Follow-up Information: Meeting on Accessibility of Passio Go App in Janesville Scheduled

[Amy Snow]

Greetings,

This is a follow up to the meeting that took place on Thursday, September 25 at the public library with Janesville Transit.

Firstly, I want to thank everybody that showed up and shared your concerns. I believe the meeting was productive and further served to confirm the positive relationship between the Blind community and Janesville Transit. 

Becca from JT was very receptive to concerns brought forth by attendees. She took notes and some video of how the app worked with VoiceOver. She hopes to share this content with the app developers so that they understand what kind of challenges we are seeing.

Another point of discussion was stop annunciation on the buses. We shared that they were incorrect or inconsistent and often nonexistent. Becca took notes and shared that she had recently had a meeting with the engineers about how she could correct some of the inconsistencies. She hopes to attempt some fixes in the coming weeks and hopes they will improve.

Becca has encouraged us to reach out to her with concerns or questions regarding any of JT services. Her contact information can be found on the Janesville Transit page of the

City of Janesville website.

Thanks!

Amy

On Sep 18, 2025, at 10:01 AM, Amy Snow <snowfl...@att.net> wrote:



Greetings,

I was able to secure a meeting with Becca from Janesville Transit for 3:30 PM September 25 at Hedberg Public library in Janesville. We will be meeting downstairs in the friends community room. Please keep in mind that we need to be finished with our meeting by 5 PM at the latest since that is when our room reservation expires.

This will be an in person meeting only but if you find you cannot attend in person, please let me know and we will see whether arrangements can be made for virtual attendance. 

Please keep in mind that, though we are sharing our challenges and concerns, this is a solution-focused meeting where we can engage in problem-solving strategies with Janesville Transit. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out and let me know.

Have a great day!

Amy

On Sep 11, 2025, at 1:40 PM, Amy Snow <snowfl...@att.net> wrote:

Greetings, 

This is a friendly reminder that if you are interested in sharing feedback regarding the Passio Go app or website accessibility to please fill out the survey linked below. Also, I will be working with Becca at Janesville Transit soon to arrange a time to collaborate. The more information I have from those interested in attending, the more likely the meeting will be scheduled at a time when you are available to attend. 

Please reach out with any questions you may have. 

Thanks!

Amy

On Sep 6, 2025, at 9:20 PM, Amy Snow <snowfl...@att.net> wrote:



Greetings,

For those who do not know me, my name is Amy Snow and I am the secretary of the Rock County NFB chapter as well as the Assistive Technology Specialist at the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Janesville. I am sending this message to both the ACB and NFB Wisconsin lists hoping to reach a broad audience of blind and visually impaired individuals. If you know of anyone who may not have received this message and may have interest in the topic noted below, please feel free to forward this email.

The reason for this communication is to gather information from those who utilize the Janesville Transit System and the Passio Go app and share an opportunity to collaborate on the accessibility of the these services.

As many of you may be aware, Janesville Transit (JT) recently contracted with Passio to provide both stop annunciation and bus tracking services for its busses. Unfortunately, I found that the app was very frustrating, if not impossible, to use with VoiceOver. Though the app was navigable and elements were labeled for the most part, the parts did not work together to create an app that was functionally accessible. After noting the accessibility challenges, I reached out to JTS, who in turn has been in contact with Passio. In my communications with JT, which were in turn passed on to Passio, I shared that in my experience, and the experience of the bind and visually impaired riders of Janesville Transit that though Passio has indicated the app meets accessibility standards, we have been unsuccessful in utilizing it successfully. I have, at times, been able to get it to work but not consistently. I have heard form some of you that you’ve had similar experiences.

Becca Smith from JT (formally JTS) has indicated she would be open to meeting with a group of us who use the app to understand what difficulties we are seeing. This message is to assist in coordinating this meeting and gauging interest of others who may wish to be involved.

If you would be interested in meeting with Becca, and possibly in the future with Passio, and sharing your experiences with the Passio Go app or web interface, please complete the form below.

Accessibility Collaboration Interest Form

Please be aware that any meetings we hold will be solution-focused and collaborative. The blind and visually impaired community has had an excellent working relationship with JT over the past several years and we all wish this positive relationship to continue. Additionally, it should also be mentioned that this collaboration is, for lack of a better term, “nonpartisan”. It is not officially sanctioned by the NFB or ACB. We hope to move forward as a united community of blind and visually impaired individuals.. It is my hope that we can move this advocacy forward and all will feel equally welcome to participate.

If you are interested in seeing the Accessibility Impact Statements submitted by Passio and their comments on accessibility, please write to me off-list and I will forward that information to you as well as my responses regarding the ADA Title II rules regarding app and website accessibility.

One final item of note. In the interest of transparency, I want to share that from this point out, any communication on this subject is as a member of the visually impaired community and tax paying citizen and not an AT specialist and state employee. It is my intention to continue my advocacy in this capacity unless called upon in my professional capacity to review accessibility of the app.

Please feel free to contact me off list if you have further questions on this issue.

Thanks,

Amy

 

 

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[Amy Snow]

Greetings, 

I’m sharing the following message from Becca as a further follow up to our meeting last Thursday. Her contact information is also included below, so please feel free to reach out to her with any further questions or concerns.

Thanks,

Amy

First, thank you again for a productive meeting last week; I very much appreciate everyone's grace and information sharing!

I have shared the description of the problem we are having, including the videos of Scott using the app with Voice Over, to give Passio a sense of what is going on. Passio and I will meet to discuss next steps soon. 

In the meantime, could you please pass this info onto the group? 

The following stops have been adjusted based upon feedback and should be announcing:

Oakhill and Wolcott,

Lexington/Holiday,

all WCBVI bus stops,

Court & Main for the Milton Avenue route,

Cedar Crest,

State & Willard

If you notice any issues/problems with any stops, please let me know and I'll work to get them adjusted. 

I've asked for assistance about updating the Walgreens/McDonald's stops.

Public Works told me the Mocha Moment traffic signal was fixed on Friday. 

The 2026 budget public hearing will be Monday, November 10 at 6pm in the Council Chambers of City Hall, fourth floor of 18 N Jackson Street. The adoption of the budget will take place on Monday, November 24 at 6pm, also in the council chambers. I'll be there both nights in case there are any transit questions.

Thanks again for your time, I'll be in touch!

Rebecca Smith, Transit Director

City of Janesville

608-755-3104

www.janesvilletransit.com

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