Accessibility Tour of OverDrive, Version 3.8.1 on iOS
Channel: NNELS Canada
Date: 2019-12-24

Full transcript below.

Provides a tour of the OverDrive app, highlighting accessibility features. For a detailed assessment of the app, read full or summarized version of our report here: https://www.accessiblepublishing.ca/reading-app-reports/
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Transcript:

This video was made with sighted assistance. It has been produced with the generous support of the Government of Canada.
Overdrive offers access to a wide array of books from local libraries, and employs a fairly-accessible user interface. Before we dive into some suggested improvements, let's take a quick look at why they're important.
To get the most out of a Smart-phone, those who are blind turn on voice feedback.
Voiceover on
Then, they can swipe quickly to different controls on the screen, and hear any text that appears.
Play Books, Libby, RbDigital, Overdrive
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In order to navigate a screen effectively, it is important that all buttons be labeled. Controls need to be swipable, and screens must be clear of hidden text.
We will now explore three accessibility challenges with Overdrive version 3.8.1 on IOS. We will show a number of unlabeled buttons and the difficulties this results in, demonstrate Voiceover speaking invisible text, and highlight the challenges faced when attempting to read eBooks.

Several buttons in Overdrive do not have text captions, meaning their function is unclear to VoiceOver users. A good example of this is found in the browser view, but unfortunately there are several other unlabeled buttons throughout the app.
Navigation controls are found at the bottom of the browser view. However, as users swipe through them, VoiceOver gives no clue as to their function.
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Those relying on voice feedback to use this app must tap each unlabeled control to find out what it does. This trial-and-error method makes it much more difficult to learn the app, let alone navigate it with a degree of proficiency.

The eBook interface is clunky and difficult to use with VoiceOver.
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To access the table of contents, we must double-tap on a paragraph to reveal more options,
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then tap on the table of contents button.
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This procedure is confusing, because the user won't know to tap on the screen of text to find more options.
There is a disconnect between VoiceOver's navigation and the text that is displayed. When we swipe through the paragraphs of the book, the screen does not advance.
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So when the app is closed and subsequently reopened, the reader's position is lost.
It is also not possible to scroll the book using VoiceOver's three-finger gesture.

Unfortunately, back-field interference is another serious concern.
Occasionally, Voiceover will mistakenly read text and controls that are no longer visible. We refer to this phenomenon as back-field interference. It occurs when new controls are painted over existing ones, without first clearing the screen of its old content.
Here, we'll demonstrate one area where back-field interference is prevalent. It's important to note, though, that this issue does crop up randomly and persistently throughout the entire app.
In the eBook reader, once we tap the Title Menu, a list of sections is exposed to VoiceOver.
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However, clicking on them doesn't activate anything, which is quite confusing.
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It is necessary to double-tap on the table of contents button first in order for these sections to activate when clicked.
Being prompted to interact with controls that do not exist represents a level of frustration rarely experienced elsewhere. Please insure that each screen of your user interface is free and clear of old controls and text.

It takes a lot of time and hard work to produce an app of this caliber, and we appreciate your willingness to explore increasing its accessibility. The modifications requested here can be made without impacting the visual look and feel of the interface, but will be greatly appreciated by those reading your content with speech.
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The National Network for Equitable Library Service (NNELS) is a Canadian digital public library of books in accessible formats for people who need them. Learn more at http://nnels.ca.