Slashdot Mirror
The Group That Makes Tech Work For the Disabled
jfruh writes "When the iPhone was first released in 2007, the blind community assessed it and determined it was essentially useless for them. Today it's the number one phone used by blind people, largely because of the efforts of the National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM). NCAM is part of WGBH, Boston's public television station, which broadcast the first captioned TV show in 1972. Since then NCAM has been a lifeline that makes sure that people with disabilities aren't left out of the technological revolution."
Please, the term is "vision-impaired". I can't believe Slashdot can be so insensitive.
Every device whose primary interface is graphical will be "essentially useless" to a blind person. Fucking duh! It's not just the iPhone, it's every touchscreen device made. The story of accessibility tech for people in IT is simple: Separate the interface from the control logic.
No, really, that's it. That's all you really have to do to make accessibility possible. You gotta keep 'em separated. Do that, and as long as your documentation isn't horrible, it won't be hard for someone to come in and develop an interface for the disabled. HTML separates content from formatting -- good idea. But then corporations came along and screwed that all to hell, with javascript, proprietary plugins, etc., and now large sections of the web are uninhabitable by people with disabilities because they didn't follow Rule #1: Keep them separate.
As far as making a touch interface useful to the blind... hepatic feedback and auditory tones to indicate where there hands are or what function is being called before committing the action. -_- But if you don't get it right in version 1, don't feel bad -- the government has screwed up far worse than you ever will. Despite color blindness affecting 5% or more of the population, our traffic signals are still red/yellow/green... whereas other countries have realized that red/yellow/blue works just as well and color-blind people aren't having to guess what color the lights are. Positioning isn't always reliable, and people get distracted -- multiple cues are better.
So in summary, separate layout from content, and don't be like the government. :)
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
Some two or three years ago I was using an XMPP/Jabber client for Android and helping with various small issues now and then, most of all translation.
One day there was a new bug report in the issue tracker, good explanation of the problem (text flow was not easily readable by screen reader), log files, and even a patch (quite some verbose Java code) to fix this while at the same time not really affecting the user interface.
Oh, did I forgot to mention that he was totally blind and using a screen reader on his Android to be able to also chat with other persons on XMPP/Jabber?
I was so amazed by the motivation, energy and overall quality of work from this determined person.
This may be a personal experience and can't be generalized - but still. Keep up the good work and remember to write your layout (may it be websites or whatever you put out there for a larger audience) in a way that the actual content can be easily separated from the presentation.
Since there's (of course) no real place to ask, what is with these senseless animated gifs replacing the Slashdot logo? Surely it doesn't have anything to do with the 15 year "anniversary"? Taco didn't make any fuss when Slashdot turned 10.
Wow!!! captcha: retard
there was a contest for them, due to the 15 years thing.
of course it's a ploy to get everyone to check the site daily.
btw LOGO sucks.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
You've certainly helped reach and service the greatest number of blind smart phone users... in... as my daughter would say... bizarro world!!!
TFA says that the iPhone is the number 1 phone used by blind people. It wouldn't be the first time, but are you saying that TFA is lying? Or that, when NCAM first began to work on accessibility for the iPhone, that there was another phone that they should have instead been working on?
"I'm not sure I like the fugnutish tone you used in your post!" -RogL (608926)-
So, if a blind person can tell the difference between an iPhone and a Galaxy S3, doesn't that automatically negate any infringement claims?
Read it as "The Group That Makes Tech Disabled For Work"
Figured it was an article about IT-departments that suck.
Back in 2008 I worked part-time at the Apple Store (between full-time gigs), where I met an elderly guy who had recently bought an iPhone, despite having profoundly diminished eyesight (some kind of macular degeneration, I think). He carried a handheld device which magnified and boosted the contrast of anything held under it into black/white, which allowed him to use the device. He came in a couple times for help with it while I was on duty, not so much for "accommodation" needs, but just because he had questions and wanted to better understand how the device worked. They were mostly "old guy" questions, not "nearly blind guy" questions, and I was more than happy to help him. While I can certainly see how the original iPhone and its OS were "essentially useless" for someone with no vision at all (obviously Siri changes that dramatically), you should never assume that someone with a disability will be unable to make use of something if given a little assistance. They may surprise you.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
added a screen reading and accessibility options when I updated to Jelly Bean (Android 4.1). It provides haptic and voice feedback on everything on the screen. I think it would be useful for blind people.
Why shouldn't some developers cater to the retarded?
After all, slashcode was WRITTEN by retards.
I'm saying that if you want to see fewer people walking you talk to Schwinn or Nissan long before Denali or BMW.
Good job helping poor, struggling Apple make their incredibly affordable smart phone more friendly to the blind. You've certainly helped reach and service the greatest number of blind smart phone users... in... as my daughter would say... bizarro world!!!
Wake up, it's 2012. You can get an iPhone free with contract. Go think up a new troll.
Every device whose primary interface is graphical will be "essentially useless" to a blind person.
That is not at all the case with the iPhone. Even with the first version, Voiceover has worked quite well to let a totally blind user control the device. Apple has a lot of VERY easy ways to embed even a few more hints as to what is going on with a screen for a blind or otherwise disabled user.
I'm sure NCAM deserves some credit too but Apple deserves a lot of kudos for the effort they went into making the iPhone accessible to the disabled from the start.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The summary gives a rather misleading impression of what the article says. As the article states, iPhone accessibility is largely due to Apple's engineering, though groups like NCAM are helping by setting standards and advocating for accessibility.
That's "mentally challenged slashdot logos", you insensitive clod.
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As a blind software developer I have to give NCAM props. The sad sorry state of the world is that unless you are blind, most dont care about the blind or how they use tech because its a minority problem that doesn't help generate income or revenue to worry about for most companies. Without the lobbying muscle they have and without the work they do a lot of our lives in the blind community would be much worse because sighties (Sighted people) sadly dont care about this stuff.
I only wish they got more funding and support from the open source community; They are truly doing good work and I wish more sighties helped them.
Great post. I'm still waiting for Apple to standardize switch access in iOS for those of us who can't use our hands. Sure, I still have my computer and the adaptive hardware that makes it completely accessible to me. But it would be nice if I could read a book or start a movie on my iPad without asking for help.