That’s a shame. We’ve mostly been switched to some app-powered thing in my town as well, but they included some kiosk things as well.
IMO, the apps are quite nice actually and I enjoy not having to ever run out to a meter anyway, but requiring a phone should not be considered meeting accessibility requirements.
You need to download-install an app , enter your info, your vehicle info, your credit card, the location where you’re parking, the time (which is non-refundable/ transferible if you pay too much) to park. Sometimes all this BS takes longer than the time you wish to park, I rather risk getting a ticket or just go somewhere else. All this because cities just lease the operation to 3rd parties.
It is sort of a pain the first time. But once you have it set up, it can be quite convenient (of course, as long as the app is well written and saves/detects the right data, that is!). But yeh, I definitely agree it can be a pain.
