Is the new Apple TV accessible?

Error message

Deprecated function: Array and string offset access syntax with curly braces is deprecated in include_once() (line 14 of /home/mediacc/public_html/themes/engines/phptemplate/phptemplate.engine).
Thursday, 2 September 2010 13:58pm

Steve Jobs has announced the second generation of the Apple TV, a device that streams media to your high-definition TV. For people who are blind or vision impaired, the burning question is: Is it accessible?

The Apple TV has undergone a complete redesign and redevelopment. Physically, the Apple TV device is 80% smaller, and has been likened to a square hockey puck. The new device focuses solely on streaming media to your high-definition (HD) TV. Here are some of the things you can do with it:

  • Rent standard definition (SD) and HD movies and television shows that are then streamed directly to your Apple TV. New release SD movies can be rented for AU$5.99 while new release HD movies can be rented for AU$6.99.
  • Stream selected Internet content directly to your HDTV, including YouTube videos, Internet radio, podcasts and photos from Flickr and Mobile Me.
  • Stream digital content such as music, photos or pre-downloaded media to your Apple TV and view it on your HDTV.

But the question everyone in the accessibility world is asking is: Will the Apple TV include VoiceOver support? At this stage we don’t know. The Mac-cessibility Network reports, “When we asked Apple Accessibility, they said they could not comment on features for products that are not yet shipping.”

We also don’t know yet if Apple TV will be running iOS, Apple’s mobile operating system. iOS runs on the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad, and has built-in accessibility features including VoiceOver, Apple’s text-to-speech technology. If the Apple TV is running iOS, or even a cut-down version of iOS (for example, without the app store), then it is likely that we will see accessibility in the new Apple TV.

For those who are Deaf or hearing impaired, iTunes has a small but increasing number of captioned videos available.

Apple TV will be competing with other devices such as the upcoming Google TV and the Boxee Box.  Google TV will be running Android, which at this time has limited accessibility features.  The accessibility of the Boxee Box is unknown, although it is reported that it will play back a wide variety of digital formats (unlike Apple TV, which is limited in this area) with captions. The theme can also be changed to high contrast.

You can pre-order the Apple TV now for AU$129.00, and according to the Apple Store, the device will ship in September.

 


Top of page