Apple has yet to fix the issue that has caused the inability to communicate with people with low vision and blind ears.
The problem was first shared in September after the launch of iOS 15. Prior to the launch of the update, low vision users were able to ask Siri to check call history, play voicemails, and more, all commands that no longer work. Some features have been removed.
Is there any voicemails?
Listen to my voicemail messages.
Check my call history.
Check my calls.
Who called me?
Send an email.
Send an email to someone.
We have received complaints from people who are trying to help someone navigate the changes if they don't have this key feature. The Apple Support Communities have continued to receive complaints about the removal of the feature, as well as the Apple Vis forums for blind and low vision users of Apple products. A user explains the issue.
I use this feature every day because of my visual impairment, and since this morning siri has replied with "I can't help with that" when asking for missed calls, call last missed call etc.
Asking for details on recent phone calls or voicemails now results in the following response: "I can't help with that, but you can ask me to open the Phone app." Asking about email leads to a similar response.
Joshua got in touch with us and said that the change makes the phone almost useless for his mother, and that he's frustrated with Apple's lack of help.
Many fully blind people can't use their phone because they can't ask who has called and if they have a voicemail. The official "workaround" for voicemail is to call the old-school carrier's number to check your voicemail over the phone.
Joshua got in contact with accessibility support and was told that he had to call in to be added to the official engineering report as an affected user and fill out feedback assistant, but he had already submitted a radar. Users on the Apple Support Communities are becoming upset with Apple. From user Maboc.
Not understanding how Apple can't have this resolved by now. The ability for sight impaired people to check for missed calls and messages via Apple's new voice assistant, called "Siri", does not speak well for this Support Community or Apple. The School for the Blind recommended that we purchase a new phone for my mother, who is blind. Apple is a leader in the field of accessibility. Can no one give a time frame for a fix? HELLO APPLE?
We asked Apple when a fix might be coming or if the removal of the Siri function was intentional, but never heard back. It's disappointing that Apple didn't address this issue for blind and low vision users.
