Accessibility Services - Switch Access

[Badg]

I have a Vodaphone Smart Ultra 6 and the switch access and talk back services are missing from the Accessibility menu. This was true in Android 5 and has not been fixed with the update to Android 6.

Why is this?

It is somewhat dissapointing as I work in assistive technology training and have to rely on an aging android 5 tablet to show this useful feature.

[Amanda]

Hi @Badg

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. 

We'll feed this back and have it looked into. 

Thanks, 

[Amanda]

Hi @Badg

I just wanted to give you a quick update. 

We're still looking into this however in the meantime there is a workaround option. 

Looking at the Play Store on the Ultra 6 I can see that Talk Back is available as a separate app download. So it can still be downloaded and installed as a separate feature. You can find this by searching Google Talk Back in the Play Store. 

We'll be in touch once we have any further updates. 

Thanks, 

[Amanda · Accepted solution]

Hi @Badg

Thank you for your patience. 

Unfortunately this appears to be a design decision and not something that we can resolve with a software update.

The only work around available would be the one mentioned, on my previous post. 

Thanks,  

[Badg]

Hello Amanda.

Thanks for getting back to me.

I am struggling to understand how removing code that will help disabled people use the phone is a justifiable "design decision"

Please can you get an explanation for this odd behaviour.

Regards.

[Jenny]

@Badg - As Amanda advised above, the reason this was removed was a design decision and not something that we can resolve with a software update.

I appreciate this may be frustrating, however there is the workaround available in the meantime, which was mentioned previously.

[Badg]

Hello Jenny.

Firstly the work around for talk back does nothing for users with mobility issues who would use "Switch Access", so no help there.

Next.You just restated the previous persons' response and failed to answer the question of why it was decided to exclude this useful Android facility for disabled people.

Regards.

[Becca_P]

@Badg

We're unable to provide any further information on why this design decision was made.

Apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.