Overall, iTunes 11 is certainly no worse than iTunes 10 on the Mac when it comes to accessibility. However, Apple could do more to improve Voiceover support (I can't comment on Windows, as not tested it there yet).
The first item/button Voiceover lands on is the rewind button, and there is a play button and a next button. So we have a rewind and a next button, so some people might be confused by the lack of a previous button or a forward button. So perhaps the rewind and next buttons should be labelled as "previous/rewind button and a next/forward button. The next item which puzzles me is the "iCloud button", what does this actually do? When pressing it with voiceover, it does not indicate if it is on or off or if anything has happened when it is pressed. My next issue relates to the 7 radio buttons, the last radio button is read out as "Radio radio button 7 of 7". Hearing the words Radio radio button is not exactly intuitive, and I am sure these buttons are actually tabs and not web page style radio buttons. So would it not be better if Voiceover read out these 7 buttons as tabs? then the last tab could be read out as "Radio tab 7 of 7". Note: the iTunes store uses tabs, so replacing radio buttons with tabs would give iTunes 11 a more consistent look and feel when it comes to navigating with a screen reader. Finally there is a iTunes Store button, I think it would be more intuitive if the button was read out as "Go to iTunes Store button" Then when you are in the iTunes Store, the button is read out as "Go back to Library button", instead of "Library menu button". Calling this a menu button gives the impression a menu is about to appear if you press it. After opening the iTunes Store I am greeted with a back and next button for the store navigation, then there are a series of menu buttons (as voiceover describes them) which are My iTunes Account, iTunes Store home menu button, Music menu button, Films menu button etc. Would it not be better to have these menu buttons labelled as tabs? I also think the home page of the iTunes store is a bit of a mess for screen reader users. For starters the HTML does not follow W3C web accessibility guidelines when it comes to heading structure. For example there are heading 3 items, and heading 5, but there are no heading 1 or 2. It breaks accessibility when heading levels are skipped. The document structure does not follow how it is laid out visually either. The screen reader user hears the headings in the following sequence: Heading 3 Music (this should be a heading 2, and there should be a heading 1 prior to it labelled iTunes Store Home") Heading 3 Films (this should be a heading 2) TV programmes (this should be a heading 2) Heading 3 Apps (this should be a heading 2) Heading 3 Late Night Music on TV (should this not be listed under Music or under Feature?) Heading 3 Genius Recommendations (should this not be a heading 2?) Heading 3 Books (should this not be a heading 2? Heading 3 Quick Links (should this not be a heading 2?) Heading 3 Top Singles (should this not be a sub heading under Music? and the see all link appears to have gone) Heading 3 Top Albums ((should this not be a sub heading under Music? and the see all link appears to have gone) Heading 3 Top Films (should this not be listed under Films? see all has gone) Heading 3 TOP TV (voiceover reads this as T O P instead of top, and should it not be listed as a sub heading under TV programmes? see all has gone) Heading 3 Top Paid Apps (should this not be listed as a sub heading under Apps?) Heading 3 Top Free Apps (should this not be a sub heading under Apps?) Heading 3 Top Books (Should this not be listed as a sub heading under Books?) The above is just a few examples, if you work your way through the iTunes store, you will find many other. I feel the order of the headings does not match how the layout works visually. Chris On 30 Nov 2012, at 04:06, Rachel Feinberg <walksi...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Chris, > > Try going to the view menu, and choosing "show sidebar." That will give you > the look you're familiar with, as well as show status bar, if you're used to > seeing things in your library that way. > Also, here's 5 tips to make iTuens look normal again. > http://osxdaily.com/2012/11/29/5-tips-make-itunes-look-normal/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+osxdaily+%28OS+X+Daily%29 > Good luck, > Rachel > On Nov 29, 2012, at 7:32 PM, "Christopher-Mark Gilland" > <clgillan...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> OK, I don't normally bitch about Apple å³°roducts, but I have to say, what in >> the cottin pickin heck! was Apple thinking! Maybe I am just not very >> patient, but this is absolutely disgusting! from what I am so far seeing. >> >> First of all, I hear people saying the interface is much simpiler? OK, how >> do you figure that? You're entitled certainly to you all's own opinions, >> but lookat. Let me give my! point a vew. >> >> First of all, the sources list is totally 100% gone. Granted it's in a >> popup button now, which is fine, except that they put it way smished in the >> darn middle of the screen it seems. This means without the item chooser, >> it's a pain in the butt! to get to that popup button. I can't even jump >> over a lot of things by pressing vo+down arrow instead of right arrow. If I >> do that, there really is no way to get with vo+down arrow to the source >> popup, as it's on the top most row of the screen, so down would take me too >> low, and vo+up won't work, as you kind a already are! on the top upper most >> column of the screen, so... there went that! idea. Second of all, at least >> that I so far can see, though I could be incorrect on this assumption, and >> dear God I hope that I am, there is no longer a list view. It's totally >> grid based now. Not that this is really per sey an issue, but it does make >> navigating a little bit more confusing, I'll sure as heck tell you that! >> >> OK, let's talk about something that for a change I do! actually like. I >> love the fact that they have given us the option of sorting our music by >> songs, artist, playlist, genre, or even album just by hitting vo+space on >> whichever button near the top of the screen. In that sense, I think that >> was an excellent idea. No, I'm not being sarcastic at all! I mean it! That >> really was pretty cool. The only issue is, say you go under albums. Now you >> go to the bottom of the screen and interact with the grid. I'm finding that >> pressing vo+down arrow after doing so is only reading the first 13 or so >> things in the list. Past this point, it insists to only say row 14, row 15, >> row 16, etc. it won't read the album. Not only this, but with the ones it >> does read, it's only telling me the album title, and not the artist along >> with it, so I have no way necessarily of knowing who the album is by, unless >> I'm already familiar with the disc. Fortunately, I know my music quite >> well, so thus, I usually can tell who the disc is by, but that could change >> down the road. >> >> Here's something else really gross in my view. I did a search while in >> album view sorting for "Testify to Love." Once I did this, I noticed as I >> typed, it made the most God! aweful! sound I've ever heard from my macbook >> speakers. Scared the buh Jesus! outta me! Anyway, rellavant as that is, >> LOL! I then vo+right arrowed and found that it showed the results. I found >> Testify to Love by Avalon from the A Maize of Grace album. So, I thought >> ok, bingo! I hit vo+space on it. Ding? Ding ding? What the heck! Finally >> I tried to stop interacting. Turns out, that stupid popup that came up >> apparently was being interacted with. After I stopped, I was able to access >> the grid, but all I saw was a grid of all the albums I had by Avalon. >> Vo+Space on them doesn't seem to be doing anything more so than bringing up >> the album details screen. Once in that screen, I saw where it said songs, >> then it said 1. Testify to Love, and that was the only song showing. I >> presume this is because that is the track that I searched for, so it's not >> gonna populate the whole album. OK, fine, whatever. That makes sense I >> guess, whatever. I hit vo+space on that. Again, let's hear the nice ding >> dong merrily on high, the mackin bells are dingging. What the birdy butt >> sky, I can't do a darn thing thing. OK, enough with my smartass comments. >> You get the point though. >> >> Here's something else. Each device you have connected like an IPhone, or an >> IPad, etc. apparently appears at the top of the screen, again, the very top >> row, so forget vo+up or down to quickly get there. You gotta move about 7 >> or so times to the right from the top left corner, so there again went your >> really quick navigation. OK, fine, Voiceover hotspots to the rescue, yeah, >> sure thing, but, that's ludicrus to have to do that just to make very very >> vital points of the app easier to quickly access. I mean, come? On! Give, >> me, a break! Before you flame me, and say, Chris? your attitude is totally! >> uncalled for, let me just say this. For a new Voiceover user, not that I am >> one, but let's only just for a moment say that I were, this interface would >> be ridiculously! confusing! Is it accessible? Yes. Extremely so, but just >> because it's accessible doesn't mean it's clean. Frankly, this is probably >> the most disgusting interface of any! Apple based app with the exception of >> IPhoto that I ever have seen in my life! And before you say it, oh? baby? >> have I ever! contacted Apple Accessibility regarding this. I was very >> polite, don't worry, but I did tell them up front, between them over >> charging me for my last ITunes purchase which by the way, they are refusing >> to refund, then other things I won't go into here on list, plus then, now >> this? I mean God! Bless! >> >> Oh, here's one more thing, that popup that came up that I was automatically >> interacting with when I did the search for Testify to love? I saw a button >> in there for adding the track to up next. OK, based on the thread already >> up here, I know now what that is, and it actually honestly sounds really >> really awesome. It'll be great to queue things up like that with >> crossfading enabled when I use Nicecast to do my internet broadcasts, but >> here's the thing. I hit vo+space on that, and I guess it added it, but then >> I went back up and hit play. Nothing played though what so ever. >> >> Frankly? I think I'm just gonna quit using ITunes and go v l c. This is >> ridiculous! If I need music, apps, etc. I'll just use my i o s devices. I'm >> sorry, but this is down right yuck in my book. >> >> Before you say anything, let me say this final comment then I'll be done, I >> swear. Most of you, probably not all, but a ton of you probably are gonna >> write me back either on list or off, most likely on, and try imbarrassing >> the heck outta me either purposefully or not, by saying my attitude is >> totally unacceptable, and that more so my choice of slang is only more to >> show my ignorance. Allow me to say this. I do all my work business wize >> with the help of I O S and my copy of ITunes. Whether that is promoting my >> debut single in ITunes by playing it for people I meet on my phone, or it's >> me using my phone as a calendar/roledex, or it's me using apps like LookTel >> or whatever, to simplify my independence. The bottom line is: ITunes for me >> is a big! big! deal. To not have good access to it is extremely! extremely! >> irritating. I never said I can't, nor will, get the hang eventually of the >> new version, and frankly, like it or not, I really don't have much of a >> choice in the matter. I understand that. So, I'll apologize firstly and >> foremost in advance to anyone whom this e-mail may offend with my wordage, >> or verbiage there of, but understand that when you have an app that works so >> fantasticly, then companies think that they have to implement eye candy and >> totally middle F*** the interface, that makes me extremely! angry. If it's >> not broken, then God, darnit? don't fixit! I dono why for so many >> companies, that's so hard to understand. >> >> OK, enough sauga. I'm off to learn this new damned thing. Anyone wanna >> gamble with me if I figure it out or not? LOL! Just kidding. Hey! I had >> to make ya smile after reading all that crap, somehow, ey? >> >> Chris. >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "MacVisionaries" group. >> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
