Accessibility for People with Visual Impairments (voice/audio)

[accessable2019]

I would like to see in a future Versa or an update of your app for the Versa watch from Fitbit made to talk for those who are blind or hard of hearing blind or those who are legally blind so that we are able to read your watch the same way as other fitbit customers that do not have a visual handicap use your product. 

An audible feature to your watch and app would be greatly appreciated in that it would greatly enhance its user friendliness and enhance the quality of our lives. It would also give us verbal readout of notifications on the watch itself. 

I thank your development team in advance for your time. 

Have a wonderful day. 

Sincerely Yours,

Moderator edit: Subject for clarity and labels.

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello @accessable2019,

Thanks for taking the time to share this product feedback. We appreciate your candid feedback on this topic. We believe everyone should be able to access and enjoy our products and we’re working on ways to improve support for our customers experiencing disabilities.

To learn more about accessibility features and support on Fitbit devices, see our help article: Which accessibility features are available on my Fitbit device?

[Alohagirls]

I just purchased two Fitbit Charge 3 of my elderly parents.  The font size is so small that I have to return them both as neither will be able to get the use out of them they desire.  I realize they could view the information on the Fitbit app, and for some of us that’s a great option.  My mother wants to be able to leave her phone at home while still having the option of seeing the information on the fitness tracker.  I really did want to like the device.

[accessable2019]

I hope other people are reading my comments about accessibility to the visually impaired and deaf/blind. 

[IReadDots]

My new FitBit Inspire HR has the ability to vibrate alerts for silent alarms, reminders to move, notifications for text messages and calendar events and such. So it seems this capability to provide tactile feedback already exists and seems strange that none of the FitBit app’s fitness features offer the same alerts. FitBit is a fitness tracker first and a watch and notification device second. Many of us, however, are totally unable to access this portion of our device because we cannot see to read the screen. If I want to check my heart rate, see if I’ve entered a desired heart rate zone, achieved desired distance on a run, etc., I have to unlock my phone, connect my Braille display, open the app and scroll to the desired item. That’s virtually impossible to do while maintaining an intense workout, and would be resolved with differentiated vibration alerts on the watch. Along the same line of thinking, and a blind person’s inability to stare at their watch, it would be a great help to have the watch vibrate cues such as guiding us through periods of interval training or marking each minute of a run. Running is one of the most popular sports blind people enjoy, and the Apple Watch already offers some of these features. However, I prefer FitBit because I did not want the voice features Apple has. I have enough problems with my iPhone talking to me at the most disruptive times. I am happy to read everything in the app on my phone. For those moments I can’t access my phone, vibration is a good silent solution and would offer the large visually impaired community a nice fully accessible alternative option for a fitness tracker device.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @IReadDots! Great suggestion, thanks for sharing the reason why you would like to see this option on Fitbit devices. I've moved it into a similar request. Please feel free to post in a comment anything else you think it might help other users with these special needs. Hopefully we will have support from other users since more votes and comments an idea has the more visibility and momentum it gains.

[Arashi222]

I agree with the first user. I have continued to loose my vision my vision is 1/200 with correction and I wanted to get a fitbit versa but it doesn't have talkback or voiceover like Android or apple. I am disappointed. I have a charge hr 2 and at this point I only use it to count steps but I can't see the time or steps or any of that until I get it on my phone through the app. I want to be like everyone else. I want to beable to do the same things as a sighted person. Please take this into consideration that your product is not as accessible as it could be. I used to have enough sight to put my face against the screen and see it now I can't been along time fitbit user from the little zip all the way to a charge hr 2 now.

[accessable2019]

About time people are speaking up!!! Maybe something will get done round here. 

[accessable2019]

I am the original user who started the discussion here. 

[IReadDots]

But. I bought a FitBit PRECISELY because it does NOT have TalkBack or VoiceOver. 1) I have enough problems with VoiceOver speech coming on on my iPhone at the most embarrassing moments. 2) Integrating voice output adds a good deal to the cost of the device. And 3) Most important, for those who have hearing loss in addition to vision loss like myself - I am deafblind - this voice output does absolutely nothing to make it accessible. Rather, what I am hoping and praying for, is a smartwatch/fitness tracker that is fully accessible through vibrations / tactile feedback while remaining silent. See my previous post on tactile feedback for fitness features... This could eventually expand to include patterns that tell us the time, etc. But let’s start with the basics, shall we? Having this kind of output would be a first in accessibility and it would make it possible for both the visually impaired and the deafblind to use it.

-Jen 😉 Turtle
Farley ❤️ retired, GEB
Ray ❤️ working, IAADP
Sent from my iPhone

[SunsetRunner]

Great idea:double_exclamation_mark: I would love to see the Fitbit app accessible for both hearing impaired as well as visually impaired. I’m not hearing impaired but I’m visually impaired. I had a brain tumor removed but it left me with severe double vision. Later I had eye surgery that required three of the four muscles in my eye removed and reattached in a different place to force my eye more to the center. Now I’m only slightly double in my vision but having a ZOOM option on the screen would be awesome. People with disabilities workout too:double_exclamation_mark: I’ve been a member shortly over a year now and in spite of 9 spinal surgeries, a brain tumor, epilepsy and double vision I still manage to hit my goal of 15K a day as well as getting the 100K 4 times in total. Disabled individuals make up a part of your Fitbit Community. It would be nice to be able to participate in the Fitbit app as easily as non disabled people....we deserve to be treated fairly. 

(Insert MegaBite here climbing off her soap box and climb back on her treadmill to reach her daily goal.....it’s better than holding her breath thinking the changes are actually gonna happen. She will end up passing out instead if she did)

[FaeWylde]

The blind and visually impaired are human beings who also want to stay in good health. That being said, none of the fitbit devices have any accessibility features for those of us with low to no vision, and its honestly shocking! This should be a given from the start! Please add such features

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @FaeWylde. Thank you for sharing your Feature Suggestion with the Fitbit Community! To understand your idea better, please reply with more details about what features you'd like to see on either a Fitbit tracker/watch or in the Fitbit app. I'll look forward to your reply.

[SunsetRunner]

I agree!!! People who had disabilities, want to be active, maybe add a voice message system, or for deaf, a brighter screen, or bigger lettering, thanks for the suggestion! @FaeWylde , keep me posted!

[FaeWylde]

@LizzyFitbit I would recommend adding a large print option and even a voice over or talk back feature like apple and samsung with their devices (including their watches). I cant read my fitbit at all and was hoping to get a versa because I thought perhaps it would have at least a basic large print option seeing as the screen is so much bigger! 

[SunsetRunner]

@FaeWylde , that's what I just said..

[FaeWylde]

@SunsetRunner Sorry! That was my bad

[SunsetRunner]

Is ok. I just got oofed.

[SunsetRunner]

Yeah, people have a really bad habit of doing that!!!

[SunsetRunner]

You have a good idea going for ya, @FaeWylde , let's just hope people see it (no pun intended) and hope for the best.

[thenameless1]

I saw it flagged for needing more info and wanted to make a suggestion.  Couldn't current trackers be updated to use vibrations to help provide notifications.  I mean its already in place with silent alarms  and vibrates when you hit your step goal.

1. The original flex when you tapped it would flash the a series of dots based off of how close you were to your goal.  What  if there was an option to have it vibrate based on your goal?  So if someone was at 80% of their goal you see 4 lights, but it could also vibrate 4 times

2. The same could be true with trackers that have quick view. Quick view turns the screen on when you rotate the wrist.  What if there was an option where quick view could also set the device to vibrate the stats.

3. Based on some of the trackers capable of using a-gps and connecting to the phone.  Like if you were to set up a walk or run from the fitbit  its able to turn on the gps on your phone and map the run.  You could push a button on the fitbit and have it connect to the phone and have it play either an audible tone  or voice that talks/references the stats.  Its already present in the app in the exercise section where a user can turn on verbal cues during a run.  Hopefully they can kind of merge the two together.

@FaeWylde   it was a great suggestion hopefully something comes from it.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @FaeWylde, thanks for getting back and sharing more details about what you'd like to see on our products for blind and visually impaired people! We rely on feedback like yours to help us develop products and features that we know our community wants to see. If your suggestion receives votes from other customers and gains popularity, it will be shared internally with various teams at Fitbit. To learn more about how Fitbit decides which suggestions get developed, visit our FAQs.

Watch this space for status updates! In the meantime, try visiting our Lifestyle Discussion Forum to talk with other members about all things health and fitness.

[peterlindsay]

Hi everyone. I have developed a braille smartwatch app called Fitbraille. It's currently only available for the Versa but I'm planning to publish an update soon to support Ionic devices. I've also been contacting charities to get some feedback.

https://twitter.com/BaaBaaLabs/status/1232364335776878592 

https://gallery.fitbit.com/details/84091609-c3fb-4180-94ae-d96f249fc7ff 

[peterlindsay]

Hi everyone. I have developed a braille smartwatch app called Fitbraille. It's currently only available for the Versa but I'm planning to publish an update soon to support Ionic devices. I've also been contacting charities to get some feedback.

https://twitter.com/BaaBaaLabs/status/1232364335776878592 

https://gallery.fitbit.com/details/84091609-c3fb-4180-94ae-d96f249fc7ff 

[CorkDis]

I was wondering if there’s a way to read, with a screen-reader assistance, the graphs contained within the fit bit i OS application or the Windows application.

The screen reader is a tool that helps people with visual impairments by reading for them what's on a screen.

Would there be a way to have the information displayed within the graphs represented as a table?

It would be really nice to make fit bit more accessible for anybody, even for people with disabilities

who are using it.

Moderator edit: Subject for clarity and labels.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @CorkDis, and thanks for taking the time to share this suggestion about adding a screen reader for people with disabilities. We rely on feedback like yours to help us develop products and features that we know our community wants to see. If this suggestion receives votes from other customers and gains popularity, it will be shared internally with various teams at Fitbit. To learn more about how Fitbit decides which suggestions get developed, visit our FAQs.