Of particular note for blind and low vision users is Door Detection on supported iPhones and iPads, which will enable you to navigate the last few feet to your destination. Apple will also be expanding support for VoiceOver with over 20 new languages and locales.
Ahead of Global Accessibility Awareness Day on May 20, Apple has previewed a number of accessibility Features coming later this year for those with mobility, vision, hearing, or cognitive disabilities.
At its annual Worldwide Developer's Conference this week, Apple previewed some of the new accessibility features coming to its iOS, watchOS, tvOS, and macOS platforms later this year. At this point, it's worth noting that this software is still in beta form, and not all features--particularly, the specifics of how they will be implemented--are finalized. With that said, below is what Apple has announced will be coming for users of accessibility features:
For VoiceOver users, improvements include new voices, a flexible Voice Rotor, custom volume control, and the ability to customize keyboard shortcuts on Mac.
Apple has today shared a profile of Scott Leason, a blind veteran and competition longboard surfer from San Diego, in which it showcases his use of the accessibility features of iPhone and Apple Watch to prepare for his daily surfing sessions:
This morning Unicode posted a proposal from Apple recommending the addition of 13 disability-themed emoji to Unicode’s global character standard. New emoji proposed include a guide dog, woman with white cane, man with white cane and ear with hearing aid.
Update 2: Apple has just pulled the iOS 8.0.1 update, and it is no longer available for download. (Via Mac Rumors.
Update 1: It appears that the loss-of-cellular-service and Touch ID issues with iOS 8.0.1 are limited to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, according to Mac Rumors.
Just over a week after releasing iOS 8, Apple today has released iOS 8.0.1 to the public with various bug fixes and improvements.
Apple has today released iOS 10, proudly claiming this latest iteration of the software to be “more personal, more powerful and more playful”:
Everything you love is now even better with iOS 10, our biggest release yet. Express yourself in bold new ways in Messages. Find your route with beautifully redesigned Maps. Relive memories like never before in Photos. And use the power of Siri in more apps than ever.
Apple has today released iOS 10.1 to the public, bringing with it a range of bug fixes, changes and improvements.
For blind and low vision users, our initial testing suggests that Apple has made limited progress towards addressing the accessibility bugs present in iOS 10. Specifically, we believe the following bugs have been resolved in this release:
Apple has today released iOS 10.2.1 to the public.
At the time of posting, release notes are not yet available; however, it’s likely that this release will mostly bring under-the-hood improvements with no major changes in regard to features and operation. We will update this post if this proves not to be the case and there are outward-facing changes of note.
Apple has today released iOS 10.3.2 to the public.
At the time of posting, release notes are not yet available. However, as a minor 10.x.x update, there are unlikely to be any significant changes to outward-facing features—with the focus of this release being on bug fixes and under-the-hood performance improvements.
For blind and low vision users, our testing indicates that Apple has made only limited progress towards addressing the accessibility bugs present in iOS 10.3.1 in this release.
Today has seen another round of software releases from Apple, with updates arriving for all of its platforms.
At the time of posting, full release notes for today's updates are not yet available. However, we are currently unaware of any outward-facing changes of note; with Apple's focus for these releases seemingly being on making the typical mix of bug fixes, security patches, and under-the-hood performance improvements.