[blindlaw] Amazon.com and accessibility

[Shelley Richards]

I have been using Amazon for many years. I have never had any trouble with a captcha however I already have an account. Were you trying to sign up for a new account? I've never been asked to enter a captcha code when signing into my existing account. However the accessible site is very much no longer as accessible as it used to be. It actually used to be quite good with a screen reader, but since they've made changes it's become extremely frustrating to use with a screen reader and I find myself having to combining  using the site on my computer and the Amazon app on my phone in order to complete a purchase. I can still get to the old version of the accessible site if I go from the link I have saved in my favorites on my home computer, but I cannot get to it from anywhere else. When I am using my home computer with that link I am still able to make full use of the accessible version of their site. The problem with the accessible site now is that they have some sort of icon that continuously refreshes and makes the screen reader start over on the page or just. Interrupt the screen reader working altogether. There are also some other accessibility issues once you get past the home screen with that refreshing content. Completing a purchase as become extremely difficult because there are links or something that you're supposed to click on which the screen reader does not pick up as any sort of control that you can interact with. I am very disappointed that they have made these changes to their accessible site because it used to be quite good, and now it is extraordinarily frustrating, although not entirely impossible. All of the time. I have managed to make purchases from it. However like I said most of the time if I start a purchase on the new accessible site I need to complete it with the app on my phone. I would just use the app on my phone but that could also be frustrating at times when you are searching for an item to add to your cart.  I have also tried just using the full site, but it has the same problems that the new accessible site has with refreshing content and pop up content that interrupts the screen reader or prevents it from working at all.  If anybody knows how to contact Amazon to discuss these problems I would love to know how. I have been searching and searching for ways to contact them to complain about the changes they've made to their accessible site which has made it no longer accessible, but I cannot find any information on the best way to go about contacting them with this particular problem. All I can find his contact info for customer service about products and shipping issues.
Shelley 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Feb 2, 2015, at 11:24, Mike Gilmore via blindlaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi everyone,
> 
> I recent tried to sign into amazon.com and receiv a message called a robot check.  It prompts users to enter in a code so the site can verify that the user is not a robot.  The code is inaccessiblt tAWS.
> 
> Ironically, on Amazon's main page, there is a link that claims the site has been updated for screen reader use.  When I follow this link (or type in Amazon's accessible site), I try  sign into my account and receive the same robot check.  However, instead of having an audio version of the code to type into the box, it prompts the ur to type in the same text that inaccessible toJAWS.
> 
> The alternative site is, therefore, not as accessiblt as they would have us believe.  Has anyone had similar experiences?  Is anyone at the NF aware of this problem and have they contacted Amazon with this information?
> 
> Mike
> 
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