In a recent article in Dan Jellinek’s E-Access Bulletin – “Access To Technology For All” (ISSUE 128, August 2010) Apple received high praise for its commitment to including accessibility features in its new devices.
The article notes that at this year’s E-Access ’10 conference in London, participants heard terms like are “revolutionary” and “game-changing” in the descriptions of Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices.
As quoted from the article:
Kiran Kaja of the RNIB Digital Accessibility Team told a mobile phone workshop that while accessibility applications are available for other smartphones – such as the ‘Eyes Free Shell’ for Google’s Android phone – the iPhone 3G is a “game-changer” because its accessibility features are built in across all its functions.
Using the standard touch-screen you can move your fingers along and the phone reads what is underneath them; and if you swipe down with two fingers it reads from that point to the end, Kaja said. A double-tap with three fingers will magnify the screen.
“A lot of people say they can’t use a touch-screen, but when I show them this it really changes their perspectives,” he said. “People have started asking why they should pay extra money for accessibility on mainstream devices. So slowly we are seeing changing expectations. When Symbian [an operating system for mobile phones] was released in 2000, it was two or three years before assistive technology was developed for it, so phones could be out of date before assistive technology appears. With the iPhone, I could use it the same day as my sighted friends.”
Accessibility features that are built in by the manufacturer are also more stable than added extras like screen-readers running on top of an operating system, Kaja said.
The article goes on to praise the new Apple iPad as well noting, “The iPad’s size…was a ‘revolutionary’ improvement for partially-sighted users, who could use it at a normal distance like a more visible smartphone, with applications and the keyboard feature all viewed larger.”
One of the features in both the iPhone and iPad are the built-in gyroscopes and accelerometers. The article refers to “the free ‘Dasher’ app which allows the user to tilt and move the phone with one hand to select items, a feature of use to many people with impaired mobility.” Information about the Dasher app can be found here.
To subscribe to the E-Access free monthly bulletin, email eab-subs@headstar.com with ‘subscribe eab’ in the subject header.
Related posts:
