Blind accessibility……wow companion app and screen reader support on mobile devices

WoW Community Council

#1 - July 17, 2022, 3:03 p.m.

Hi all

Currently there is zero support for the companion app on iOS or android devices. To do any aspect of mission tables it requires sighted help over team viewer if anyones available to help.
This is a vast contrast to the Battle.net app that has outstanding screen reader support.
I can’t say much more than please add support so that blind and VI players can also access this aspect of the game independently as other players can through the app.

Jayem

WoW Software Engineer

#2 - July 20, 2022, 12:28 a.m.

Hi Dirtypawz,

Accessibility within the Companion App is something we discuss regularly. We have a number of challenges when developing for a mobile app including memory, app, and download size considerations, what accessibility frameworks are available for us to utilize, whether or not those frameworks are sufficient solutions for our global player base, and what areas of the app would need to be upgraded first in order to support accessibility efforts. When we release a new version of the app, the patch notes tend to only cover the big changes. But, many releases contain small incremental updates that build on one another that make supporting these efforts easier. While I don’t have anything specific to share with you today, know that this is something that we’re always evaluating and working towards.