[NFBCS] Legal Action for the Accessibility of AWS Web Console

Tue Feb 11 16:18:28 UTC 2020

Okay, I actually was able to get the name of someone on the AWS UI
team. I sent him an email through an gmail address that I was able to
dig up. His name is:

Patrick Woo
His Linkedin profile is here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickwoo/

I will definitely report back if he responds, but I am not sure if he will.

Please let me know if you are able to dig up any contacts who might be
able to help.

Thanks,

Timothy Breitenfeldt

On 2/10/20, charles.vanek at gmail.com <charles.vanek at gmail.com> wrote:
> Chime is a pretty bad app I will agree on that; if you've ever used Blue
> Jeans for teleconferencing I think Chime is only marginally better.  Zoom is
> fantastic and I got them a while back to fix the fact that blind individuals
> were unable to know if a recording started or stopped.
>
> As for AWS.  I've tapped a few LinkedIn connections at Amazon in Seattle to
> see if they know who in AWS is in charge of Accessibility proposing some
> coordination.  I've had some luck with Slack and Microsoft this way in the
> past having a fairly decent network to rely upon.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Timothy Breitenfeldt <timothyjb310 at gmail.com>
> Sent: Monday, February 10, 2020 10:50 AM
> To: charles.vanek at gmail.com
> Cc: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [NFBCS] Legal Action for the Accessibility of AWS Web Console
>
> Yes, I agree, it may not even be necessary to take legal action against AWS,
> but it would not be the first time that my complaints of inaccessible
> software has fallen on deaf ears. Amazon is one of those companies. I had a
> horible interview experience with Amazon Chime a while back for an Amazon
> interview, and I found Amazon Chime to be an awfle peace of software, and it
> was enaccessible as well.
>
> I would love to tell AWS nicely to fix their web console, and walk away with
> a solved problem, I am just worried that they won't listen.
> I think it depends on who we talk to.
>
> Timothy Breitenfeldt
>
> On 2/9/20, charles.vanek at gmail.com <charles.vanek at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I'd be happy to join in a coordinated request to AWS.  My team has a
>> reasonably large set of infrastructure in AWS and I find there are
>> numerous WCAG 2.0 AA shortcomings.  Obviously AWS is used by US &
>> Canadian government entities which mean they should need to be
>> reasonably conforming to that standard
>>
>> As for legal action, it seems first that the problem needs to be
>> quantified.
>> There's definitely a problem there, but does it rise to the level of
>> needing legal action and if there were coordination amongst those
>> having issues AWS may see the light and start fixing issues.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: NFBCS <nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Timothy
>> Breitenfeldt via NFBCS
>> Sent: Sunday, February 9, 2020 6:08 PM
>> To: nfbcs at nfbnet.org
>> Cc: Timothy Breitenfeldt <timothyjb310 at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [NFBCS] Legal Action for the Accessibility of AWS Web
>> Console
>>
>> Thanks Tom for your experience, I would be interested if anyone else
>> has used AWS Console with a screenreader and what they think about
>> pushing AWS to fix their UI. I am concerned that AWS could wiggle out
>> of any legal claims against them by saying that the web console is
>> accessible enough, although has tarible usability. In adition, there
>> is a commandline tool, which is an alternative solution that is
>> completely accessible, it is just by no means the most convenient at
>> times.
>>
>> I don't know anything about what it would take to file legal
>> complaints, I do not know anything about these things, but AWS is a
>> very important part of many people's jobs right now, and the situation
>> could definitely be improved for screenreader users.
>>
>> Please, if anyone has any experience with this type of thing or has
>> anything to add I would love to hear your thoughts.
>>
>> Timothy Breitenfeldt
>>
>> On 2/5/20, Tom Moore <tommym2006 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>> I use Aws on a daily basis with the Awscli and web console.
>>> Some functions work easier with the Awscli than the web console and
>>> others are easier in the console.
>>> There are some functions that are not easy for me to use specifically
>>> creating record sets in Route53 or working with different aspects of
>>> Vpcs.
>>> As far as taking legal action I am not really in a position to give
>>> you any advice on this area and I only approach things from a
>>> technical prospective.
>>> The tasks I can not do myself I ask for help with other people in the
>>> company and they help with the few things I do need and then I go on
>>> my way.
>>>
>>> Tom
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: NFBCS <nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Timothy
>>> Breitenfeldt via NFBCS
>>> Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2020 11:14 AM
>>> To: nfbcs at nfbnet.org
>>> Cc: Timothy Breitenfeldt <timothyjb310 at gmail.com>
>>> Subject: [NFBCS] Accessibility of AWS Web Console
>>>
>>> Hi, I am currently going through training as a full stack web
>>> developer, and we started working with AWS recently. I am a
>>> screenreader user, and use NVDA and JAWS. I have found AWS to be
>>> frustratingly accessible. In otherwords, accessible enough I think to
>>> avoid a lawsuit. Has anyone approached AWS about the state of the
>>> usability of AWS with screenreaders? Honestly, accessibility aside,
>>> as a web developer, I can point out over a dozen problems with just
>>> the HTML design, such as putting column headers in a separate table
>>> from the body of the table.
>>>
>>> I do know about the AWS CLI, and I have been using it, but it just is
>>> sometimes easier to use the web console. I am getting the hang of the
>>> user interface, but it is slow and frustrating that every time I
>>> perform an action I get 0 feedback to weather anything happened, and
>>> if anything did, where on the screen that new information is
>>> presented. All of that aside, the AWS web console is inconsistent web
>>> design, where some AWS services are easier to use than others because
>>> the wizards have actual buttons rather than clickable text, or the
>>> table column headers are apart of the same table as the body, etc...
>>>
>>> Does anyone know if this problem has been brought to the attention of
>>> AWS, what their response was, and if not, if there is enough
>>> justification to take legal action to force Amazon's hand to fix the
>>> problems?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Timothy Breitenfeldt
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> Timothy Breitenfeldt
>>>
>>> Phone: 509-388-7262
>>>
>>> Skype: timothyjb310 at outlook.com
>>>
>>> https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothybreitenfeldt/
>>>
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>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Timothy Breitenfeldt
>>
>> Phone: 509-388-7262
>>
>> Skype: timothyjb310 at outlook.com
>>
>> https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothybreitenfeldt/
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> NFBCS mailing list
>> NFBCS at nfbnet.org
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>> il.com
>>
>>
>
>
> --
>
> Timothy Breitenfeldt
>
> Phone: 509-388-7262
>
> Skype: timothyjb310 at outlook.com
>
> https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothybreitenfeldt/
>
>

-- 

Timothy Breitenfeldt

Phone: 509-388-7262

Skype: timothyjb310 at outlook.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothybreitenfeldt/