Accessible coding training is now child's play

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Monday, 15 August 2016 16:06pm

With coding ability rapidly becoming as fundamental a skill as literacy and numeracy, young people with a visual impairment have been facing hurdles that a new solution from Apple aims to fix.

Image of iPad showing building and waterfalls

This upcoming iPad release is called Swift Playgrounds and teaches basic coding, with built-in accessibility in mind. Free from the iTunes Store, Swift Playgrounds will use game-like experiences to teach children, and people new to coding of all ages, how to carry out basic programming in the language that underpins all iOS apps.

The task-based, interactive app introduces users to coding by getting them to create the instructions that move a character through a variety of fun, puzzle-like challenges. Users with a visual impairment can use ‘VoiceOver’ to play the game and learn to code, as this functionality is included within Swift Playgrounds, meaning that users can start playing with it straight after download.

The app will be released in spring and comes after Apple was honoured by the American Council of the Blind for its advances in accessibility and opened a dedicated accessibility section in the online Apple store.


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Tags: iPad, News