We’ve been experimenting with Android accessibility services trying to make the Flex App more accessible. I’m excited to say we’ve finally figured out how to interact with the app! This means we can use code to make the app easier to use and it gives us a ton of room to play around.
Now there are concerns with releasing certain features. We don’t want to release an “auto-tapper” or any sort of automation cheating processes. Our goal is to make certain aspects of the Flex app more accessible for users that struggle with it’s current design.
For example, the refresh button is far away from where the blocks show up. Requiring users to over extend their hands and fingers trying to capture blocks. We have a method to remedy that.
We’ll be releasing test versions of our app soon. Stay tuned!
What we have right now:
There’s two buttons we’ve created overlapping the app. The “Click” button when pressed activates the native refresh button. It does the same thing as tapping the refresh button itself. The “Blocks” button when tapped, checks to see if there are blocks currently on the screen. If so it will click on it.
With the buttons side by side, this makes clicking refresh and tapping for blocks simultaneously much easier. No over extension of hands or fingers required. Users with carpal tunnel or other such conditions could benefit greatly from this accessibility feature.
There’s loads more we could add to this. Such as one-click copy and pasting of the current stop on the itinerary into a navigation app. Or one-click Google Street view of the current stop, so that drivers can see the house they’re going to ahead of time hassle free. And so much more.