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Welcome to Trekz Titanium by Aftershockz

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Image of Aftershockz Trekz headphones

The title of this article is essentially what is said when you power on Aftershockz’ newest bluetooth headset the Trekz Titanium. In the past, we have typically blogged about apps and have written about platforms like the Echo, but we really haven’t talked much about headsets until now.

What makes these headphones so special?

All Aftershockz headphones are bone conduction headphones, which means that they sit on your cheekbones to send sound to your inner ear. The headphones vibrate your cheekbone and that sends the audio to your ear. The Trekz Titanium is the smallest and most flexible headset from Aftershockz that will fit most anyone’s head including my big head.

Since your ears are not covered, you can use these headphones to listen to music, audiobooks, or any other audio content while walking outside, ro while doing an activity that requires hearing. This is because of the fact that the headphones do not keep your ears from hearing what they normally hear, and you can still be aware of your surroundings.

Drawbacks

The Trekz Titanium has a 6 hour battery, which does not last long compared to many other headsets. I have not found this to be an issue as they can be charged fully within an hour and a half. Depending on your head and ears, the headset may not be the most comfortable for you, so adjust each side so that it is on your cheekbone instead of your ear. While the audio quality on this headset is good, it is not what you will get from an in ear solution like the LG Tones or the Beats or Bose headphones. I can honestly say that I have heard better and worse on a bluetooth headset.

Conclusion

I have found that the Trekz Titanium was a wonderful purchase that I made at #nfb16 from the folks at A T Guys. The headset can be purchased for $130, which is pretty standard for a bluetooth headset. The Trekz Titanium comes in many different colors, and I totally recommend the blue ones.

All in all this is a worthy headset for users that like to listen to music while moving around their area on foot. It keeps you alert while providing adequate sound quality for what you are listening to.

Aftershockz Trek Bone Conduction Headphones at A T Guys

#NFB16 Resolution 2016-04

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National Federation of the Blind Logo

The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) just passed resolution 2016-04 Regarding Apple’s Inadequate Testing of Software Releases.

This resolution specifically targeted Apple’s testing of accessibility of VoiceOver between betas. Many spoke up during this event, and I honestly think that there were more against this resolution than for, but the NFB passed this resolution with a delegate roll call. Here is why iAccessibility does not support this resolution.

Bug tracking

While there have been many bugs with VoiceOver and accessibility throughout the last few years of releases from Apple, there have been many other bugs as well. While the NFB states that these VoiceOver bugs keep people from being employed this is not the case. Typically, bugs that people find are fixed in later versions of the OS, and the truth is that if you took time to fix every bug then you would never put anything out for users to use. Would you effectively make it where users would not be employable altogether.

Since VoiceOver is a small portion of the iOS and Mac operating systems, it should be obvious that not everything can be fixed on initial release of an OS.

 Fairness

While Apple is not the only company to offer built in accessibility in its operating systems, it is currently the most popular. Despite its popularity, the National Federation of the blind should use this opportunity to target other companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google for their accessibility testing as they too release software with accessibility challenges.

Conclusion

The National Federation of the Blind has been responsible for many good changes to help blind people live the lives they want, but this resolution is not one of those changes. This resolution put a strain on relations between the NFB and its members with companies like Apple because it is saying how Apple should conduct business. Many of the reported bugs do not hamper productivity or cause an undo burden to users. Many of these bugs may be annoying at best but they are not ones that would cause users to not be able to get work done. I am really interested to see what others think about this resolution. Please put what you think in the comments, or on twitter at @iaccessibility1.

National Federation of the Blind – 2016 Resolutions

Is Fasten Fascinating?

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Fasten app icon

Fasten is a new ride sharing service that has moved to Austin to help fill the void from Lyft and Uber, but is Fasten accessible?

Fasten Accessibility

Fasten is the latest app to offer ride sharing in Austin and When I downloaded the app I was able to sign up, set my start and destination, and even see the fare estimate, which makes this app quite accessible with VoiceOver. The main issue currently with Fasten is that their request a ride button is not seen by VoiceOver.

Fasten has a neat looking button that says, “Slide to request,” which VoiceOver does not see. This is a custom control that VoiceOver can’t find on the screen but looks just like the iOS Slide to unlock slider on the lock screen.

This issue actually keeps VoiceOver users from requesting a ride from Fasten, and I think that this service would be very popular if this button was accessible.

I also found that the menu button only says, “Button,” and when you rate your driver many items are not visible, and others just say button.

Conclusion

Fasten is a great app and I think it will be my go to service of choice. The fares are cheaper than others, and the drivers are great If you sign up you get a code that you can give to your friends and their rides will give you credit towards your own rides. Because this is my site I am putting my code here. When you sign up, use the code Mi8826

Keep checking back here at iAccessibility for updates on the accessibility of the Fasten app and on other ride sharing services and feel free to leave comments and feedback about these articles.

First Look: Ride Austin

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Ride Austin Logo

There have been many new ridesharing services to enter Austin since Lyft and Uber have left us, but one stands out and may be the one service to rule them all. Ride Austin is an app developed by local Austin tech companies and the app is a nonprofit service. The developers have promised that the service would be open source so that other cities could use it to develop their own ride sharing hubs.

Ride Austin Accessibility

Even though the service for Ride Austin is not in place you can still download the app, and I did this to check out if the app is accessible. I was able to fully sign up for the service using Facebook, get and enter a verification code from my text messages, and explore the app without any issues with VoiceOver. The menu at the top left was accessible, and the button telling me that there was no drivers available was also accessible.

The company has not added the portion for a payment method yet, so we will have to wait and see how accessible this part of the app will be, but it is interesting to note that the Ride Austin app is more accessible than Get Me, or FARE. Both Get Me and FARE are for profit apps, and that is why it is interesting that a nonprofit app works better than the others.

Conclusion

Ride Austin is a new service, and it will start operating in June. I suggest that you sign up for the service and show the developers that you are interested in what they have to offer. Ride Austin is a fully accessible app, and lets all speak up and let the developers know that we appreciate this level of detail. Ride now will start with rides downtown and at the airport in June, and will move around the city from there after they see how well the service works.

Ride Austin website

Is FARE Fair?

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FARE app icon

Many companies have swooped in to the Austin area to pick up the slack that Lyft and Uber have left, but as we always do here at iAccessibility, we must ask if we can use that app for that, and if Fare is fair.

App Accessibility with FARE

A few weeks ago I reviewed Get Me for iOS, and we determined that their app had no VoiceOver accessibility and riders could not even request a ride. FARE is a lot different in this regard. With FARE, a rider can request a ride and see all details about their ride. I did find some text fields complicated and some buttons are not well labeled, but these are issues that the company could easily fix. I think the only buttons I found that were not accessible were buttons to see what kind of car you would pick and they went in order from standard, premium and SUV from left to right. I was able to request a ride and get an estimate, which turned out to be more than the actual ride was, which is something new from an app like this.

FARE also has a few good perks that Lyft, Uber and Get Me does not have. FARE lets you set preferred drivers, and you can even schedule rides in advance. I think these features make them above the standard ride share. They also have no surge pricing which is a major plus. I was able to go through the app and view all of these features with VoiceOver with very few accessibility issues. Unlike other apps, the menu icon is on the top right instead of the top left.

Once you have finished your ride you will be promoted with a tip screen. Here you can say if you would ride with that driver again, set preferred, and tip. You can also see your total price, and they will even show you an itemized receipt so you can see how they charged you, which is just awesome.

One button that needs to be fixed is the ETA button. VoiceOver only reads eTA, and the timer does not update for sighted users as well. While using the app I kept seeing 11 minutes until my driver picked me up.

Besides a few badly labeled buttons, my only other complaint is that there is no Apple Pay support or even support for PayPal. I would like to see their service use more of these as they are more secure payment methods.

Conclusion

While there are some bugs and issues with FARE, the app is far more accessible than Get Me, and it turns out to be cheaper as well. I was even surprised to see a Lyft driver that I previously had on Lyft pick me up on FARE, so I totally added him to my preferred list.

FARE – Website

FARE – iOS App Store

Get Me some Accessibility

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Image of Get Me icon

With everything that has happened in Austin and with other cities with ridesharing, we find ourselves without the services we come to rely on and must attempt to use similar services to fill the void. Get Me, a service supported by the City of Austin, is one such service, but is Get Me’s app accessible?

Accessibility of Get Me

If you have read the title of this article then you already know the answer to the above question. Get Me for iOS has absolutely lousy accessibility, and that is not a subjective opinion. Lets start at the signup process.

While I am a low vision user that uses magnification, I attempted to sign up with Get Me with VoiceOver. I filled out much of the information until I reached the portion where they ask for your card method. This does not include Apple Pay or anything like that, but only a card. There is only one text box, which changes when you enter certain information in there. Once you enter your debit card number, they want the expiration date which is 4 numbers. they then want your CVV and then your zip code but this information is not spoken to the user as you enter it. I have heard that there is a way to take a picture of the card, which may be easier for some than entering the numbers without knowing what to enter when.

Once I signed up (using vision) I was presented with two buttons that are badly labeled. They are Home Delivery 2 and Home Ride 2. These are the buttons where you pick if you want something delivered to you, or if you want to get a ride. Obviously, these buttons are badly labeled, and should be changed.

Requesting a ride is impossible with VoiceOver The only things VoiceOver can find on the request a ride screen are the cancel button, and the title of the screen. VO does not see any buttons on the screen, such as where to enter the pickup or destination address, where to pick the type of ride, or even the request button. These all appear to be standard iOS controls, but Get Me does not seem to be using a standard method for creating their app for iOS, which will require them to invest a LOT of time in making their app accessible.

Conclusion

While the City of Austin might find the Get Me service to be an alternative to Lyft and Uber, it is not an accessible alternative to blind and low vision users. When using VoiceOver, a person needing a ride would need to have sighted assistance in requesting a ride, which is not an alternative by any means.

Get Me [Something or Somewhere]

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