Yandex Adapts Taxi Application For Screen Reader Technology

The Yandex Go application and the taxi.yandex.ru website began to support work with screen readers. Now blind users can order a taxi without assistance, not only by phone but also from a computer or mobile device.

Screen readers, such as VoiceOver or JAWS, read what is displayed on the screen. To make them work correctly, the Taxi team provided all interface elements with invisible captions-prompts and, with the help of blind testers, thought over the navigation.

All the basic features of the service are available to blind Taxi users. They can set a route, choose a tariff, find out the cost of a trip, choose a payment method, order a car and leave a comment to the driver – all by ear, without a picture in front of their eyes.

Artem Molchanov, the Head of the Yandex Go product line has been quoted by the Yandex Press Service:

Previously, in order to order a taxi, blind users had to call a call center or hand over their smartphone to another person. It is not right. Adapting the interface is a step towards creating an accessible environment where people with disabilities have the same opportunities as others.

Other Yandex services and applications have been adapted for the blind. Now people with visual impairments can use the basic capabilities of Yandex Browser for computers, the Metro application, and the web versions of Search and Weather. Yandex will continue to work in this direction, and in the future, more functions and more services will be available to the blind.

 

Dan Taylor
Dan Taylor is an experienced SEO consultant and has worked with brands and companies on optimizing for Russia (and Yandex) for a number of years. Winner of the inaugural 2018 TechSEO Boost competition, webmaster at HreflangChecker.com and Sloth.Cloud, and founder of RussianSearchNews.com.