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Apple's iOS 6: accessibility enhancements
Transcript
30 September 2012
Roberta: Last week Apple released the latest software version of their mobile devices, iOS 6. The update has seen the introduction of new features that in some cases have improved the accessibility of Apple products for people with a disability. Here to tell us about these welcome additions is Clarizza Fernandez from Media Access Australia. Hello Clarizza.
Clarizza: Hi Roberta.
Roberta:The latest software now, update for Apple devices, has introduced some new accessibility features. Now what is the biggest new addition?
Clarizza: Well, I think there are two. I start first with the Guided Access feature which allows people to block out parts of an app. For example, if you have diminution control of your fingers and your hands and you don’t want this activated by them, on the bottom of the screen you can use Guided Access to restrict that part of the screen so you don’t activate it.
And the other thing is the Made for iPhone hearing aids, so this is a technology that allows you to connect a hearing device to your actual iPhone, and it picks up external sounds or voice and then converts that into text information which is then turned into computer generated sound. So the Made for iPhone hearing aids can also pick up sounds and alert, like a fire alarm, and turn that into visual notifications on your iPhone as well. So this adds another dimension to your hearing aid.
Roberta:So what other features might people find useful?
Clarizza: There are a few; there’s Assistive Touch improvement, so it’s the Assistive Touch feature on iOS devices. BasicClarizza it’s an alternative menu and it allows you direct access to different parts of the phone. So this is useful for people who have physical disabilities or limited movement. So instead of using multiple finger gestures you could just use your one finger to activate parts of your phone or your iPad, and they’re added new buttons to the menu, so now you can directly access Voice Control, Screen Shot, and Multitasking.
The other big news is the Maps, the Digital Maps has been replaced by Apple’s own Maps app, so that replaced the Google Maps app. And it’s been criticised for being inaccurate, however it looks as if Apple has introduced some features that show potential to increase the accessibility for mapping services on the Apple devices. Firstly, it works much better with VoiceOver; it’s easier to listen to navigational directions with VoiceOver because you can just wipe through each lot of directions. When you use the tracking button, which shows you your current location, you can run your finger across the screen giving you VoiceOver announced streets and landmarks around your current location.
One thing I was certainly impressed by was the, from an accessibility point of view, is the onward heading feature; so it’s kind of like a compass, and you use it while you’re walking or while you’re following a route suggested by Maps. It automaticClarizza reconfigures the screen to reflect the direction you’re heading towards, so you don’t have to worry about moving your device around to match which direction you’re coming from. The great thing is that VoiceOver announces information like approaching key streets. So while there’s been much criticism about the accuracy of Maps, and it’s still a little bit fuzzy, there are definitely improvements with the way that it works with VoiceOver, and that’s a good thing.
Roberta: So what about the voice assistant, Siri? I’m fascinated by that.
Clarizza: Well Siri’s always been a popular feature of the Apple device because it’s, so as we’ve previously talked about Roberta, it’s a voice assistant which allows you to ask questions and access features on your phone. So in iOS 6 it means you can launch apps; so rather than tapping onto the screen and opening an app that way, you can just ask Siri to open that app. There’s a lot more data as well updated in its software, so you can ask questions about where’s a great restaurant to go to, or what about a movie?
And the screen reader VoiceOver works with Zoom as well, so Zoom is a green magnifier that comes with all Apple devices, and before you’d only be able to use VoiceOver and Zoom separately, but now you can use them together, so you’re magnifying a part of your screen, it can be announced by VoiceOver as well.
Roberta: Well that’s certainly good news for the accessibility for people with a disability, isn’t it?
Clarizza: Yes, it is.
Roberta: Well thanks for that today Clarizza. And you can find out more about technology that you can use on via Media Access Australia or you can give Clarizza and her team a call on 02 9212 6242. I’ve been speaking with Clarizza Fernandez from Media Access Australia, and Media Access Australia are supporters of this program.