Accessibility Feedback on Android: sorting of playlists

[JR_8000]

Dear Accessibility Support of Spotify,

I have written to you four times by e-mail during the past years and there seems to be no improvement or reaction at all. Thus, once more, the screen reader users on Android Talkback have huge challenges while trying to sort the playlist content e.g. Sort by Recently Added or Sort by Name. This Sorting Playlist Menu cannot be recognized by the screen reader at all. I am not a technical expert here but it seems that the Sorting Menu is implemented as Header Table as an accessibility attribute which screen reader ignores. I cannot locate the Sort Playlist Menu by moving my finger on screen on an Android device. The only way of finding this Menu is the use of external Bluetooth Keyboard, search for "Find from the playlist" option and use a tabulator key currently one, two or three clicks to locate the Sort Playlist Menu. However, the screen reader is silent while trying to move with a tabulator key so I just need to believe I am focusing on a right Menu then. Are there any solutions to decrease the graphical output of Spotify Android and add alt text attributes to these header table elements please? Certainly, you will not change the graphical outlook of Spotify so another solution which I have also provided earlier is to add Sort Playlist Menu to the Additional Options of the Playlist but you are not interested in this option. Please provide me a detailed response what practical accessibility improvements you implement soon? Looking forward to hearing from you Sincerely, Joel, Finland

[JR_8000]

This behaviour concerns at least the devices Sony, Samsung, Xiaomi, Motorola since 2022.

[Joan]

Hi @JR_8000,

Thank you for providing this information. Apologies for the belated reply, we just came across this thread.

Sorry to hear about the experience with TalkBack. Accessibility has always been a top priority here at Spotify and we're always looking for ways to improve. That being said, we appreciate you taking the time to reach out and share your thoughts on this with us and we've made the right team aware of this issue. While our team looks into things further backstage, we'd be more than happy to answer any further questions you may have. If you're facing any other technical issues, we're likewise here to help.

Let us know if you need anything else.

[JR_8000]

It seems the accessible sorting of playlist options are being published gradually. For reason or another the playlist "Liked songs" has not received an accessible sorting solution yet.