Accessibility for blind users.

[REJarr3ll]

Accordance Bible Software seems like a useful app for both macOS and iOS. I say this but the truth is that for blind users such as myself there are issues with the way both the app for macOS and iOS works with VoiceOver the native screen reader for macOS and iOS, if this could be addressed by ensuring that the app more closely followed Apple's own guidelines for accessibility this would be both greatly appreciated by all users irrespective of disability, this would also allow more users to study biblical texts in either modern or the original languages. Accessibility of software following principles of universal design is not only the ethicalll choice, its the economic one as well...

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

Moved this to Feature Requests so it'll be better tracked/noticed. I'll get it logged tomorrow.

[REJarr3ll]

Thanks for your assistance and encouragement, I really like the underlying concept of accordance bible software, namely that one can carry and peruse a library of biblical texts and associated texts and use the power of technology to enhance study of same. Screen readers like VoiceOver allow blind and visually impaired users of technology to interact with the technology in non visual ways, for example, I can either receive audio output as I type the text of this entry or I cannn attach a refreshable braille display and type in and read braille on my computer or tablet etc. Accordance has a huge potential to open biblical studies to persons with disabilities. I've been pleasantly surprised by the level of accessibility of the iOS app, now if the macOS app could work just as well or better with VO that would be Wonderfull! Thanks to those who are working to make these types of product more accessible to all...

[J. M.]

I just tried the Windows version of Accordance, only to find that it, too, lacks accessibility with screen readers.  If I'm being totally honest, I am saddened and disheartened by the apathetic response to accessibility by secular companies nowadays, despite the fact that screen readers have been around for 40 years now.  That being said, I am bothered even more than usual, and saddened even further, when a company is one in the faith space that develops the tools to allow people to study the Word of God, but excludes an entire group without a thought.  Isn't the idea to enrich the kingdom of God, to reach as many as possible?  Here, you've excluded everyone without sight.  And there are, contrary to what you may believe, pastors, missionaries, worship leaders, and other believers who are completely blind.  Why would you do this?  Microsoft has provided guides and documentation to help developers make their applications accessible to assistive technology.  There's all sorts of information regarding screen readers on the internet.  There are guidelines for accessibility easily located through a Google search.  So much information is right at your fingertips.  AI can even generate code to get you on the right track nowadays.  Yet your application is completely unusable in its current state by someone who is blind.

Again, I ask why?  Is this a case of your company not believing that blind people deserve the same access to the same tools as our sighted counterparts?  Or is it that you believe that because we're blind, we have no desire to study God's word?  Do you believe that because we have no sight, we also lack intelligence, and therefore, we are unable to comprehend what your software offers?  Or is it a simple case of every single person in your company living inside of some bubble for the past four decades, so that not a single person working there has a clue what a screen reader is?  Whatever it is, I sincerely hope that it is addressed soon.  I'm offering to help your company if you wish, free of charge.

I apologize if this comes across as harsh, but I am brokenhearted.  It's one thing for the companies of this world to treat those of us who are blind as an afterthought.  But it breaks my heart to see that companies whose primary goal is to enrich the lives and the faith of believers, to empower them to study and to reach others for the kingdom of God apparently have the same mindset.  We're not considered at all.

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

21 minutes ago, J. M. said:

Again, I ask why?  Is this a case of your company not believing that blind people deserve the same access to the same tools as our sighted counterparts?  Or is it that you believe that because we're blind, we have no desire to study God's word?

 

This is certainly not the case at all. The issue is our programming team is under immense pressure at the moment with projects, and accessibility is still a major technical achievement to implement across platforms. 

 

We'll keep your feedback in mind though, and please do send more. 

[G-Rad]

I want to support this request. I'm not blind but I think the Accessibility > Spoken Content > Speak Screen option on iOS is awesome. I use it all the time to 'read' eBooks, PDFs etc. I use it for Accordance too, but it can only read about two pages of text before it just stops (unless I turn the page for it manually - and it reads even less if Page Turning is off in Accordance). I'd love it to automatically turn the page in Accordance so it keeps up and doesn't stop until I tell it to.

Edited August 22 by G-Rad

[Kristin]

On 6/24/2024 at 6:42 PM, J. M. said:

Or is it a simple case of every single person in your company living inside of some bubble for the past four decades, so that not a single person working there has a clue what a screen reader is?  Whatever it is, I sincerely hope that it is addressed soon.  I'm offering to help your company if you wish, free of charge.

 

Hi @J. M.,

I am not blind, but I just wanted to mention that I think your offer to help is a genuine ministry, as you would be able to offer the perspective of someone who truly understands what the needs are. While people might be familiar with readers, if people can see decently, it is easy to overlook the importance of it or how it can be correctly implemented. I hope this is ok to mention, but have you considered getting a Mac? A Mac Mini isn't super expensive (all things considered), and I feel like overall Mac has done a better job with accessibility options compared to Windows. Maybe something has recently changed, but I know that was the case for a long time anyway.
 

9 hours ago, G-Rad said:

I want to support this request. I'm not blind but I think the Accessibility > Spoken Content > Speak Screen option on iOS is awesome. I use it all the time to 'read' eBooks, PDFs etc.

 

Same here.  Even though I can see, I use that feature all the time and even have a hot key for it.

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

I'm not blind, but I'd be willing to test accessibility settings on my Mac and see if there's a difference between Windows and Mac. 

 

While we don't officially have full-fledged accessibility support in Accordance, it is true that Apple has some some solid work at the operating system level in terms of accessibility. I'm willing to personally run some tests and see how it goes. If it goes well, I could document it here, in a blog post, or even a video.

[Kristin]

2 hours ago, Dr. Nathan Parker said:

I'm willing to personally run some tests and see how it goes. If it goes well, I could document it here, in a blog post, or even a video.

 

Hi Nathan,

Thanks for saying that. I actually have something for you to test (which I would argue might be a bug). The Mac's built-in text-to-speech function is critical for anyone with low vision. (If you want to test this, I highly recommend setting a hot key, and I can explain how to do that if it would help). Anyway, if I select text and have my Mac speak on the forum, or a web page, or email, or anything, it works beautifully, and not just English. If it is in English, or German, or Greek, or Hebrew, it literally doesn't matter.

 

However, as soon as I go to a Bible verse in Accordance, and tell it to speak with my Mac hotkey, it just flat out doesn't work. It will start reading, but something other than the selected text. The ONLY way for it to work is to copy the text and paste it somewhere else. THEN my Mac will read. So I see this as a bug, and the Mac should be able to read selected text in Accordance, just like anywhere else.

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

This one is actually a known issue. Sometimes we can get English to work, but Greek and Hebrew isn't working properly at the moment. We have this on our list to address.

[Kristin]

Hi @Dr. Nathan Parker,

While I am grateful to hear that this is on the list to be addressed, I am at the same time pretty concerned about it ever actually happening in light of the fact that Accordance is in such desperate need of programmers. Is the hire of programmers being addressed ASAP?

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

A macOS update caused the issue. We have to work around what Apple caused with the update.

 

I don't personally provide staff updates on here unless directed by management (I always defer to management on that).

[Kristin]

22 minutes ago, Dr. Nathan Parker said:

I don't personally provide staff updates on here unless directed by management (I always defer to management on that).

 

Nathan,

I can understand your response and reluctance to mention anything without the blessing of management, so I don't blame you. However, as a customer I think we, the customers, have the right to know how soon Accordance is going to be hiring competent programmers. It simply can't all be placed on Silas' shoulders indefinitely.