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.

[Mauigirl2017]

I agree with all the comments that Fitbit needs to be more accessible for those of us with disabilities. I am visually impaired and it seems such a simple thing for them to offer a Clock face in large, clear and bold font so that it can be read easily. They offer some very clever artistic options but not the most simple and important for those of us with low vision.

please fix this ASAP. Thank you

[Arashi222]

I have to use talk back features on my phone and laptop and tablets i had to stop wearing my fibit because I could no longer use. Please consider the disabled community when coming out with more features we need to be allowed to be like everyone else.

Moderator Edit: Formatting

[CQ2]

Yes, I am looking for a Fitbit with these features as well for visual impairment. Look forward to seeing what kind of products will come up with to be beneficial for those with a visual handicap. 

[chrisnantes]

I've done some basic research and cannot find another fitness tracker that includes audio capabilities (on the device itself) which would be of tremendous value to the visually impaired.  As the market leader in the industry, Fitbit has the opportunity to recognize the need to serve those with different abilities and improve lives.  I'm sure you could also use this forum for feedback into the development process.  Thanks for your consideration.

[Mauigirl2017]

Thanks for adding your voice and advocating for increased accessibility on
Fitbit’s. Hopefully, Someone is listening.

[kelseycawkwell]

The watches should have voice guidance and navigation through them so it’s accessible for everyone.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @kelseycawkwell. Thanks for taking the time to share this suggestion about having a voice guidance and navigation available on our Fitbit devices. This idea was already requested in the Feature Suggestions board, so I’ve moved your post here. This will help us to keep the forums organized and make sure the suggestions don't get confused, or split a popular vote. Click on the thumbs-up to show your support and keep adding your suggestions!

[lights_rage]

hello, I am a totally blind charge four user. I had to get sighted assistance to set it up. the app is mostly accessible but labelling all elements in the app would be helpfull secondly organizing it with voiceover and talkback features in use would be handy use the accessibility features of android and ios to there full potential this is not as difficult as it looks. simply do research I recommend for ios applevis.com they have many developer resources and rate fitbit on there website with not too high of a rating due to its slightly lacking accessibility. my charge four vibrates with my phone's notifications and i cant turn them off because i turned them on not knowing that i wouldn't understand what they meant and would disable them going to my apple watch not good. so I would like to fix that. I would also like to be able to figure out where to go to get access to the united healthcare's programs but will need to call them i guess. but with my phone things seem hard to access. like guided programs. I don't know what half of it means so maybe siri shortcuts to check the battery and get all fitbit notifications sent to our phones. the ones that would display on the fitbit that is. so my phone would read them to me with voiceover.

[smolson]

My father was an avid Fitbit user. Last fall he had an accident that left him blind. He insisted on keeping his Fitbit on because he liked it so much but overtime has taken it off because it is useless for him. We're looking at ways for him to stay connected and active without his vision. He'd benefit immensely from adding accessibility features for those with vision impairments. Specifically, being able to have the watch read aloud the time, his steps or other goals and notifications would be great. 

[Nicol98]

So I am Deaf myself and saw that “mindfulness” option for the Fitbit charge 3. I was wondering if it could provide transcripts or closed captioning because it only offers in audio. Please let me know. Thank you!

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @Nicol98, thanks for explaining why you would like to have the option to see accessibility for people with visual impairments. Thanks for sharing your feedback. I've moved it into a similar request.  A lot of users are asking for this option, I hope we receive updates soon.

[Nicol98]

Hello. My topic is not related to visual impairment... I am talking about closed captioning for the DEAF in the “mindfulness” section where there is only audio provided. 

[dd_mcd_sims]

My son's blind&has to wear a watch that tells him the time outloud. He also wears an Alta,but relies on me to read stats. We're a big fitbit family&would love for Fitbit to corner the market on a talking fitness tracker! Push a button&hear the time,date& your stats! Please! I'd love to see more disabled&/or elderly people getting active& healthier!

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @dd_mcd_sims, thanks for explaining why you would like to have accessibility for people with Visual Impairments (voice/audio). Thanks for sharing your feedback. I've moved it into a similar request.  A lot of users are asking for this option, I hope we receive updates soon.

[madrus]

Up to now I am not buying any fitness tracker because I cannot see enough on it without reading glasses, which I don't use nor need when running as I see far100%. This is my ideal fitness tracker that I would definitely be willing to buy: it has a voiceover option for instructions on the screen. like "run at 80% for the next 90 seconds" or "take it easy for 45 seconds" or "do 30 push-ups" or whatever. Just as long as I don't need to read those instructions off the watch. A good example of such behavior is the "RunIntervals" app I have on my iPhone. If Fitbit Versa 3 could do something like that, I would buy it without a second thought.

[DigitalH]

I want to add another voice and need for a screen reader feature, as someone who is low vision but not legally blind or even legally low vision, I would love to have a screenreader or audio feedback feature. I can't see the screen without my glasses, so if I want to see my feedback while I'm working out,  I either have to wear my glasses while working out or unlock my phone and open the app to get feedback, having a screenreader and/or audio feedback option would be great.

[peterlindsay]

Hi. I developed the Fitbraille app for Ionic and Versa devices. Check out this Fitbit help article for more information;

https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/2469.htm

It also has good information for Versa 3 and Sense devices.

[mckillio]

This shouldn't just be specific to the Ionic but any Fitbit that supports workouts. 

[OrisJ]

Fitbit should have an accessibility feature that says the time out loud when ever I press a button on the side of the watch.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @OrisJ, thanks for sharing this suggestion about having more options to use a Fitbit device for audible visually impaired people with us. We truly appreciate this feedback and because this idea was already requested in the Feature Suggestions board, I’ve moved your post here. This will help us to make sure the suggestions don't get confused, or split a popular vote. We'll keep tracking this request over time, so please click on the thumbs-up to show your support.

[PeterMurray]

Anyone who needs reading glasses (that's a LOT of people) will not be able to see the difference between "MOVE" and "REST" when using the Interval Timer on the Charge 5. And with regular alerts that you're burning fat, etc, the vibration alerts can get confusing.
Audio alerts ("MOVE!", "REST!") would obviously make things a lot clearer... but at very least, could the words MOVE and REST be larger?
In the middle of workouts I find myself having to grab my reading glasses, and it's a real hassle. It's not really practical to wear reading glasses during a workout. I hope this can be addressed on all your products, not just for hearing and vision-impaired people, but even just for people who simply need reading glasses. I'm sure a lot of people are experiencing this issue. Thanks, loving the Charge 5 otherwise!

[Podunk]

I found your posting today and was happy to vote for it. I know it was posted years ago and sad to say upgrade to the Fitbit iOS application have not proven to be accessible and total to the blind and reading disabled community. I keep waiting for Google to make the iOS application, more friendly for the blind and reading disabled, and to put their name on the iOS app replacing that a Fitbit. Y

[Podunk]

The information on the dashboard is not easily accessible for the blind user using Apple‘s voiceover screen reading software. It is considerably more frustrating to use than the iOS application. The number of swipes required to go between fields is excessive. Navigation of the screen is frustrating at best. software developers need to evaluate changes to information available for blind and disabled users to make sure they are compatible with common accessibility software that is used by the blind and reading, disabled along with other disabilities. 

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Podunk, thanks for taking the time to share this product feedback about adding more access for people with visual impairments with us. I noticed this product feedback was already requested in this board, so I’ve moved your post here. Please support this product feedback idea by adding your vote, this helps our developers to keep tracking its popularity and demand over time.

[cyndiefit]

I purchased a Versa 4 for my totally blind wife. She wants to track her exercise but we can't figure out a way for her to do it without being able to see. I tried setting up a shortcut to Aerobic exercise using the button long-press feature: It works well to start the exercise but the only way to end it is to touch the "End" button on the screen, which requires vision. Pressing the button only pauses and resumes the exercise. We also explored tracking the exercise through the Fitbit app on her iPad with Voice Over on. One problem is that it only offers walk, run, hike, or bike as exercise options. Another problem is that the Start button doesn't seem to work with Voice Over on. I also tried using the Alexa feature on the Fitbit to launch an exercise - no luck. And I even tried using the livingroom Alexa to launch an exercise - unsuccessful. Please advise if there is some way to make this work for her.

Thank you!