Apple has always been vocal about its commitment to accessibility features for its products, and now a member of the company’s accessibility design and quality team is speaking up on just how committed Apple is. A new profile from Mashable details Jordyn Castor, a 22-year-old, blind engineer.
Apple briefly mentioned some accessibility enhancements during its press event this week — watchOS 3 is adding wheelchair specific optimizations to Apple Watch — but iOS 10, macOS Sierra, tvOS 10 and watchOS 3 also have many other improvements to assist users with motor, vision, hearing, and learning impairments. Here’s the rundown…
As rumored late last year, Apple has now added a dedicated accessibility accessories category to its online store. As Amvsement noted, Apple currently offers a total of 15 products, addressing the three areas of vision, physical & motor skills, and learning & literacy.
For those who are blind or partially sighted, Apple offers two different braille displays which serve as both screen-readers and control keyboards. For those with motor skills impairment, products include an over-sized trackball and a wide variety of switches to trigger functions on a Mac or iOS device. Devices for learning disabilities include a ‘tactile musical interface’ to provide a fun way to create music …
At a time when so many Facebook posts comprise a photo and a brief comment, there’s one group of people who get rather left out of the picture: those who are blind and partially sighted. That’s a problem Facebook is fixing, starting from today. The iOS app now uses artificial intelligence to figure out the content of photos, and Apple’s VoiceOver feature to read aloud a description of them.
The Verge got a demo of the feature, which Facebook calls ‘automatic alt text.’
Automatic alt text, which is coming to iOS today and later to Android and the web, recognizes objects in photos using machine learning […] While still in its early stages, the technology can reliably identify concepts in categories including transportation (“car,” “boat,” “airplane”), nature (“snow,” “ocean,” “sunset”), sports (“basketball court”), and food (“sushi”). The technology can also describe people (“baby,” “smiling,” beard”), and identify a selfie.
Facebook said that there were two approaches it could have taken to the problem, and it chose the one it believed would be most successful …
My iPhone 6s is not jailbroken, but there are still a couple of tricks that I employ that make it closer to that of a jailbroken phone. For example, getting rid of animations — a feat normally reserved for users willing to jailbreak — is now available to all iOS 9 users via the handy SpringBoard animations glitch.
Another trick, one that I haven’t been shy about sharing in the past, involves reducing iPhone screen brightness beyond levels that are possible with the standard brightness slider controls. Like the animations glitch, this too uses iOS’ deep accessibility features to pull off the job. If you’re someone who likes to use an iPhone or iPad at night, then your eyes will thank you for this trick.
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One of the things that makes iOS special is its SpringBoard animations. The animations help orient the user around iOS using 3D space.
But not everyone is a fan of iOS’ animations — some for purely aesthetic reasons and others for health reasons. With this in mind, Apple has provided a way to reduce the animations using the Reduce Motion switch found in the Accessibility settings. Even with that option available, some wish to take the reduction of animations even further and disable them altogether.
Up until now, many of the available options for disabling animations relied on jailbreaking. But a new iOS glitch found by a redditor makes it possible to completely get rid of SpringBoard animations until you reboot your iPhone. Watch our step-by-step video walkthrough inside to see how.
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High-resolution audio isn’t the only rumor emerging from Macotakara today, the site also claiming that Apple will begin selling accessibility accessories for Macs and iOS devices early next year.
In the second quarter of 2016 (January-March), Apple plans to release Accessibility-related peripherals and accessories for both iOS and OS X.
Apple has long championed access to technology for those with disabilities. The American Foundation for the Blind gave Apple a Helen Keller Achievement Award, while the president of the National Federation of the Blind stated that “Apple has done more for accessibility than any other company.”
Apple has previously highlighted Accessibility apps in its store, and Tim Cook last year told investors that while making its devices accessible doesn’t necessarily increase revenue, the company does so because it’s the right thing to do.
Photo: Resound
Apple today has launched a new page on the App Store dedicated to showcasing apps that take advantage of the Accessibility features on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Apple says that the section is meant to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Accessibility featured page on the App Store is further broken down into sections for Vision, Hearing, Speech, Learning and Literacy, and Physical and Motor Skill.
Apple has curated a new App Store section today highlighting Global Accessibility Awareness Day, which is observed on May 21st each year with the goal of “raising the profile of and introducing the topic of digital (web, software, mobile app/device etc.) accessibility and people with different disabilities to the broadest audience possible.”
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Apple has released the first software update for Apple Watch today with the release of Watch OS 1.0.1. The update is available through the Apple Watch app on iPhone.
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With Apple placing a high priority on accessibility features, it’s no surprise that iOS caters not just for people who have difficulty performing on-screen gestures, but also those who cannot easily press the home button. One of the AssistiveTouch features allows them instead to simply tap an on-screen home button.
But as Business Insider noted, in many Asian countries and elsewhere, you see many more people than you might expect taking advantage of the feature. The reason, apparently, is a fear of breaking the home button. While Apple may have a generally great reputation for product support, the same is not true of third-party resellers in some parts of the world, leading to AssistiveTouch being used as a precaution.
Instructions for switching it on can be found in an Apple support document.
Hearing aids are pretty sophisticated pieces of technology these days, capable of adjusting the sound they pick up to suit a range of different environments, from a noisy restaurant to a windy day outside. A button allows users to cycle between modes, but some go further, an app allowing the user to fine-tune things like the arc of sound captured, letting them hear what is being said by companions while blocking out extraneous sound.
In a video on CNN Money, a man whose hearing was badly affected by a brain tumor demonstrates how an app on his Apple Watch allows him to control his ReSound hearing-aid …
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One of the things I find most inspiring about the iPhone is the way it can be adapted to create very low-cost versions of what would otherwise be very expensive medical equipment, unaffordable in many parts of the world. We’ve previously seen this approach taken for things as diverse as HIV tests, skin cancer detection and eye injury diagnosis.
The UC Berkeley has just added blood parasite detection to the list, using a 3D-printed case, Arduini board with Bluetooth module and LED lighting …
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The American Foundation for the Blind today announced four honorees for the upcoming Helen Keller Achievement Awards, highlighting Apple’s VoiceOver and Accessibility efforts alongside actor Charlie Cox, musician Ward Marston, and biopharmaceutical company Vanda Pharmaceuticals.
The foundation says that it gives this award to “accomplished individuals and companies for their success in improving quality of life for people with vision loss either through groundbreaking innovation or inspirational achievement that changes perceptions about what it means to be visually impaired.”
Apple is specifically being awarded for VoiceOver Accessibility technology across its products, per the announcement:
The popular Intuit-owned Mint finance management app updated to version 4.1 today adding new bill reminder features, more accessibility support, and general improvements all around.
Highlighted in the new version is the ability to manage bill reminders right from the app. For the iPhone version, bill reminders can be created, edited, and managed from the latest version of the app. A change to the Overview tab wraps all this together.
Mint has also enhanced the newly added Updates view to show upcoming bill due dates. The new Upcoming Bills Card will present any bills with a due date within the next seven days.
In terms of accessibility, Mint has added support in a number of areas of the app. This includes the login, signup, split transactions and transaction detail pages.
Mint 4.1 for iPhone and iPad is available for free on the App Store.
Apple Watch Accessibility Settings
Apple told employees during a week at the flagship Berlin Apple Store in Germany that the company will increase its focus on product accessibility by putting executive Lisa Jackson in charge of the efforts, according to people in attendance. Asked by an Apple Store employee if the Apple Watch will include accessibility features, Cook reportedly replied:
[vimeo 113872517 w=704 h=396]
The National Federation of the Blind said last year that Apple has “done more for accessibility than any other company,” and with the help of a new app, iPhone and iPad owners can take things even further. Be My Eyes is an app that allows blind people to request remote help from a sighted person when needed.
Requests for help might range from checking the expiry date on a container of milk to looking at an airport departure board for a gate number …
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Previously, I discussed how to have your iOS device read text for you in iOS 7, and in iOS 8 it works pretty much the same way – but with some little differences. It is now easier to set up and make text speakable on an iOS device. Before we discuss how to do it, let’s first set up our iOS device so we can do it:
Last week, inaccurate reporting emerged in regards to Apple’s work on making its products accessible to all consumers. As many Apple customers are aware, and as CEO Tim Cook takes extremely seriously, Apple works hard to ensure that Macs, iPhones, iPods, and iPads can be used to their full extent by people who are deaf or blind, for example. In response to the reporting (Philip Elmer-DeWitt has a good summary of the original reporting and takedowns at Fortune), Mark A. Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, has published a comprehensive blog post describing Apple’s work on accessibility, the technology industry as a whole, the resolution regarding iOS device accessibility, and what can be done to improve accessibility of third-party apps into the future.
The full blog post can be read here, but here is a key line that should further dispute last week’s inaccurate reports: “Apple has done more for accessibility than any other company to date, and we have duly recognized this by presenting the company with at least two awards (including our annual Dr. Jacob Bolotin Award) and publicly praising it whenever the opportunity arises.” The blog post goes on to explain that the Federation believes Apple could work further with App Store developers on making all of the more than one million App Store apps more accessible to all users. “We simply want Apple to continue to discuss with us what measures the company can put in place to ensure accessibility,” the blog post reads.
It is also worth watching Cook’s speech regarding human rights and accessibility, below:
There’s a lot of new features coming in iOS 8 that you might have missed during Apple’s presentation today. Apple briefly flashed the slide pictured above and in it listed a bunch of new features that it didn’t talk about in length or at all during its keynote. Some of them include a “Tips app”, panorama on iPad, WiFi calling, FaceTime call waiting, rich text editing in Notes, iBooks preinstalled, and accessibility improvements like multi-device support for MFi hearing aids and the ability to exit Guided Access mode using TouchID.
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iOS devices are built with all users in mind: they come with several accessibility features for low-vision or legally blind users, hard-of-hearing or deaf users, individuals who have physical and motor difficulties, and individuals with learning
difficulties.
In this accessibility segment, we will be discussing how to use and customize subtitles and captioning.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, who is not known for many video recorded public appearances outside of Apple events, spoke at length regarding equality at an Auburn University event. At the event, Cook accepted Auburn University’s College of Human Sciences Lifetime Achievement award. AllThingsD first wrote about Cook’s appearance and notes Cook’s discussion of two of his inspirations: Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy:
“They sacrificed everything, including their lives, as champions of human rights and of human dignity,” Cook said. “Their images inspire me. They serve as a reminder to me every day that regardless of the path that one chooses, there are fundamental commitments that should be a part of one’s journey.”
Cook also quotes the late Nelson Mandela (who Apple is currently honoring on its homepage). Interestingly, Cook’s quote from Martin Luther King is the same one that he sent via video to Apple employees late in November. “The time is always right to do what’s right,” the quote reads. The video (above) of Cook is well worth a watch for the life lessons it provides. Cook also provides insight into Apple’s approach to making its technologies accessible for everyone.
OS X Mavericks has numerous features and settings that make text and images more visible. In this article, I will discuss many options and methods to take advantage of those features in different ways. In pointing out many different ways, I hope to help you find a method that will be a good fit for you.
Use System Preferences, Displays Settings:
Access System Preferences from the dock or the Apple on the menu bar, and click on Displays. Then click on the Display tab. Choose Scaled, and the different resolution settings available are displayed. The options available vary, depending upon what resolution your model of the computer is capable of displaying. Adjust the settings by choosing different options—the lower the numbers are in the setting, the larger objects will be displayed. Below are examples of the display setting options you will see on a white MacBook, an older iMac, and a MacBook Pro with Retina display …
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