work does deserve to be called out though as a positive example of what can be done. And of course if you know of other examples of good web accessibility here…
2 CommentsWhile it is old news now, about a month ago Adobe updated their accessible version of Digital Editions. You can read full details in a blog post from Adobe. According to Adobe, the main improvement is the ability to read continuously with a screen reader with this update. I have had no success at getting this update to work on multiple computers with JAWS or NVDA. I’ve left comments with Adobe and exchanged email.…
Leave a CommentIn my blog post on libraries, OverDrive and Amazon, I mentioned trying the Kindle reading apps on various platforms and not having success. I’ve now learned that Amazon offers a Windows version of the Kindle app that does support some level of accessibility. Amazon’s main Kindle for PC page makes no reference to this accessible option so I’m not sure how customers are supposed to know about it. I’ll ignore the absolute failure of web…
One CommentAmazon and OverDrive both made announcements today talking about library users being able to borrow Kindle eBooks for reading on the multitude of Kindle platforms Amazon has out in the marketplace. The Amazon press release says in part: Amazon today announced Kindle Library Lending, a new feature launching later this year that will allow Kindle customers to borrow Kindle books from over 11,000 libraries in the United States. Kindle Library Lending will be available…
3 CommentsEarlier I wrote about my hope to see improved accessibility from CBS College Sports All Access. As of that writing I was told the accessibility fixes were expected on November 10. That day came and went with no update. I received a brief update today from the people I’ve been exchanging e-mail with at the University of Wisconsin about the accessibility issues. we received this info from cbs last Thursday. There was a…
One CommentKindle for PC, software that’s supposed to allow you to read the more than 360,000 books Amazon touts as being available for the Kindle is now available from the online retail giant. Disappointing, albeit not surprising, accessibility seems to be lacking. Trying the application with JAWS, Window-Eyes, NVDA and even Narrator produced nothing meaningful. JAWS was silent as I tabbed around beyond announcing a title of the opening screen telling me to register the…
2 CommentsWorking from home today I had an experience that is really a microcosm of today’s computing accessibility experiences. I’ve often thought I should take the time to do a kind of day in the life of accessibility as it were but given that I haven’t yet, 15 minutes or so will have to do. Given that I work for Microsoft and the Internet Explorer team, I’m going to toss in the disclaimer that these comments…
Leave a Comment