What are the accessibility issues with the Facebook app?

Submitted by David Goodwin on 21 December, 2011

There have been many requests for the official Facebook app to be the subject of our next campaign of the month.As I don't use Facebook myself, I don't know what accessibility issues are present in their app. So, it would be really helpful if all you Facebook users out there could let me know exactly what needs to be fixed.ThanksDavid

Forum:

iOS & iPadOS

Twitter

Facebook

Some ideas

Submitted by AnonyMouse on 21 December, 2011

In the NewsFeed page the entire top row of buttons are not very clear. The top left button is not labeled which is supposed to be the Main Menu. I also have no way to Like or Comment on a status if it hasn't been Liked or Commented on. In the Message page there is a button unlabled in the bottom right of the screen.

I would also improve the way

Submitted by Victor Tsaran on 21 December, 2011

I would also improve the way the feeds are displayed, eg use HTML headings to begin the feed. It may make sense to have a VO-specific view where feeds are displayed as a list of items, similar to how Twitter clients display tweets.

Another item

Submitted by AnonyMouse on 21 December, 2011

In the Newsfeed section they have suggestion of friends. If double tap the Remove button it just takes me in to their profile about the person. It doesn't remove them as the button I think was designed for. I personally think Facebook works well for the most part. Just a few minor issues. Unless, there is something I'm missing?

Please do make Facebook our next campaign

Submitted by blindgator on 23 December, 2011

Hey David, I was stunned when I pulled this page up and it wasn't flooded with comments about Facebook and their lack of accessibility. I am assuming that blind and visually impaired Facebook users are just so frustrated with all of Facebook updates making the app less and less accessible that they have given up on Facebook. So where to begin. First off the app is very poorly labeled. For example, instead of saying back or home in the upper left corner for when you are going through pages, it just says that unbelievably annoying BUTTON. Ok, but you can work around that. Most importantly when viewing your news feed the comments of what your friends are writing, it is very difficult to pick out one topic to comment on it. It is almost impossible for a blind or Voiceover user to comment on a comment that hasn't previously been commented on. You keep tapping it to go to it to comment or like it, and nothing happens. Another thing I have noticed when going to a friend to view their photos, and using Voiceover there is no way to scroll through all of their photos, and forget about getting out of their photos, as you just have to keep tapping in the left corner of the screen as it says nothing, and hope that you are hitting the back button. I have also noticed that a lot of times when you do try and select something from the home screen it will take you to something completely different than what you were trying to get to. That's a start, as Facebook has completely ignored their blind users, and with Facebook only growing, I think getting their attention that there is a part of the population that is blind and uses its app would be a good start. Thanks so much for your hard work and the entire Apple Vis team. You guys are the best. Brian

Thanks

Submitted by AppleVis on 23 December, 2011

Thanks for the information on the specific problems with this app.This is very likely to be our next Campaign of the Month, so it's important to know exactly what we want them to fix.If there are issues not already mentioned above, do please post them here.