[DSM-Iowa] [Tall-Corn] Issues with DART's app on the iPhone

Mon May 6 01:42:10 UTC 2019

Good Evening All:
I'm just catching up on things after my first week at The Seeing Eye, but
that's another topic. Wes, thank you for taking initiative to work on this.
If there is anything I can do, plese let me know. I would be happy to see
what other resources we will need to get these issues addressed.  Thanks!

Scott Van Gorp, President
National Federation of the Blind of Iowa
Phone: 515-720-5282
Email
Website 
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Live the life you want.

The National Federation of the Blind of Iowa is a community of members and
friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation's blind. Every day
we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.
-----Original Message-----
From: Tall-Corn [mailto:tall-corn-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Michael
Barber via Tall-Corn
Sent: Saturday, May 04, 2019 12:57 PM
To: Des Moines Chapter List, NFB of Iowa
Cc: Michael Barber; tall-corn at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [Tall-Corn] [DSM-Iowa] Issues with DART's app on the iPhone

Wes:  This was a very nicely done letter to DART, for not only did you
identify the problem, you then provided some possible solutions.  I hope
they respond to you and fix this problem.

Thanks again.

Michael Barber

Cordially,
Michael D. Barber

> On May 4, 2019, at 12:10 PM, Wesley Majerus via DSM-Iowa
<dsm-iowa at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Greetings, Iowa Federationists:
> 
> I'm posting this both to Tall-Corn and DSM-Iowa. This is mostly 
> because I know that DSM-Iowa is a fledgling list. DART recently 
> updated their iPhone app and it is now inaccessible from a ticketing 
> standpoint. Essentially, if you select a pass and then want to 
> activate it, this is not possible nonvisually. The bar near the bottom 
> of the screen you use cannot be activated while VO is on. If you have 
> an active pass, i.e. you got a pass before this update came down, it 
> is still usable. It is when you need to activate a new one that you 
> will have difficulty. This seems to be the only part of the app they 
> broke.
> 
> Below is an email I sent to DART. It provides possible solutions and 
> offers my help to them. I am writing the main customer service address 
> and a guy named Catlin Curry who I spoke to last year to look at the 
> new fareboxes. I will share any updates I learn. It should be noted 
> that a live conversation with someone at the DART customer service 
> windows yielded nothing, and neither did my phone conversation with a 
> guy named Richard. I am hopeful that this email yields something 
> because I am kind of liking not having to carry cash or to be hassled 
> by DART customer service (that's really about the only place you can 
> buy passes anymore) for wanting to pay full fare on the buses.
> 
> Again, I will keep you all posted and this email may serve as a guide 
> if you too decide you want to contribute to this effort.
> 
> *****
> 
> 
> Greetings:
> 
> I am Wes Majerus, a frequent rider of DART buses who happens to be 
> blind. I have competently and confidently used all aspects of the My 
> DART app since its unveiling in October of 2017, including the mobile 
> ticketing features. I was excited when, on Easter Sunday, I received 
> an update to your application that boasted an integrated trip planner 
> and Next Bus feature that did not rely on web views and is usable 
> inside the application. This part of the application works well.
> 
> My excitement about the inline trip planner and bus tracker was 
> equaled with dismay regarding mobile ticketing. From the standpoint of 
> the application, this feature has worked well since October of 2017.
> Unfortunately, blind riders can no longer access their unused tickets 
> using the iPhone without performing tasks that involve unpredictable 
> results.
> 
> The iPhone comes with a built-in functionality called VoiceOver. This 
> is a screen reading software that uses spoken output or Braile from a 
> connected refreshable Braille display to communicate what is on the 
> screen of the device. Commands are available to control what is read 
> and how. Before the Easter Sunday update, one could locate a ticket in 
> their wallet, double-tap on it (this is the standard gesture VoiceOver 
> uses to select an item), and then double-tap on the bar that says "Tap 
> to Activate Ticket". One can no longer activate this bar when 
> VoiceOver is on. I am totally blind and cannot use my phone without 
> VoiceOver. I am not sure what changed on the ticketing screen in this 
> update, but, as previously stated, the process for activating tickets 
> was working well. If you cannot see the screen of your phone at all, 
> you can get your finger where you think the bar is without VoiceOver 
> running. Unfortunately, it then becomes a game of chance whether your 
> finger will correctly activate the button and start the activation 
> process. Each time an activation attempt is made, the process involves 
> turning VO off, tapping the screen where you think the activation bar 
> is, then turning VO on to check. The only way you know this was 
> successful is if the modal dialog that confirms you are about to 
> activate the ticket appears.
> 
> Here are the current issues I see with the MyDart app as of the 
> current version. I am running an Apple iPhone 7 Space Gray 256 GB with 
> all publicly-available Apple and My Dart updates applied.
> Unable to reliably activate tickets nonvisually.
> Unpredictable behavior of the "Tap to open scannable code" button on 
> active tickets. This causes undue delay when trying to scan at the 
> terminal. Since all buses have barcode terminals, is there a reason 
> why we cannot have the barcode maximized at all times?
> Is there a way the phone can detect that it is near one of your fare 
> terminals and automatically open the barcode for scanning? Could the 
> barcodes be eliminated altogether with the use of NFC or bluetooth?
> Sluggish behavior and app crashes when network connectivity is not 
> optimal. For example, if you are on DART's Wi-Fi, but have not gotten 
> past the captive page, the app will crash. I ran into this a few days 
> ago and could not use my app. This is a sneaky bug because you can 
> prepare while at home or elsewhere, but opening the ticket at the 
> station or near a bus whose wifi you've accessed before causes issues.
> 
> I am willing to discuss these issues with you further and to help you 
> troubleshoot them. You may feel free to contact me via phone or email; 
> be advised that I do work full-time and am available for phone calls 
> sporadicly.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Wes Majerus
> 
> Phone number redacted from copy
> 
> ***
> 
> 
> There are also some physical and philosophical issues regarding DART 
> that I am concerned about, but they would probably best be left to 
> separate cover as they are related to other aspects of the transit 
> process.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Wes Majerus
> 
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