Accessibility issue/bug in latest version of iOS app

[trinatheharper]

I am blind and have been using a Fitbit Inspire 3 with the iOS app (iPhone 12 mini) for the last few months. The app had proven to be very usable with VoiceOver until the latest update (3.71) released on November 22.

This version of the app has a bug where VoiceOver is unable to read the heart rate button text on the Today screen. Before the update VoiceOver would read the current bpm and resting heart rate figures displayed on the button. Now it simply says "Heart rate plus heart rate zones." It is still able to read the text of the other buttons.

I have quit and restarted the app, restarted my iPhone, removed and re-added the heart rate card, and uninstalled and reinstalled the app with no change.

This is a major accessibility issue in an app that had worked great with VoiceOver up until now. How can I file a bug report and ensure it is fixed in the next app update? And how does Fitbit test new versions of its app to ensure it is not breaking core accessibility functions?

I am also posting this as a review in the App Store in hopes that one of these reports will reach the right person.

[Odyssey13]

Hi @trinatheharper  you're not the only one with vision problems on the forums. Here is a suggestion made by member @Podunk and a few who replied who also have similar issues. Maybe you can all get together and be supportive. click to go there.

[Podunk]

Good morning, I invested in my first Fitbit charge to in order to improve my health through activity. Approximately 18 months ago I replaced it with a charge for so that I could wear it while swimming with my grandchildren. After purchasing the charge for I found out that the device was not as waterproof as Fitbit seem too intimate. Fitbit does not have a Disability Support team to work with blind and reading disabled users. I have spoken with the Google Disability Support Team in hopes of getting some issues I am a dad defied redressed to know effect.

Over a year ago Fitbit made the edit button on the application home screen unavailable to voiceover users. I have tried to speak with software developers or people who would listen to the issues I have a grasp around the community in the past. They have created a wall that is too high deep into thick and too long to get around or through. I was told the only way that the issues could be brought to the software development team was through recordings of my experience with the Fitbit iOS app.

Sent from my iPhone I have never seen the application home screen or the screen on my Fitbit charge two or charge for. The three finger swipe to update the screen does not work. The screen freezes repeatedly. screen tiles reorder randomly and then go back in the proper order. Distance it’s shown in multiple formats as whole numbers as numbers followed by one or two digits and sometimes as numbers followed by one digit that voice over me as a date such as March 3 which would be 3.3. Clicking on sleep the information for a specific day does not always show all the percentages written in the time if less than one hour is identified as meters the O2 graph data is not available to blind users and any other graphs on the page are not available. information from the hourly graphs for distance, steps, calories and floors is not available. Headings on grabs by day are read by voiceover as abbreviations like MON sad son and others as Foley spelled out like Tuesday and Friday. there are a lot of unnecessary swipes built into the iOS app. Numbers are sometimes red as alpha numeric characters and not **ahem** numbers. Inconsistency of how the data is presented on some screens vision.

He Fitbit tracker I use his help me to become more active and more healthy. I am glad I have it but wish that the issues that frustrate me could be addressed. I have brought them up multiple times with Fitbit customer care, Google Disability Support and in the community. there is a great deal of empathy but no resolution. Forgive the spelling and continuity errors because I have dictated this on my iPhone. Now it is time for me to get up and keep walking.

[Podunk]

Fitbit has released version 3.72. The Fix you are looking for May be there. I use a charge for and do not know whether or not this update will correct the problem you have identified. it does not appear to of addressed any of the issues I have previously brought up in the Fitbit community. I keep hoping that the issues will be addressed and with each update I am further disappointed. Let us know if this update has corrected the issue you have brought up

[trinatheharper]

I did the update, and still have the same problem.

I contacted the National Federation for the Blind to file an accessibility complaint.

hopefully they will tell me my options, as I feel I got caught in a bait and switch.

I am very angry that this app no longer does what I most need.

this not moral, and the response indicates that they are not actively using the tools Apple provides for accessibility, so any accessibility that happens is haphazard.

I will be contacting apple disability support too, as they claim to be the most accessible platform. There needs to be some requirements that app developers use and test accessibility tools 

[Podunk]

The Massachusetts Commission For The Blind recently did an open house talking about the importance of self advocacy. I can see that you were out there working hard to advocate for yourself and the blind and reading disabled community.

Sent from my iPhone it is becoming more common to see accessibility statements as part of many websites. However, it is still frustrating to see how many large corporations like Fitbit do not have accessibility statements on their website. I have spoken with companies like BJ’s wholesale club and Home Depot about making their websites friendlier or blind and reading disabled. It is surprising how many companies give lip service to the Americans with disabilities act and I’m sure this happens in other countries also. I hope someday that Fitbit will realize that a good number of there purchasers have disabilities and are denied access to the information sighted people have available to them.

mark

AliasPODUNK

[trinatheharper]

I heard from NFB that there are no other complaints about Fitbit accessibility.

Here is the link to their legal department. One of the options is access to technology.

https://nfb.org/programs-services/legal-program

they sent me a self advocacy guide with a sample letter.

 So I will be reformating the issue according to their guidance.

It really should be an easy fix as it worked two updates ago. If were an Apple issue it would be more than one button on one app broken.

If you are interested in their self advocacy guide:

https://nfb.org/sites/default/files/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm18/bm1810/bm181003.htm

[Podunk]

I did go to the American Federation of the blind website and reviewed the information. as much as I would like to create a document and mail it to Google if that I feel that it would frustrate me to no end to do this on my iPhone. The last time I worked on a computer I was using zoom text. Since then my vision has declined to the point that I cannot see the screen on my iPhone or the Fitbit. I will continue to bring up issues in the community and with customer care and Google Disability Support

[Podunk]

I recently upgraded from an iPhone 7 LTE to a iPhone SEGEN3 5G. I am when I signed back into Fitbit I found I have lost the heart rate numbers. The increase speed going from an LTE to a 5G phone has fixed the problem I had with, the screen freezing and the tiles whipping order. This means I have lost the edit button and the heart rate numbers and a three finger swipe does not update the screen. I. Over a year ago I lost dispense tile information and the edit button. After multiple complaints, they were able to restore the information in the distance tile on the home screen and unable to make the edit button available. I Fitbit you can call me anytime and I’ll be glad to explain what has happened.

[Podunk]

More than a year ago some information on the home screen of the iOS app was no longer being read by voiceover. I called Fitbit customer care to find out what it happened and they said they would refer it to the Fitbit development team. I never heard what happened, but the data was never made available to me as a voiceover user. Suite and exercise days along with providing basic information, and also included more detail information such as in sleep minutes & for deep, ran, light and awake. After the recent loss of heart rate numbers, I took a picture of the screen and using voice over, read the information  That was available. It reminded me when it read edit that the edit button was still not available. It showed me that the numbers for heart rate were still there, but voiceover was not reading it. When I got down to sleep, I was shocked to see that all the information , that was there years ago is still there, and that voiceover only read sleep time and sleep score and none of the detailed information. I have brought these issues up with Google’s Disability Support team, and hope that there might be a resolution. 

[trinatheharper]

I spent time replying to Fitbit’s original response, adding all the links NFB suggested, but discovered that their Apple Developers link was no good, so had to do some research. Eventually sent it it on the original complaint number.

a few hours later I received an email saying that since they had not heard from me they were closing the case.

so I called them twice, got a new support number and resent the emails saying it was premature to close the case, this was discrimination against a segment of their users, and the only acceptable closure was a fix.

have not heard back yet, but I gave them the framework to fix it.

they can look at the other buttons, look at the previous code for the heart rate button, or use the link I found for apple development using Voice Over.

frankly they should be embarrassed that the fix is really so easy as coding problems go.

I explained if they closed it again, I would simply open a new complaint til they fixed it.

this is wasting a good deal of my time, so hopefully they get on with their jobs.

merry Christmas, or happy holidays to all!

[Podunk]

Sent from my iPhone I understand your frustration and wish I could offer reassurance. I have found Google Disability Support to be considerably I understand your frustration and wish I could offer reassurance. I have found Google Disability Support to be considerably more responsive than the Fitbit customer care team. I would strongly suggest that you contact the Google disabilitie support team and address your issues directly with them. They will at least confirm your conversation with an email and it , and at that time you can use the email as your link to submit your EFB structured concerns. Not all Google Disability Support people are acquainted with the fact that Google has purchased Fitbit and you may need to explain to them the relationship. Feel free to use my Fitbit identity of Podunk , as someone who has brought these concerns to both the Fitbit customer, care team, and Google Disability Support.

Christmas and the best to you and your family for the upcoming holiday season and a healthy and prosperous new year,

Alias Podunk

PS: keep walking and don’t let them get you down

[trinatheharper]

I just received another it’s an Apple compatibility excuse, telling me to be patient and wait for another update.

that might fix it. So I again explained why one button on one app points to their code, not Apple’s.

I know that much about writing code. 

I also said that they should have voice over users on their beta testing team.

I will send the whole history to Google after Christmas. 

I find their tone extremely patronizing. It does not inspire confidence, or a sense that their costumers are valued.

hopefully they will do something constructive instead of blame shifting.

[trinatheharper]

Here is the link for developers of apps for Voice over:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/accessibility/supporting_voiceover_in_your_app

[Podunk]

Apple has developed a wonderful tool for the blind and disabled opening up new worlds to them in the form of the voiceover screen reading application. Software developers and major corporations continue to improve their experiences for the blind and reading disabled.

It is a poor worker that blames his tools. Software developers in many corporations have embraced the Apple voiceover software, and have highlighted it as part of the air commitment to accessibility for people who are blind or otherwise disabled.

Fitbit customer care representatives are deaf to my mentioning that I am blind when I introduce myself so that they might understand what I mean. I don’t know how many times they have asked me if I was able to see something on the screen. I still remember the time when I was asked if I could see the blue man on the screen And was given directions describing the blue man and what to do to try and fix the issue I was having. I have like you experienced Fitbit customer care representative blaming the Apple voiceover software for what are obvious software developer deficits.

Sent from my iPhone

I will continue to bring up the issues I have identified with the Google Fitbit iOS experience. As frustrating as they are to me, they must be considerably more frustrating to the new Fitbit user who is blind to reading disabled. I will continue to advocate in the Fitbit community, with Fitbit, customer care, representative and Google disability Team members. I am hoping that persistence. Will someday I get these concerns to someone who can address the issue of failure to provide a fully accessible product for those who are blind, and/or, reading disabled.