Journey through Acessibility: overcoming challenges with inventiveness, imagination, and a lot of trial and error

A few months back, I found myself wrestling with the mobile app of a prominent medical coverage company here in Argentina, my home turf. No biggie, right? Well, not after the pandemic times, where we're all glued to mobile apps for tasks many of us used to handle in person.

Let me set the stage—I'm a blind person, navigating the digital world with an Android phone and the TalkBack screen reader. This app is my lifeline, managing everything from medical consultations to authorizations for medications and procedures. It's essentially the heartbeat of my phone.

Cut to the chase, the app decided to have a glow-up – an update, they said.

Now, updates usually come with a fanfare, lots of marketing spiel about how the new version is "easier to use" and "more intuitive." Great, I thought! But my aim was straightforward: manage a medical treatment, not explore a supposedly more intuitive interface. No holiday vibes, just pressing a button for a security token.

As TalkBack scanned the app screen, surprise! The language switched from Spanish to English. An expected glitch, maybe, but as a Progressive Web App, I blamed it on HTML code or worse, English configuration. I can speak English, sure, but I live in Argentina, where the native language is Spanish. Imagine TalkBack trying to read Spanish elements in an English voice—lost in translation!

Moving on, the real hurdle surfaced when I explored the new interface. The familiar circuitry vanished, replaced by a sea of buttons without text and, to add a cherry on top, all disabled. Every single one. "Do I need to activate something?" I wondered. Frustration soared, and despite various attempts, those stubborn buttons stayed disabled.

Enter Zulema, my wife and partner in crime, who assisted me in obtaining that elusive token. Her help was invaluable, but my frustration lingered. Next time, I thought, I should pocket the frustration along with my phone for the elusive token.

But, wearing my developer hat, I couldn't help but ask, "Why was the app's home screen completely blocked for my screen reader?" As a customer, I wondered, "Are the blind not welcome here?".

Accessibility, folks, is all about breaking down barriers for everyone to access information seamlessly. Many people like me have been advocating for user-friendly experiences designed for the majority, beyond the specific situations of disability.

Returning to the app saga, it's still plagued by accessibility issues, rendering it practically unusable. I need it regularly, and not always with Zulema by my side. I should be able to do it independently, right? A quick analysis as a developer raised a simple question: Why were all the action buttons disabled when the screen reader was on?

My user side overpowered my developer spirit, and I found an alternative way to activate those buttons. With TalkBack on, I pressed and held the desired button, simultaneously pressed the volume buttons to disable TalkBack, then carefully tapped the screen. Finally, I reactivated TalkBack, scanned the screen, and voila, found what I was looking for.

Great, I thought, but now I'll need to memorize where I placed my finger to tap the disabled, unlabelled button. I still couldn't enjoy the promised intuitive interface. It required impeccable memory, considering TalkBack didn't provide any accessible textual identification.

Now, let's address the elephant in the room – why hasn't this glaring accessibility issue been fixed after months? Why does an app crucial for medical procedures have such a significant accessibility flaw? A well structured usability test could identify the error. Even with a Scrum workflow, such a critical issue shouldn't persist for months. Technological barriers limiting users like me are predominantly technological today. Hence, meticulous accessibility planning, ongoing quality control, and clear communication among development teams are essential.

Let's make one thing crystal clear: improving accessibility doesn't harm other areas. Making an app accessible benefits everyone, with or without disabilities.

People with disabilities, like me, seek autonomy, aiming to be self-reliant. Perhaps, the responsibility also lies with us, the users with disabilities. We need to make visible what makes us invisible. Raise your voice, communicate with the minds behind these products, and share the struggles with accessibility. Accessibility is a right, and commitment to it should be an obligation for creators and users alike.

Whether it's an essential tool or a pastime, accessibility matters. As I see it, accessibility is not just a feature; it's a right. It's a shared responsibility to advocate for and enforce that right for the benefit of everyone.

#Accessibility #AccessibilityMatters #DigitalInclusion