JonathanMosen

JonathanMosen, 7 days ago to accessibility

The summary of the Sonos AMA is worth reading if you have a deep interest in this issue. I am somewhat heartened by it, particularly given that we now know that most of the Sonos iOS app is written in Swift. This means that an excellent #accessibility experience is possible.
https://en.community.sonos.com/events-at-sonos-229141/new-sonos-app-community-ama-recap-6893728?tid=6893728&utm_source=community-care&utm_medium=systememail&utm_campaign=en-new-topic

JonathanMosen, 7 days ago to random

I posted the following to the Sonos AMA. Hello, thank you for hosting this AMA today.

As a blind person who owns 15 Sonos devices and has respected the company for its commitment to accessibility over the years, I am appalled by the way it has shown such disregard for accessibility.
I and many other blind people reached out to Sonos ahead of the app’s launch, and received the response that basic accessibility was in the initial release.
Fortunately, a blind tester saved access to many of our Sonos systems when he spread the word that the app was not accessible at all, and that it was impossible to perform essential and basic functions. Sonos misled us, either deliberately or because they did not have actual blind people advising them on accessibility at critical stages. It is accessibility 101 that it is a non-negotiable part of an initial app’s spec, and you build it in as a foundational component of any new app.
Sonos now claims that some of the most serious defects will be corrected in the 21 May release, but hopefully the panel can understand that there are a lot of blind people who can’t trust Sonos anymore. Given that Sonos got it so horribly wrong with this current release, why should we expect anything better in the next?
Will Sonos offer an apology to its blind users and accept that it got this wrong, and will Sonos commit to creating a Chief Accessibility Officer as a tangible commitment to ensuring this never happens again?
And this is their reply.
Thank you for your heartfelt feedback.

We invested our user experience and engineering energy on supporting VoiceOver throughout this project. Unfortunately near the end, we took our eye off the ball and missed a couple of key bugs. Those bug fixes have been shipped in a release today.

That doesn’t mean we’re done. We have more that we want to do and will do to fine-tune the experience. This is the same kind of fine-tuning we are doing for the visual experience. In a visual UI that means adjusting the gutters between items on screen. In a spoken UI it means adding more hints about how to navigate. We look forward to tweaking those and making the experience get continually better.

I understand that we have to rebuild your trust. We will only be able to do that by improving the experience. Any words we say will be incomplete. I am sorry that we missed this.

Our next step involves building a hearty beta community of vision impaired users. Today we have 30 visually impaired users on the beta of the next version of the app. The next version already has several improvements beyond the bug fixes we shipped today.

So, has anyone tried the release that shipped today? I'm travelling so don't have my test device with me. Is it any better?

JonathanMosen, 13 days ago to accessibility

Blind Sonos users have an important and rare opportunity to make our presence felt and our displeasure heard about the massive #accessibility regression in the new mobile apps.

Next Tuesday 14 May between 2 and 5 PM US Eastern time, three senior Sonos staff are conducting an “ask me anything” (AMA) session in the Sonos community. In attendance will be Diane Roberts, Senior Director of Software Development, Kate Wojogbe, Senior Director of User Experience, and Tucker Severson, Director of Product Management.
These are the key people in the company who agreed to the app being released in the inaccessible state it’s in, and they are the key people who need to take fixing it seriously.
Many people want to take some action that makes a difference. This is something you can do.
You can bookmark the page for the AMA. It is, https://en.community.sonos.com/events/sonos-app-redesign-ama-6

Try to become familiar with the forum before Tuesday, because while it isn’t completely inaccessible, it’s not the best and a little quirky. You should be able to sign in with your Sonos ID.
Perhaps compose your question thoughtfully ahead of time and have it on your computer, so you can paste it into the AMA when it goes live. It will not hurt for Sonos to understand how upset and inconvenienced many of us are by what they have done. We can do that firmly while remaining polite.
They need to understand, the best way to make us go away is to fix what they broke. We won’t be quiet until we get back what they took from us.
Happy contributing.

JonathanMosen, 13 days ago to random

It has been a difficult couple of days for Sonos users. Now that the inaccessible app is out, I've reworked, and substantially updated, my blog post. I'll continue to add to it if I receive word of further media releases or coverage.
I think Sonos now owes us two thinks, an urgent repair of the app, and a public apology to repair trust. https://mosen.org/sonos2024/

JonathanMosen, 15 days ago to accessibility

I've updated my Sonos #accessibility blog post with more information. This includes a link to a statement issued today by Sonos, and info on dialogue I've been having with their product team. https://mosen.org/sonos2024

JonathanMosen, 18 days ago to random

It appears Sonos is about to become less useable by screen reader users. The CEO should stop it now, but here’s how to protect your investment if he doesn’t
https://mosen.org/sonos2024/

JonathanMosen, 1 month ago to random

Today, as it was raining outside and raining in our hearts, at the happy home Mum and Dad shared for many years, family gathered following her death last Sunday for a private service to remember and farewell Pauline Mosen, my beloved mother and mum to my brother and three sisters, doting grandmother and great grandmother, sister, aunty to a large number of nieces and nephews. Her door was always open to visitors, and when I was growing up, there would always be something baking and a cup of tea for everyone.
For me, she was my giver of life, advice, hugs, and unwavering encouragement. Mum, thank you for everything. The void you leave is huge, but the memories you leave are immortal and precious. I love you, and I’m going to miss you so much.
I will be paying a tribute to Mum on the Mosen Explosion show at 2 AM and PM Eastern on Monday, playing many of the songs she used to request.

JonathanMosen, 1 month ago to random

My Uber rating just went up from 4.96 to 4.97. Sadly, where it sometimes goes down is when I travel with Bonnie and her guide dog, which is rude.

menelion, 1 month ago (edited 1 month ago) to iOS

Hi dear #iOS users! I have a Health widget on my home screen. Is there a way to make it show steps instead of calories, percentage and what not, or it will be reason number 7001 why I don't like Apple's policies? And if it's the later, please suggest a #VoiceOver accessible app for that? Thanks!

JonathanMosen, 1 month ago to random

Using my backup Braille display at the moment while my Mantis gets some display maintenance. It's interesting going back to Braille input again although I use BSI a lot on the phone. And all the controls on the Focus give you a lot of configurability.

JonathanMosen, 1 month ago to random

This is brilliantly said. When I met with them on Friday my time, I predicted that complying with the Guidelines with generate a lot of good will and that people who were in a position to would be more inclined to support the app. I will be keeping my subscription too because I want to see the app grow and it’s something I’m able to afford. https://oceanplayground.social/@Lynessence/112226546553050843

simon, 1 month ago to random

deleted_by_author

JonathanMosen, 1 month ago to random

Now that we have a position from Applause Group that is fair, moral, and compliant with Apple's App Review Guidelines, I want to reflect on what wider lessons we might learn from this.

1. So often, blind people have had things done to us. We have advanced as a minority when we chose to demand better, from a blind man inventing a system of dots that made reading truly practical, to technological advancements, to civil rights legislation. We are more powerful than many of us realise. We will not win every victory, but one thing is for certain, the victories we are certain not to win are those we don't advocate for.
2. Perhaps I am naive, but I think the number of truly evil people in the world is very low. We're not going to further our objectives by demonising people we don't even know and assuming right from the start that they have no feelings or moral compass and can't be reasoned with. If we can try to find common ground while being clear about what is non-negotiable, it is more likely that everyone can walk away with an outcome they can live with. Most people are going to feel the stress of a decision they've taken going badly wrong. They are human. It's good to give people the benefit of the doubt until there is absolutely no alternative.
3. In my address to NFB last year, I talked about the story of the little red hen. Some of the farm animals wouldn't help the little red hen take all the steps necessary that resulted in a nice tasty loaf of bread, but they were more than happy to eat that bread once it came out of the oven with its enticing smell. And so it is that other blind people on this platform who referred to those taking this important stand as entitled whiners, and sent passive aggressive posts criticising people for keeping the discussion going, can now benefit from the work they criticised. So be it, but perhaps we need to be less inclined to join the pile on when people are striving to get an outcome that is nothing more than what Apple itself demands. To those who felt hurt by the conduct of these people, social media can be a very toxic place sometimes, but history teaches us that it is the change agents, those who took on the system and made things better, who are remembered. That is as it should be.
4. Trust is hard-won and easily lost. We can speculate about why this reversal has occurred, but I feel sure that it would not have occurred had we not made it happen by using our voices/keyboard. Applause Group has done the right thing now. What do we gain from holding a grudge? If I had never made a mistake in my life that I had to apologise for, perhaps I'd be in a position to take a different stance. But having benefited from forgiveness myself, the least I can do is extend it to others.

So, congratulations and thank you to everyone who stood up for what was right. You can be proud of your effort. It was worth doing, because our right to read is precious. Time will tell, but perhaps now we have a new ally in Applause Group.

JonathanMosen, 1 month ago to random

As I mentioned a couple of days ago after a meeting with Applause Group, I was confident that an outcome was imminent that would satisfy most people in our community. Here is a statement just released from Applause Group.

Hi everyone,

Following our recent announcement to transition Voice Dream to a subscription, we received an overwhelming response from thousands in our community. Your feedback, along with the impactful stories shared about Voice Dream being a pivotal part of your daily lives, has led us to reverse this change.

We will continue to provide access to the app's existing features at no additional cost.

As we continue developing Voice Dream, some new features may be offered as part of a subscription, but the current capabilities will remain free to those who have already purchased Voice Dream.

For those who have already moved to a subscription, it's no longer necessary to continue using the app. You may cancel your subscription, but we welcome you to keep it active to support ongoing development.

To those who wish to support Voice Dream, please consider a subscription, a one-time donation via our website, or simply leaving a positive review in the App Store.

We sincerely thank you for your passionate and loyal support of Voice Dream. Your voices have made a difference.

JonathanMosen, 1 month ago to random

Some expressions really are nonsensical. I'm reading a book at the moment, and Bonnie says, "is it a page turner?" Well, I mean yeah! If you didn't turn the page, you wouldn't finish the book!

JonathanMosen, 1 month ago to random

We’ve just past the anniversary of this Robert F Kennedy speech following the assassination of Martin Luther King.
It’s beautiful and inspiring. It reminds us that words have power. Words can heal, or words can divide.
There are so many nuances to this speech. He references his own brother who was assassinated, and of course RFK was to be assassinated three months after delivering this.
Some of the things he says in it are just as relevant today, given certain forces in the US advancing division and hatred.

https://youtu.be/A2kWIa8wSC0?si=eaJ7bofAKBufShcm

JonathanMosen, 1 month ago to random

I’ve just come out of a meeting with a senior leader of Applause Group, which now owns Voice Dream Reader. It will be up to them to make their own announcements in due time, but at this stage I am confident that they will respond to feedback that they have received in a manner that many in our community will consider reasonable. They are working through the finer points of the response and given the importance of communicating the issues clearly, it’s right that they should take that time to do so.

JonathanMosen, 1 month ago to random

There has understandably been a lot of talk in our community about Voice Dream Reader's decision to introduce a subscription model for all customers.
For me, the critical area of concern is that Voice Dream Reader is violating Apple's very clear Guidelines around what they can and can't do when moving to a subscription model.
For those who paid in good faith and may not be able to afford the subscription, I encourage you to read a blog post I have written summarising this issue. It contains some things you can do to urge Apple to enforce their policies and protect us as consumers.
https://mosen.org/voicedream/

JonathanMosen, 1 month ago to random

I’m doing a lot of research at the moment for my keynote address to the International Council on English Braille.
Even though the Braille code is second nature to me, when I think about it as if I were just discovering it, I’m struck by its simplicity, power and elegance. Those six dots can convey not just literary information, but music, maths and other disciplines too. And Louis Braille effectively invented dot matrix printing.
He was a genius, and I can’t help wondering what software he would have created with the tools now available to us. He would’ve been one hell of a developer.

JonathanMosen, 1 month ago to random

I’m fascinated with the golden age of offshore radio, not only Radio Hauraki here in New Zealand, but the many British offshore stations that were on-air between 1964 and 1967. Radio Caroline started it all, on Easter Saturday 1964. We’ve got special programming on Mushroom FM celebrating this significant 60th anniversary. https://mushroomfm.com/node/3580