As first reported by Blind Bargains, a member of Apple's Accessibility Team will be presenting a session at this year's American Council of the Blind (ACB) Conference and Convention.
The session, entitled "Accessibility and Apple," will take place on July 7, 2015, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. According to a statement provided to AppleVis, the session will focus on how the accessibility…
Welcome to the June 2015 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, our monthly series which aims to highlight what’s new and noteworthy in the accessible app landscape. Below, you’ll find a recap of the best content posted to AppleVis - from new app entries, to app updates, to podcasts and blogs. For easier navigation, the major sections of this post are at heading level 3, and each individual item is at heading level 4.
Following the release of Apple Music and iOS 8.4, Apple has today released OS X Yosemite 10.10.4 to the public.
According to Apple's release notes via Mac Rumors, OS X 10.10.4 includes the following bug fixes:
The OS X Yosemite v10.10.4 update improves the stability, compatibility…
Apple has today released iOS 8.4, bringing with it Apple’s new music streaming service and the usual "under the hood" fixes and enhancements.
The focus for this release has clearly been on making sure that everything is in place for the introduction of Apple Music and Beats 1. Consequently, we were not surprised to hear from Apple that it includes no accessibility-related changes or fixes.
What you will find in this update…
We are pleased to announce the launch of the AppleVis Apple Watch App Directory.
Posts to the site and on social media suggest that the number of people in our community who own an Apple Watch increases daily, so we are excited to now offer everyone the opportunity to share information about the accessibility of Apple Watch apps.
Submitting and browsing app entries is almost identical to our existing iOS and Mac App Directories. The easiest way to access the Apple Watch App…
The Milanese loop is one of two stainless steel band options for the Apple Watch. Lightweight, comfortable, and easily adjustable, it's a worthy option to consider if you're wanting something dressy, breathable, and easy to take on and off. It's also gender-neutral, and a majority of the people I've spoken with really like it. While getting just the right fit may be a challenge at first, the Milanese loop is a pleasure to wear and is definitely worthy of consideration when choosing an…
Recently, Clara Van Gerven published an article on the National Federation of the Blind website entitled, “The Sighted Guide to VoiceOver”. In the article, the author, a sighted assistive technology specialist, undertook an experiment to use only VoiceOver on her iPhone for forty days. That any sighted person, even an assistive technology professional, would undertake using only VoiceOver for forty days is to be commended,…
I told myself that I didn’t want an Apple Watch.
I told my family and friends that I didn’t want an Apple Watch.
I wrote and tweeted about how I didn’t want an Apple Watch.
And yet, after learning that Apple Watch would include a comprehensive…
During the past week there has been a series of small reminders of how accessibility sits at the very heart of Apple’s ethos and practice.
The first of these came in one of the videos shown as part of the keynote presentation at last week’s Worldwide Developers’ Conference (WWDC). Featured prominently was a piano app for the iPad being developed by the Ludwig Project, which will seek to bring music to the hearing impaired by enabling them to…
Every year at its Worldwide Developers’ Conference (WWDC), Apple celebrates and acknowledges through its Apple Design Awards the mobile and desktop apps which raise the bar in design, technology and innovation.
Presented in a ceremony that traditionally follows the WWDC keynote presentation, it was tremendous to see the Workflow iOS app winning one of these prestigious awards this…
Today was Apples annual World Wide Developer's Conference keynote. This time each year, the world gets to preview the hardware and software coming out of Cupertino. We traditionally see the next iterations of iOS and OS X, and maybe a new service or cloud-based offering. This year was no exception: iOS9, OS X 10.11, watchOS 2.0, an updated Apple Pay, and the all-new Apple Music were all shown off with Apples usual flare. If…
Just released in the App Store is Viskey, an alternate iOS keyboard for low vision users from the developers of the highly regarded MBraille.
Viskey brings you an easy to use and accessible keyboard without sacrificing modern features. You can enjoy spelling support, auto-correction and capitalization. Existing text…
Below is the AppleVis live blog for the June 8, 2015 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote presentation. Information has been taken directly from the @AppleVis Twitter timeline, as well as from the Twitter timelines of MacRumorsLive / MacRumors, Macworld, and…
When I first saw mention of the Apple Watch having a ‘Speak On Wrist Raise’ option for VoiceOver users, my immediate reaction was that this would be one of those ‘set it and forget it’ settings. However, this is not turning out to be the case.
For those of you who don’t have an Apple Watch and are unfamiliar with this option and what it does, it simply has VoiceOver automatically speak the Watch screen when you lift your wrist (which most commonly results in the time being announced…
If you have read any of my previous posts on the Apple Watch, you might be excused for wondering at this point what else I have left to say on the topic … or, at least anything left to say that’s based upon personal experience. Before its release, I gave my reasons for not buying one. However, I was back within a few weeks to report that my inner-geek and it’s curiosity had ultimately won out, and that…
Welcome to the May 2015 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, our monthly series which aims to highlight what’s new and noteworthy in the accessible app landscape. Below, you’ll find a recap of the best content posted to AppleVis - from new app entries, to app updates, to podcasts and blogs. For easier navigation, the major sections of this post are at heading level 3, and each individual item is at heading level 4.
With Apple's annual Worldwide Developer's Conference now just days away, a lot of people are wondering what new shinies we'll see. Will there be a new Apple TV? Yet another update to some Mac or other? A better iPad Mini? What will iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 bring to the table? Will Apple continue its headlong rush into dazzling new features at the expense of quality, or will it slow down and start refining what it has already done? what shots did…
Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), and we are asking everybody to use this as an opportunity to reach out to iOS and OS X developers - to either encourage them to make their applications accessible and usable by the vision-impaired; or to show your appreciation for applications which already are.
GAAD was created as a mechanism to reach out to the people who “build, shape, fund and influence technology and…
Apple has today released Watch OS 1.0.1, marking the first update to the Apple Watch OS since the device was released in April.
According to Mac Rumors, the 1.0.1 update contains various bug fixes and improvements - accessibility being among them - as well as support for the new emojis found in iOS 8.3:
Watch OS 1.0.1 includes performance improvements and bug…
In late April, Apple began offering the opportunity for users to explore and experience Apple Watch's accessibility features at try-on appointments. After confirming that my local Apple Store had a Watch set up and ready (all stores should now have Watch units available for accessibility demonstrations, but my appointment was at the beginning of the rollout), I…