[Diabetes-talk] Accessibility questions, help needed

Fri Jul 20 23:27:22 UTC 2012

I did contact the National Center and spoke to someone named Robert who in
turn said he would pass my situation on to his supervisor, someone named
Anne Taylor.  I don't know if it will result in anything, but I thought it
was worth trying anyway.  No luck really with WW on that end.  I spent about
an hour with them on the phone and after 4 transfers, came away with little
more than what I started with, other than a few "we'll look into this"
responses.  For now, I got them to note my account that I wasn't able to use
the eTools due to a technology issue, and if I have a question about the
points for some kind of food, there's a number I can call into and ask
someone there to access my account and look it up for me.  Not the solution
I wanted, but it's one I'm willing to try because it takes the pressure off
of me having to report to a group.  Maybe I can make a list of things I want
to know about and just write them all down at once so I can refer back to
it.

I guess that's it for now.  Again, thanks for your responses.

-----Original Message-----
From: diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bridgit Pollpeter
Sent: Friday, July 20, 2012 3:01 AM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Accessibility questions, help needed

Julie,

Knowing more specifics about your situation, I can definitely understand
your frustration. My mom has done WW through the years as well as others I
have known, and they typically had great results when following the program.
It would be nice for people using adaptive software to be able to experience
the same results without barriers to the program and website.

Perhaps someone on this list, or some Federationist with the computer
understanding, can investigate the specific area of the website you refer to
and see what can be done. There may be a simple fix, or maybe a way in which
to navigate the pages you need that take a little creativity. Perhaps if
enough people contact WW headquarters, they will get the message and update
their website to be more compatible with adaptive software.

If you have in deed been told they will not provide alternative formats for
info, well this is an entirely different ball game, sister, warranting some
more intense action on your part and perhaps the Federation, though this is
not my place to say. I'm not sure of all the legality, but it seems a bit
discriminatory to outright refuse you alternative formats to WW when you're
a paying client. Is there a comprehensive print doc that can be scanned and
referred to via a computer? Also try Googleing WW points for specific foods.
It may not b the greatest solution, but you may find the answer elsewhere
online.

I wish I could assist further or had better answers. We all have faced
similar problems, and hopefully the world will one day automatically
consider accessibility instead of the disabled community having to
constantly take up campaigns reminding the world we are here and wanting to
do all the same things.

Good luck with everything, and hang in there.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/

"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

-----Original Message-----
From: diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie Kline
Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2012 8:54 PM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Accessibility questions, help needed

Evening all,

Thank you for your responses.  I guess I should have been more specific on
which area it was of the site I could not use, but I didn't know if this was
even an appropriate topic for the list, so I kept it short.

To answer Mike's questions, I have tried this with both JAWS 13 and NVDA, no
luck on either.  This Weight Watchers group was started as an at work group,
where they hold the meetings at your job instead of you traveling to a
center.  Of the members, 4 of us are blind.

The specific area I'm having a problem with is the eTools portion of the
site.  This is an important area because you are supposed to be able to use
this to go and look up point values for servings of different foods.
For people not familiar with how WW works, most foods have a point value
depending on what food it is and the size of your serving.  To stay with the
plan, everyone is given a pre set number of points, which they base on
things like your height, weight, gender, age, etc.  In order to have access
to this part of the site, you need a login and password, which they won't
let you create one unless you give them your credit card information so they
can bill you.  I did this.  I am able to get past the login and password
fields ok, but once you go here there is a section of the eTools that wants
you to personalize your information.
You can't bypass this, you can't skip it to go to the food database (or
anywhere else), it won't let you do anything else until the information is
confirmed.  I tried both with my i-phone app and the site, but the phone
version of it prompted me to go back online and finish setting up the
account.  Among other fields there is a calendar they want you to fill in
the date of your last meeting and what your weight was at that time.  Using
JAWS, you can't make any changes to these combo boxes.  It won't let you go
into forms mode, it won't let you use the down arrow to access it,
everything is silent when you try to move around and no changes were made by
using trial and error.

One of the other people who also uses adaptive technology told me that he
had a sighted person help him to set this up, but he said he still couldn't
get any further with it because everything was graphics.
According to the terms of their agreement, I can't give my login and
password out to anyone so unless the person helping is sitting here with me,
it's grounds for W W to terminate my membership if I do.  Because of this,
prior testing of this part of the site for accessibility was not possible at
that time.  It's restricted to only people who have a login.

I'm sorry if I came across as not being tactful; I just am upset by this
because I feel like if they're charging me for it, I should be able to have
some way of having access to it -- privately and independently.
The group leader's idea is to have me report to the other members what I ate
or am looking to eat and hope that someone will be willing to calculate the
points for me for the foods I don't know and aren't listed.  I just feel
that this opens me up to being judged by people and none of the other
members have to report what they do, which to be honest, me saying what I
had and them not reporting what they had makes it feel very one-sided.  I'm
not comfortable with that.  In speaking with the district manager, there
position on this is that they are not going to make materials available in
another format such as braille or audio because they feel the quantity is
too limited for their market.  I have checked on bookshare and BARD, but the
specific materials they make reference to are not listed.

For anyone that wants to respond, you can contact me off list if you like
because I realize some people probably aren't interested in this topic.  My
e-mail address is Julie.kline at rochester.rr.com

Julie

-----Original Message-----
From: diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Mike Freeman
Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2012 10:57 AM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Accessibility questions, help needed

I just checked out the site and although there's the usual clutter of
unnecessary frames (read ads) with odd labels, if you ignore the clutter,
the site seems quite accessible to me. I was able to see meetings in my
area, look at recipes and tricks and find other desirable information. The
site has plenty of landmarks, headings and "skip navigation" links for those
who like such things (I prefer headings).
And the searches worked quite well with all combo boxes, checkboxes and the
like perfectly useable.

What version of JAWS, Window-eyes, SuperNova, NVDA or other screen-reader is
Julie using? So far as I am aware, the Department of Justice doesn't deem a
web site inaccessible because a user isn't using the latest/greatest version
of his/her screen-reader of choice.

To make this a bit easier on Julie, what aspects of the site are you having
trouble with? Perhaps we can coach you through it.

Mike Freeman

-----Original Message-----
From: diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Robert Shelton
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 8:07 PM
To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind'
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] Accessibility questions, help needed

Is this maybe something to bring to NFB?  WW is a major organization with a
web page that's supposed to serve their customers -- I'm thinking the Target
Stores precedent here.  What say, Mike?

-----Original Message-----
From: diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie Kline
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 9:25 PM
To: diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Diabetes-talk] Accessibility questions, help needed

good evening,
i don't know if you guys remember, but a couple of weeks ago I had asked the
question here about Weight Watchers and whether or not their website and
online tools were accessible for someone using a screen reader. As a follow
up to that question, I am very upset to learn that most of site I'd need to
use is not at all accessible. it doesn't respond to screen reader commands
and you can't navigate the thing because it's all flash and graphics. of
course the sign up page reads beautifully. i brought this problem to our
local Weight Watchers people and asked if I could have the material in
another format like braille, but they will not give me a straight answer for
this and the only thing they've given me is a pocket guide. do I have any
recourse here? saying I feel cheated is pretty mild; I'm very upset that I'm
not getting the same opportunities as other participants though I'm paying
the same money, and while everyone else has multiple options for doing
tasks, I don't even have one. if anyone can offer me somewhere to go for
help with this, I'd appreciate any suggestions. if I'm just plain SOL AND
THERE IS no recourse here, then thanks for letting me vent. julie sent from
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