Accessible Android Apps I’m Using & A Rant About Accessibility

Below is a list of apps that I’m currently using with my LG G6. As of when I’m writing this, my phone is still running Android 7.0.
I use a combination of touch and an external bluetooth keyboard (Logitech K380) and that is what makes these apps accessible to me.

I want to take a moment and talk about some thoughts and beliefs I’ve seen going around lately as I think this is important.
First, as a person who is totally blind I believe that both smartphone platforms, Android & IOS are accessible. Accessible can mean many things to different people. That is because we all have abilities and skills that may vary as we are all different in one way or another.
That in no way indicates that one person is better than another because they have a skill somebody else doesn’t have, its just part of what makes us individuals.

I’ve read many messages and tweets from a person who has been using one smartphone platform for many years, then they briefly try to use the other one. Some people will think they should be able to use the same way of interacting with the phone as they are used to with their own device. The person will soon become frustrated as this other device doesn’t work the same. They’ll soon give up and declare the different device needs to be fixed before they would call it accessible or even useful. This goes both ways with Android & IOS, as I’ve seen it from both sides.

Just because they are both smartphones should not imply that they work the same. That would be like giving someone who has used one brand & model of coffee maker for the past five years, a different brand and model of coffee maker to use. The buttons are different, they do different things and if you use the thinking of, I pushed the top left button on my old coffee maker, I’ll just push the top button on this new coffee maker and it should do the same.

The person needs to take the time to learn how to use the new coffee maker as they realize pushing that top button does not give them the same results.
There are some people that choose to not learn how to use the new coffee maker and make a decision that it doesn’t work right and it needs to be fixed. There is no way a person could make coffee with this piece of junk.
They will tell people, Oh I used that coffee maker once, it doesn’t work, so I went back to my coffee maker I’ve been using for the past five years, it works great and is accessible.

However, that coffee maker they say is accessible, may not be accessible to you. Maybe you cannot lift your hands high enough to press the buttons, or maybe you don’t have the feeling in your fingers to know if you pushed the button or not. The person claiming it is accessible doesn’t know that it is not that way for you.
It takes time and learning to use something different. To use something different from what you are used to and not learn how to work with the new device then claim it doesn’t work is not fair to others as they read your comments and that person isn’t being fair to them self.

One last example and I’ll end this rant.

A person has been driving a car with automatic transmission for the past 10 years. Their car needs some repair and while their car is in the shop, you loan them your car that has manual transmission. Its the car you have been driving for the past ten years.
Your friend has never driven a car with manual transmission and they think it should work just like their car with automatic transmission does. They don’t ask any questions or check to see if there is anything different they need to do.
They get in the car with manual transmission, turn the key and the engine doesn’t start. They start pushing the gas pedal, moving levers and switches and can’t get the car running. After several tries and several words, they get the engine started but don’t know what this stick coming out of the floor is used for. They take another 10 minutes as steam is rising from their ears, bang their fists on the dash, and say this thing doesn’t work. It isn’t accessible and has a long way to go before it would be useful. They turn the car off, remove the keys and go inside.

This is what I’ve been reading lately in email and on Twitter and this sort of thinking needs to stop.

Now on with the apps that I’m using.

Allo
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.fireball

Amazon Alexa
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.dee.app

AquaMail
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.kman.AquaMail

AquaMail Pro Unlocker
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.kman.AquaMail.UnlockerMarket

Authenticator
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lastpass.authenticator

Be My Eyes
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bemyeyes.bemyeyes

Calendar
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.calendar

Clipper Sync Plugin
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.clippersync.android.plugin

Clipper+
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fi.rojekti.clipper

Files Go
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.nbu.files