Category: the Rant Board
Hey guys,
I think the title is pretty self-explanitory, but I'm sick and tired of the problems that have been coming up with Facebook. It's annoying how they keep changing things in the app updates and certain things stop working, or slow down the app to a ridiculously slow pace. It's great that they make consistent updates and that they try to fix things, but I don't understand why it has to come to a price like this. I don't understand how apps are made and managed as most of us probably don't, and I doubt they are intentionally breaking things with the app but I still find it ridiculous. The thing that really annoyed me though recently was when we had our Internet changed in the house to a different router, and Facebook locked me out of my account, saying that I was logging in from an unrecognized device. So I go to answer the stupid security questions, and they have a thing where you have to write the text that you see with no audio capta. I understand that some sites don't have them, but as big of a franchise that Facebook is I am surprised and disappointed that they wouldn't have an audio capta. I'm curious if anyone else has had this problem and who can echo my frustrations, or tell me to get over it. Lol
Get over it, lol! Seriously, though, I've had that exact same problem recently. I hate how many websites don't have the audio Captcha. The only good thing gmail has is that it can send you a voice call with the verification coad instead of an SMS. Anyhow, the facebook app crashes on me as well. So I just use it with safari, I find it better because I have direct access to more links and stuff.
this is what I'll tell you, Ryan. the fact they constantly change things, is just one reason I got rid of my account last year, for good.
also, one possible explanation for their frequent changes, is the fact they may be implementing things that are visually appealing. I know Yahoo mail does that very thing, which makes it damn near impossible for blind people to use.
That's why I use the mobile site more or less exclusively. At least it's still reasonably accessible.
I do too, but it was also giving me problems. I couldn't even get on to it from my phone unless I read and wrote the stupid characters. I finally got it to work though. I had to go on an unsecured network that I used in the past. Then it told me some suspicious person was trying to log on to my account which was obviously me, and all I had to do was hit the button that said this was me. What a pain in the ass.
I used to have problems with the mobile site, too. you can't count on anything staying the same, honestly.
I know a lot of people have had problems with the app, it seems to be working ok on my phone but that might just be luck to be honest. The mobile site has recently been changed but I think it's pretty good, they've added headings so navigation is smoother, that might be your best bet at the moment.
I know a lot of people fed up with Facebook, not just for accessibility reasons, as important as those are for us. The content on Facebook has diminished drastically in the past few years from real posts by real people to nothing but a zillion likes to third-party websites.
Most of us stay on because it is connection to family. And lol to the daughter and friends, they don't use Facebook because that's where all the older folks and parents go. So they use SnapChat which you can't if you're blind, but still, they seem to like it.
I hate using it on my phone, its very slow and if I slide too fast through my news feed, the app kicks me out. Last night I was so damn pist, fb changed their layout to headings, at least on the mobile site when I used it on my computer. Its so annoying, sure now its easier to skip over posts you don't care to read, but it was just annoying.
I use Facebook often because it's a connection to people I don't necessarily talk to often. But it's gotten more and more difficult to use recently. The iPhone and Android apps are both clunky, and the mobile site isn't even easy to navigate anymore. I tend to use the app called Status Report to read through Twitter and Facebook posts, because it seems to simplify things. But I obviously still need to use another app or the site itself in order to manage things like settings, my friends list, and private messages.
At Brooke: I use Facebook for the same reasons and I've found the same thing about them being more difficult to navigate now. I haven't found a way to approve friend requests with the tweet list app for Twitter yet and when I try to find a friend on the Facebook app, it makes my Voiceover freeze up and the phone goes unbelievably slow, so I just do it on my computer. I understand that the blind is only a small minority of users that use Twitter and Facebook, but I think most people use the main site anyway so I don't understand why they have to keep changing things on the mobile sites to make them more visually appealing.
I can't know for sure, but I'm guessing they change the mobile site to be compatible with changes on the main site. plus, there are probably areas of content snapped into the mobile app direct from the site itself. And millions of users use Facebook on their phones: To status report from everywhere, to take pictures of events, and so on.
Best way to handle message on Facebook on the iPhone, may be also available for Android, is Facebook Messenger. Looks like the phone's texting app, and pretty easy to use, for better or worse.
I haven't read every post here so maybe people have touched on this. Now, just as far as PC-based solutions go, how do people feel about a couple of accessibility-oriented interfaces out there. These are namely Serotek's Socializer and GW Micro's Social-eyes. OK, these are both paid subscription things, but I wonder if anybody's had the chance to play with either of them. I've only used Serotek's interface and there are things I like about it, although I don't think you can do absolutely everything you can do on even the mobile site. Haven't had the chance to play with Social-eyes just because I'd have to buy a year's worth of its service in order to try it, there's no trial period. Advantage to the Serotek solution, of course, is you're not just subscribing to use of Facebook but to streaming content and user forums and other content and you pay $16.95 a month, where with GW Micro's solution you pay $39.95 for a year's worth of Facebook-only access. So I suppose either one, there's a trade-off and you have to figure what you value most, plus of course some of the limitations may be because of Facebook's own API and what it'll allow and what it won't.
I am using atrium for FB on android but most who know me know I do not on I Iphone any more. So you guessed it!, its on android. Its a very clean enterface and the dev is open for suggestions on how to make it more accessible. Heck I was shocked to get an email from this person asking how it can be made more accessible. Rather then, I will consider it and left my suggestion right wear it was left.
That's better than the Facebook admins themselves.
I never go on facebook these days. My twitter feed is linked to my facebook page, so I don't see why Ihave to go on there to update my status now. I never look at comments people post, either. and keeping track of birthdays is impossible too.
I probably wouldn't have one if it weren't for the fact that it keeps me connected with friends and family I wouldn't otherwise have contact with.
I deactivated my Facebook account for the longest time for this reason and others. While I do have it now, I rarely use it, just because it's so cluttered.
I can't really comment on the app situation, since I don't have a smartphone, but I do agree that the mobile site is a sprawling mess now. Even the headings seem to be in odd places. At least, every time I access the site, it only has headings for about 3 statuses on the page.
Oh, I hate those ads too. The last time I used Facebook consistently, which was about 3 years ago, I don't remember having to deal with them. They're really annoying.
I did decide to buy Social Eyes, but I wouldn't recommend it. Not only does it not seem to show the same amount of statuses as there really are on your page, I can't seem to post links, either. That was the only real reason that I decided to reinstate my account. I wanted to use it to post interesting articles that I find. But with Social Eyes, despite it having a dedicated feature to do this, it doesn't work at all. You can paste the link into the edit field, and write your status to go along with it, but it doesn't actually post to Facebook.
I used to say I'd keep Facebook, since it gave me a way to be in touch with people I wouldn't otherwise communicate with. however, the fact that things are changed so frequently, and certain things with the iPhone app get broken, make it not worth what positives I used to convince myself existed.
I really don't know what you guys are talking about. The mobile site is easy for me to deal with, even easier now that the headings are there. I can skip over a post with a single keystroke now. I like it. The only thing I haven't figured out how to do is tag people in a post, and I rarely want to do that. Everything else I can do with ease.
True. Social-Eyes is a piece of crap. Only reason I bought it was because the don't offer a demo and so you basically have to subscribe in order to try it. I generally like GW Micro but this was a dumb move on their part.
I've been trying to figure out how to tag people for about a year now, because it's something I'd like to be able to do often.
What are you people talking about. the headings in the mobile site always land on links. Maybe you guys are just dealing with defective browser settings or something...
The new look for the mobile site is not cluttered at all. But I do admit, the site changes frequently. But not enough for me to complain. Come on, people. Stop being such wusses. You either want to use the site or not. It's accessible and it's free. Who cares if it's not exactly to your liking. If you dont' want it, dont' use it. Noone's putting a gun to your head to try to get you to keep using it. Your'e not paying for the service, for crying out loud.
By the way guys, there's a way to get around the tagging issue on the mobile site. When you're posting a status, there's a link above the share button that says something like "more options" then if you click that, it shows you an option to tag your friends.
The tag ends up at the end of your post or at the beginning, and it says something like "with cody", cody being the friend on facebook that you've tagged, for instance. So it's not the best way to tag, and it's not ideal, but it works in a pinch.
Admittedly the headings did throw me off at first but I still feel the mobile site is workable for everything I use Facebook for. It's not nearl as cluttered as the main site for crying out loud. I wouldn't mind being able to turn off suggested posts but that's about it.
We're in the rant board, so that's precisely what we're doing. And to clarify, we as blind people aren't the only ones who get frustrated with Facebook. Almost daily, one of my sighted friends also vents about its many changes.
what are you people talking about? ranting on the rant board! how dare you!
Yes, and because you're blind, you are not supposed to complain about things that millions of other people complain about all the time. Lest the priests of the blind community come and judge you and banish yo' ass to hellfire.
Lol take it as you will, I was just speaking in terms of the moment when I was irritated that I couldn't access my account. I'm over it now, but at the same time I still wonder why they don't have an audio captcha.
Ryan, your rant is totally understandable. as leo and others said, sighted people complain about Facebook all the time, so why not us?
also, have you heard of Webvisum? it's a service that solves captcha for people who are blind, using the Firefox web browser.
sorry to hijack your topic, but I just got it a few days ago, and it really makes a world of difference for us.
That it does. I've been using Webvisum for years, and love it.
Also, I know that the main site is way more cluttered than the mobile site, but those suggested posts are annoying. That's what I meant by clutter on the mobile site, because back when I used Facebook a lot more regularly, those suggested posts weren't there.
Not to change the subject, but can someone explain what exactly the timeline is for? How does it differ from the news feed?
No need to be sorry. To be honest I've never heard of that, but I will definetly check it out. Thanks for the suggestion.
What is the law? Not to ever complain about anything, that is the law. Are we not men?
Actually when I first signed up for Facebook, back in 2008 this was, there was an audio Captcha, and a surprisingly intelligible one at that. I didn't know they'd removed it, but then againI haven't had occasion or reason to check since I created my page.
Those suggested posts really are annoying. When I first got my account back in 2009, they didn't exist. Now there seem to be more and more of them.
As far as I know, Facebook doesn't have an audio Captcha. I remember over a year ago, being locked out of my account because I supposedly used a device it didn't recognize. I was traveling at the time so had no way of logging in from my home computer to regain access. The options to get back into my account were, at the time, completely inaccessible. The most annoying was the option to match the names of people on my friends' list, with their pictures. Needless to say, I was locked out of my account until I got home and logged in from my main computer.
Yes, that happened to me a couple times too. I guess when you try to log in from an IP adress that is far away from the one you use, they see that as suspicious. As far as the suggested things though, it was annoying at first but I've gotten used to it. I think they do that as a means of advertising, probably for groups, pages, etc. who help sponsor them.
If you complain because you dislike something you're a wus? Ranting is a sign of weekness, come on people, you can do better than that. We need not to express our dislikes. Ever. After all, suggestions given to further figure things out are a sign of superiority. Lets bottle up our feelings. :)
It's called internalized oppression. See, if you are sighted, you are the majority so if you complain about anything, well, it's just a thing. However, if you're blind and you complain, certain blind people who want to fashion themselves as above the other blind people will complain about these complainers. This is meant to convey the message: "look at me, see how I am, I'm better than this sightless gutter trash, I'm positive and I put up with everything." What the complainers about complainers don't realize is that they, in fact, are complaining so they are no better than the trash they think they want to rise above, they impress nobody, even if there actually are bigger and better things to complain about. And, that's a lie, too, because if you found the biggest and best thing to complain about, some schmuck would come in and suggest there are bigger and better things to complain about. So, in the end, it's a big fat fucking pissing contest. Epic fail!
I got locked out of my account once a few years back, too. I was living in Pittsburgh at the time, so I had no access to my home computer, because my laptop had become my home computer. But it really didn't like that I had changed IP addresses that first time. I ended up having to get a friend who knew a good amount of the people on my Facebook page to log in and do the stupid picture identification for me.
Please tell me that they've gotten rid of that crap, at least.
I love to use my facebook because my family lives all over the place and this is how I am able to keep in touch with everyone. I would never get around to calling them... so on...
I use the app on my iphone but find a few things a pain.
I can not copy text from someones status. Which is a pain in and of itself if I want to repost their status as my own for some reasons or another. I can share their status but I don't want to do that.
I find that i see the same people stuff all the time and not much of anything else. I found though that I can go to the top to notifications and click most recent or all friends so on and see more.
I wish you could block the game request. I hate getting those. i get about five a day. I don't play the games.
I wish I didn't get so many of those (somebody share a photo) status updates. I don't mind getting say, my sister posting (Look at us doing this!) photos, but for the ones that says things like (somebody shared angry dogs) photo I don't want to see. Where do they get these photos any way? It is like they are going online and just clicking share, share, share...
I don't get a lot of adds and they are easy to skip over so that is nice.
I have notice some recent changes in the last few days to the app too. There are a few things, i can't remember what, that the app won't let me do.
@Godzilla: Epic.
Leo, dude, you should have seen the attempts I made before that, they were much more, um, intense.
OK, in all total seriousness though, I'm sure like anything there is no perfect solution. I've got the native FB app on my now apparently obsolete iPod Touch and it's OK but sometimes buggy and crashy. I decided this month to take the plunge and buy GW Micro's Social-eyes and although it's a nice idea it has its flaws, but I've no idea whether said flaws are the fault of the program or the limitations imposed by the Facebook API. For one thing, I was able to access a group I joined once through it but now I can't access it at all, it just won't let me. Next, I can read private messages but it seems there has to be more than one in a given conversation. But I can post and read other's statuses and like things and so on. I don't care about, well, they call it sharing, I call it forwarding, articles, because if I absolutely have to be a copycat I can cut and paste a URL, no prob. I think I'm going to subscribe to Serotek's Samnet next month so I can compare their Socializer with Social-eyes for myself. Be that as it may I've got GW Micro's product for a year but may not resubscribe come next February.
isn't there a thurd party app for FB on the IPhone? Hmm.. time to go explore my new IPhone5S apps store and report back. After I finish shooting zombies I will look it up.