RE: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them
I really feel my reviewing an app inaccessible to me is unfair to the developer. The point of a review is does it perform as intended. If there was no intent to be accessible with Voiceover, then reviewing it on that basis is unfair and meaningless to others. How valuable would be 100 reviews by screen users of something like a Braille app because it would be totally useless to them. For sure, we should alert developers to the inaccessibility of their work. I believe most times they are just not aware that their apps could be used by screen reader users and what it might take to make it useable. But, that is different from a review. I was looking at a product on Amazon the other day. A reviewer gave it 2 stars because the price had gone up since she started buying the product. She still liked its quality, but seriously downgraded it just based on price. This really told me nothing about the product, but that I should be an informed shopper, which I knew already, independent of shopping this product or this marketplace. Eric _ From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Alan Lemly Sent: Friday, May 02, 2014 11:27 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them All I can say is that if developers have some sort of editorial or censorial authority over reviews, having a review system serves no purpose. For reviews to be meaningful, the process must be totally independent from what is being reviewed. Alan Lemly -Original Message- From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kramlinger, Keith G., M.D. Sent: Friday, May 02, 2014 8:20 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Hi, I've sent reviews on 2 different apps this past week, but neither were posted. I've written iTunes Store Support about this. They confirmed my reviews were sent but that apparently they were not posted as the Developers Review Boards must not have allowed that. Here is the comment from the iTunes Store Support message: Keith, as I investigate. There are several reason why your reviews are not posted, actually your reviews have bent sent but it depends on the developers review boards to approve it. I'm sorry I can't provide you details regarding this because we are just for billing, downloading and purchasing. I hope you understand us. Does this sound right? Seems like it would defeat the purpose of App Reviews if Developers can have Review Boards to determine if they'll approve the review before allowing it to be posted. By the way, both of my reviews of apps were negative, as neither app was accessible. Thanks, Keith -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you
Re: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them
What apps were being reviewed? I don't see any mentioned in this thread. How do you know they can't be made accessible or weren't intended to be accessible? Are you saying that it's OK for a developer to be able to reject any review they want because the app wasn't meant to be accessible? I think the Apple guidelines for inclusion in the App Store mention accessibility, so I think it's perfectly acceptable to give a negative review of an app based on it's lack of accessibility. It's also a slippery slope when people start to claim that a certain type of app or technology can't be made accessible. How many people thought a touch screen based technology could be made accessible ten years ago? I also don't think a negative review by a blind person because an app is not accessible will spell the demise of an app in the App Store. There are just too few blind users, and sighted users aren't going to avoid an app because it isn't accessible. It will serve to notify other blind users that the app is not worth downloading or purchasing because it isn't accessible. On 05/03/2014 07:51 AM, SSEric wrote: I really feel my reviewing an app inaccessible to me is unfair to the developer. The point of a review is does it perform as intended. If there was no intent to be accessible with Voiceover, then reviewing it on that basis is unfair and meaningless to others. How valuable would be 100 reviews by screen users of something like a Braille app because it would be totally useless to them. For sure, we should alert developers to the inaccessibility of their work. I believe most times they are just not aware that their apps could be used by screen reader users and what it might take to make it useable. But, that is different from a review. I was looking at a product on Amazon the other day. A reviewer gave it 2 stars because the price had gone up since she started buying the product. She still liked its quality, but seriously downgraded it just based on price. This really told me nothing about the product, but that I should be an informed shopper, which I knew already, independent of shopping this product or this marketplace. Eric *From:*viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] *On Behalf Of *Alan Lemly *Sent:* Friday, May 02, 2014 11:27 PM *To:* viphone@googlegroups.com *Subject:* RE: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them All I can say is that if developers have some sort of editorial or censorial authority over reviews, having a review system serves no purpose. For reviews to be meaningful, the process must be totally independent from what is being reviewed. Alan Lemly -Original Message- *From:* viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] *On Behalf Of *Kramlinger, Keith G., M.D. *Sent:* Friday, May 02, 2014 8:20 PM *To:* viphone@googlegroups.com *Subject:* App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Hi, I've sent reviews on 2 different apps this past week, but neither were posted. I've written iTunes Store Support about this. They confirmed my reviews were sent but that apparently they were not posted as the Developers Review Boards must not have allowed that. Here is the comment from the iTunes Store Support message: Keith, as I investigate. There are several reason why your reviews are not posted, actually your reviews have bent sent but it depends on the developers review boards to approve it. I'm sorry I can't provide you details regarding this because we are just for billing, downloading and purchasing. I hope you understand us. Does this sound right? Seems like it would defeat the purpose of App Reviews if Developers can have Review Boards to determine if they'll approve the review before allowing it to be posted. By the way, both of my reviews of apps were negative, as neither app was accessible. Thanks, Keith -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com mailto:viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list
RE: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them
Hi Mark, The 2 apps were The Great Courses app and the MPRNews app. I don't have copies. Basically, both reviews were about the same. The title of the reviews were something like this: This app is not accessible to or usable by the blind. The content of the reviews were something like this: Buttons on this site are not labelled for reading by VoiceOver, the onboard iOS screen reading software. Links are labeled by image title, such as 1050 jpg image which do not provide meaningful information for blind users to determine the nature of the link. These issues could likely be corrected without a great deal of time or effort. Please refer to the Developers App toolkit information regarding accessibility at Apple. Please give serious consideration to making your website accessible to the blind. For the Great Courses app, I also included the following at the beginning of the review content: I have been in phone contact and email contact with customer service on 4 occasions since October 2013. I received an email message today from customer service indicating they had no plans to make their app accessible to the blind. -Original Message- From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of M. Taylor Sent: Friday, May 02, 2014 8:36 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Hello Keith, I, too, have experienced this phenomenon. If I may ask, what are the names of the two apps you reviewed? Also, if you saved a copy of the reviews, would you consider posting them on this list? I, for one, would like to read them. Mark From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kramlinger, Keith G., M.D. Sent: Friday, May 02, 2014 6:20 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Hi, I've sent reviews on 2 different apps this past week, but neither were posted. I've written iTunes Store Support about this. They confirmed my reviews were sent but that apparently they were not posted as the Developers Review Boards must not have allowed that. Here is the comment from the iTunes Store Support message: Keith, as I investigate. There are several reason why your reviews are not posted, actually your reviews have bent sent but it depends on the developers review boards to approve it. I'm sorry I can't provide you details regarding this because we are just for billing, downloading and purchasing. I hope you understand us. Does this sound right? Seems like it would defeat the purpose of App Reviews if Developers can have Review Boards to determine if they'll approve the review before allowing it to be posted. By the way, both of my reviews of apps were negative, as neither app was accessible. Thanks, Keith -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone
RE: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them
Hello Keith, Thank you for providing this information. By the way, Generally speaking, I usually write my reviews using the Notes app on the phone then copy and paste it into the Review dialog box so that I have a copy. I have found this necessary especially when the first submittal does not go through. iTunes/App Store can, sometimes, be capricious. Mark -Original Message- From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kramlinger, Keith G., M.D. Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2014 9:18 AM To: 'viphone@googlegroups.com' Subject: RE: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Hi Mark, The 2 apps were The Great Courses app and the MPRNews app. I don't have copies. Basically, both reviews were about the same. The title of the reviews were something like this: This app is not accessible to or usable by the blind. The content of the reviews were something like this: Buttons on this site are not labelled for reading by VoiceOver, the onboard iOS screen reading software. Links are labeled by image title, such as 1050 jpg image which do not provide meaningful information for blind users to determine the nature of the link. These issues could likely be corrected without a great deal of time or effort. Please refer to the Developers App toolkit information regarding accessibility at Apple. Please give serious consideration to making your website accessible to the blind. For the Great Courses app, I also included the following at the beginning of the review content: I have been in phone contact and email contact with customer service on 4 occasions since October 2013. I received an email message today from customer service indicating they had no plans to make their app accessible to the blind. -Original Message- From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of M. Taylor Sent: Friday, May 02, 2014 8:36 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Hello Keith, I, too, have experienced this phenomenon. If I may ask, what are the names of the two apps you reviewed? Also, if you saved a copy of the reviews, would you consider posting them on this list? I, for one, would like to read them. Mark From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kramlinger, Keith G., M.D. Sent: Friday, May 02, 2014 6:20 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Hi, I've sent reviews on 2 different apps this past week, but neither were posted. I've written iTunes Store Support about this. They confirmed my reviews were sent but that apparently they were not posted as the Developers Review Boards must not have allowed that. Here is the comment from the iTunes Store Support message: Keith, as I investigate. There are several reason why your reviews are not posted, actually your reviews have bent sent but it depends on the developers review boards to approve it. I'm sorry I can't provide you details regarding this because we are just for billing, downloading and purchasing. I hope you understand us. Does this sound right? Seems like it would defeat the purpose of App Reviews if Developers can have Review Boards to determine if they'll approve the review before allowing it to be posted. By the way, both of my reviews of apps were negative, as neither app was accessible. Thanks, Keith -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post
Re: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them
It sounds like it may be the same internal department which reviews apps before they become active in the App Store. If so, this is very different from the app developer being able to block negative reviews. David Chittenden, MSc, MRCAA Email: dchitten...@gmail.com Mobile: +64 21 2288 288 Sent from my iPhone On 3 May 2014, at 13:20, Kramlinger, Keith G., M.D. kramlinger.ke...@mayo.edu wrote: Hi, I’ve sent reviews on 2 different apps this past week, but neither were posted. I’ve written iTunes Store Support about this. They confirmed my reviews were sent but that apparently they were not posted as the Developers Review Boards must not have allowed that. Here is the comment from the iTunes Store Support message: “Keith, as I investigate. There are several reason why your reviews are not posted, actually your reviews have bent sent but it depends on the developers review boards to approve it. I'm sorry I can't provide you details regarding this because we are just for billing, downloading and purchasing. I hope you understand us.” Does this sound right? Seems like it would defeat the purpose of App Reviews if Developers can have Review Boards to determine if they’ll approve the review before allowing it to be posted. By the way, both of my reviews of apps were negative, as neither app was accessible. Thanks, Keith -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
RE: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them
Here’s the response I got from the iTunes Store Support representative. You decide. Dear Keith, Thank you for the response, I see you want to clarify that the App developers have the controls of approving the reviews. Kieth, yes. The app developers have the control of approving the review but there are some that are open to it in which you can post anytime. Please, always remember support is just an email away if needed. You've truly been a remarkable asset and thank you for choosing the iTunes Store. Sincerely, Rey iTunes Store/Mac App Store Customer Support From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of David Chittenden Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2014 7:44 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them It sounds like it may be the same internal department which reviews apps before they become active in the App Store. If so, this is very different from the app developer being able to block negative reviews. David Chittenden, MSc, MRCAA Email: dchitten...@gmail.commailto:dchitten...@gmail.com Mobile: +64 21 2288 288 Sent from my iPhone On 3 May 2014, at 13:20, Kramlinger, Keith G., M.D. kramlinger.ke...@mayo.edumailto:kramlinger.ke...@mayo.edu wrote: Hi, I’ve sent reviews on 2 different apps this past week, but neither were posted. I’ve written iTunes Store Support about this. They confirmed my reviews were sent but that apparently they were not posted as the Developers Review Boards must not have allowed that. Here is the comment from the iTunes Store Support message: “Keith, as I investigate. There are several reason why your reviews are not posted, actually your reviews have bent sent but it depends on the developers review boards to approve it. I'm sorry I can't provide you details regarding this because we are just for billing, downloading and purchasing. I hope you understand us.” Does this sound right? Seems like it would defeat the purpose of App Reviews if Developers can have Review Boards to determine if they’ll approve the review before allowing it to be posted. By the way, both of my reviews of apps were negative, as neither app was accessible. Thanks, Keith -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.commailto:viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.commailto:viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.commailto:viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.commailto:viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
NPR News App Not Accessible? was Re: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them
Perhaps there is more than one NPR news app, but the one I have is called NPR news and is quite accessible. I use it several times a week to read, and listen to stories and listen to the hourly news broadcast. Just before writing this reply, I checked to see if a new update had changed it in some way. For me, it is still very accessible. Arnold Schmidt - Original Message - From: Kramlinger, Keith G., M.D. kramlinger.ke...@mayo.edu To: viphone@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2014 12:17 PM Subject: RE: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Hi Mark, The 2 apps were The Great Courses app and the MPRNews app. I don't have copies. Basically, both reviews were about the same. The title of the reviews were something like this: This app is not accessible to or usable by the blind. The content of the reviews were something like this: Buttons on this site are not labelled for reading by VoiceOver, the onboard iOS screen reading software. Links are labeled by image title, such as 1050 jpg image which do not provide meaningful information for blind users to determine the nature of the link. These issues could likely be corrected without a great deal of time or effort. Please refer to the Developers App toolkit information regarding accessibility at Apple. Please give serious consideration to making your website accessible to the blind. For the Great Courses app, I also included the following at the beginning of the review content: I have been in phone contact and email contact with customer service on 4 occasions since October 2013. I received an email message today from customer service indicating they had no plans to make their app accessible to the blind. -Original Message- From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of M. Taylor Sent: Friday, May 02, 2014 8:36 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Hello Keith, I, too, have experienced this phenomenon. If I may ask, what are the names of the two apps you reviewed? Also, if you saved a copy of the reviews, would you consider posting them on this list? I, for one, would like to read them. Mark From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kramlinger, Keith G., M.D. Sent: Friday, May 02, 2014 6:20 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Hi, I've sent reviews on 2 different apps this past week, but neither were posted. I've written iTunes Store Support about this. They confirmed my reviews were sent but that apparently they were not posted as the Developers Review Boards must not have allowed that. Here is the comment from the iTunes Store Support message: Keith, as I investigate. There are several reason why your reviews are not posted, actually your reviews have bent sent but it depends on the developers review boards to approve it. I'm sorry I can't provide you details regarding this because we are just for billing, downloading and purchasing. I hope you understand us. Does this sound right? Seems like it would defeat the purpose of App Reviews if Developers can have Review Boards to determine if they'll approve the review before allowing it to be posted. By the way, both of my reviews of apps were negative, as neither app was accessible. Thanks, Keith -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email
RE: NPR News App Not Accessible? was Re: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them
It's M PR, not N PR. -Original Message- From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Arnold Schmidt Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2014 9:24 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: NPR News App Not Accessible? was Re: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Perhaps there is more than one NPR news app, but the one I have is called NPR news and is quite accessible. I use it several times a week to read, and listen to stories and listen to the hourly news broadcast. Just before writing this reply, I checked to see if a new update had changed it in some way. For me, it is still very accessible. Arnold Schmidt - Original Message - From: Kramlinger, Keith G., M.D. kramlinger.ke...@mayo.edu To: viphone@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2014 12:17 PM Subject: RE: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Hi Mark, The 2 apps were The Great Courses app and the MPRNews app. I don't have copies. Basically, both reviews were about the same. The title of the reviews were something like this: This app is not accessible to or usable by the blind. The content of the reviews were something like this: Buttons on this site are not labelled for reading by VoiceOver, the onboard iOS screen reading software. Links are labeled by image title, such as 1050 jpg image which do not provide meaningful information for blind users to determine the nature of the link. These issues could likely be corrected without a great deal of time or effort. Please refer to the Developers App toolkit information regarding accessibility at Apple. Please give serious consideration to making your website accessible to the blind. For the Great Courses app, I also included the following at the beginning of the review content: I have been in phone contact and email contact with customer service on 4 occasions since October 2013. I received an email message today from customer service indicating they had no plans to make their app accessible to the blind. -Original Message- From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of M. Taylor Sent: Friday, May 02, 2014 8:36 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Hello Keith, I, too, have experienced this phenomenon. If I may ask, what are the names of the two apps you reviewed? Also, if you saved a copy of the reviews, would you consider posting them on this list? I, for one, would like to read them. Mark From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kramlinger, Keith G., M.D. Sent: Friday, May 02, 2014 6:20 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Hi, I've sent reviews on 2 different apps this past week, but neither were posted. I've written iTunes Store Support about this. They confirmed my reviews were sent but that apparently they were not posted as the Developers Review Boards must not have allowed that. Here is the comment from the iTunes Store Support message: Keith, as I investigate. There are several reason why your reviews are not posted, actually your reviews have bent sent but it depends on the developers review boards to approve it. I'm sorry I can't provide you details regarding this because we are just for billing, downloading and purchasing. I hope you understand us. Does this sound right? Seems like it would defeat the purpose of App Reviews if Developers can have Review Boards to determine if they'll approve the review before allowing it to be posted. By the way, both of my reviews of apps were negative, as neither app was accessible. Thanks, Keith -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched
Re: NPR News App Not Accessible? was Re: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them
Hi Arnold and All, I can second your experience with the NPR News App. I use it often as well, and I have had no difficulty in doing so. I am totally blind and rely on VoiceOver completely! I have had trouble using the NPR Music App. The news one works beautifully though! Desi On May 3, 2014, at 7:24 PM, Arnold Schmidt arno...@mindspring.com wrote: Perhaps there is more than one NPR news app, but the one I have is called NPR news and is quite accessible. I use it several times a week to read, and listen to stories and listen to the hourly news broadcast. Just before writing this reply, I checked to see if a new update had changed it in some way. For me, it is still very accessible. Arnold Schmidt - Original Message - From: Kramlinger, Keith G., M.D. kramlinger.ke...@mayo.edu To: viphone@googlegroups.com Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2014 12:17 PM Subject: RE: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Hi Mark, The 2 apps were The Great Courses app and the MPRNews app. I don't have copies. Basically, both reviews were about the same. The title of the reviews were something like this: This app is not accessible to or usable by the blind. The content of the reviews were something like this: Buttons on this site are not labelled for reading by VoiceOver, the onboard iOS screen reading software. Links are labeled by image title, such as 1050 jpg image which do not provide meaningful information for blind users to determine the nature of the link. These issues could likely be corrected without a great deal of time or effort. Please refer to the Developers App toolkit information regarding accessibility at Apple. Please give serious consideration to making your website accessible to the blind. For the Great Courses app, I also included the following at the beginning of the review content: I have been in phone contact and email contact with customer service on 4 occasions since October 2013. I received an email message today from customer service indicating they had no plans to make their app accessible to the blind. -Original Message- From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of M. Taylor Sent: Friday, May 02, 2014 8:36 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Hello Keith, I, too, have experienced this phenomenon. If I may ask, what are the names of the two apps you reviewed? Also, if you saved a copy of the reviews, would you consider posting them on this list? I, for one, would like to read them. Mark From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kramlinger, Keith G., M.D. Sent: Friday, May 02, 2014 6:20 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Hi, I've sent reviews on 2 different apps this past week, but neither were posted. I've written iTunes Store Support about this. They confirmed my reviews were sent but that apparently they were not posted as the Developers Review Boards must not have allowed that. Here is the comment from the iTunes Store Support message: Keith, as I investigate. There are several reason why your reviews are not posted, actually your reviews have bent sent but it depends on the developers review boards to approve it. I'm sorry I can't provide you details regarding this because we are just for billing, downloading and purchasing. I hope you understand us. Does this sound right? Seems like it would defeat the purpose of App Reviews if Developers can have Review Boards to determine if they'll approve the review before allowing it to be posted. By the way, both of my reviews of apps were negative, as neither app was accessible. Thanks, Keith -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post
RE: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them
Hello Keith, I, too, have experienced this phenomenon. If I may ask, what are the names of the two apps you reviewed? Also, if you saved a copy of the reviews, would you consider posting them on this list? I, for one, would like to read them. Mark From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kramlinger, Keith G., M.D. Sent: Friday, May 02, 2014 6:20 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Hi, I've sent reviews on 2 different apps this past week, but neither were posted. I've written iTunes Store Support about this. They confirmed my reviews were sent but that apparently they were not posted as the Developers Review Boards must not have allowed that. Here is the comment from the iTunes Store Support message: Keith, as I investigate. There are several reason why your reviews are not posted, actually your reviews have bent sent but it depends on the developers review boards to approve it. I'm sorry I can't provide you details regarding this because we are just for billing, downloading and purchasing. I hope you understand us. Does this sound right? Seems like it would defeat the purpose of App Reviews if Developers can have Review Boards to determine if they'll approve the review before allowing it to be posted. By the way, both of my reviews of apps were negative, as neither app was accessible. Thanks, Keith -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
RE: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them
All I can say is that if developers have some sort of editorial or censorial authority over reviews, having a review system serves no purpose. For reviews to be meaningful, the process must be totally independent from what is being reviewed. Alan Lemly -Original Message- From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kramlinger, Keith G., M.D. Sent: Friday, May 02, 2014 8:20 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: App Reviews -- it appears the Developers can censor them Hi, I've sent reviews on 2 different apps this past week, but neither were posted. I've written iTunes Store Support about this. They confirmed my reviews were sent but that apparently they were not posted as the Developers Review Boards must not have allowed that. Here is the comment from the iTunes Store Support message: Keith, as I investigate. There are several reason why your reviews are not posted, actually your reviews have bent sent but it depends on the developers review boards to approve it. I'm sorry I can't provide you details regarding this because we are just for billing, downloading and purchasing. I hope you understand us. Does this sound right? Seems like it would defeat the purpose of App Reviews if Developers can have Review Boards to determine if they'll approve the review before allowing it to be posted. By the way, both of my reviews of apps were negative, as neither app was accessible. Thanks, Keith -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. The archives for this list can be searched at http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups VIPhone group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
