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The iPad was meant to revolutionize accessibility

technologyreview.com

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Re: The iPad was meant to revolutionize accessibility

#2

Post by bemusedthrow75 »

I really dislike these "X was meant to Y Z. What happened?" stories.

Because who "meant it" to? Did they have any influence? Who stated it as a goal? Do you just mean that a bunch of pundits said it and now you want to be a pundit saying they were wrong?

In the specific case: did Apple ever say they would "revolutionise" accessibility, outright? Or did they just do what they've been doing since the iPhone: slowly, progressively trying to make accessibility a bit better and a bit more normalised?

I'm sure everyone who needs greater accessibility thinks Apple could do more. But I'm pretty sure they think everyone else is even further behind.

(I think Apple could do a couple of things much better -- one of those things would be endorsing or supplying a GPIO/I2C/SPI/CAN etc. bridge device with some official API support)

Re: The iPad was meant to revolutionize accessibility

#3

Post by parsimo2010 »

bemusedthrow75 wrote: post #2

I really dislike these "X was meant to Y Z. What happened?" stories. Because who "meant it" to? Did they have any influence? Who stated it as a goal? Do you just mean that a bunch of pundits said it and now you want to be a pundit saying they were wrong? In the specific case: did Apple ever say they would "revolutionise" accessibility, outright? Or did they just do what they've been doing since the iPhone: slowly, pr…

Yes, the article is probably better summarized as the iPad could have revolutionized accessibility, but it didn’t. A small market still has janky solutions to get by.

Apple, nor any other major company, is likely to sink major resources into helping non-verbal people communicate unless there is a way to use those improvements in a bigger market.

But with that said, the article is well written and worth a read for anyone that comes to the comments before clicking the link.

Re: The iPad was meant to revolutionize accessibility

#4

Post by asplake »

parsimo2010 wrote: post #3
bemusedthrow75 wrote: post #2

I really dislike these "X was meant to Y Z. What happened?" stories. Because who "meant it" to? Did they have any influence? Who stated it as a goal? Do you just mean that a bunch of pundits said it and now you want to be a pundit saying they were wrong? In the specific case: did Apple ever say they would "revolutionise" accessibility, outright? Or did they just do what they've been doing since the iPhone: slowly, pr…

Yes, the article is probably better summarized as the iPad could have revolutionized accessibility, but it didn’t. A small market still has janky solutions to get by. Apple, nor any other major company, is likely to sink major resources into helping non-verbal people communicate unless there is a way to use those improvements in a bigger market. But with that said, the article is well written and worth a read for any…

(Edited) I’m aware of some interesting things being done with iPads for hospital patients who suddenly find it difficult to communicate – eg in intensive care or post-operatively.

Very domain-specific though, not general purpose. Revolutionary perhaps in care terms but not for accessibility more broadly.

Re: The iPad was meant to revolutionize accessibility

#5

Post by jph »

I develop iPad accessibility software for people who have dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, MS, etc. The iPad is a godsend. The large screen couples well with easy-grip shock-resistant spill-proof cases and attachments.

My wishlist for accessibility: louder speaker (as the article mentions), and accessibility settings for a simplified patient-mode UI/UX versus a full-featured caregiver-mode. For example, zero-visibility interfaces (such as swipe up from bottom) are too complex for many of my users to understand and use. I'm hoping that as SwiftUI matures, adding a simpler UI/UX will become easier.

Re: The iPad was meant to revolutionize accessibility

#6

Post by maxxam »

jph wrote: post #5

I develop iPad accessibility software for people who have dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, MS, etc. The iPad is a godsend. The large screen couples well with easy-grip shock-resistant spill-proof cases and attachments. My wishlist for accessibility: louder speaker (as the article mentions), and accessibility settings for a simplified patient-mode UI/UX versus a full-featured caregiver-mode. For example, zero-visib…

I think Assistive Access in iOS 17 would fit the bill for the simplified patient UI.

https://medium.com/the-useful-tech/apples-new-accessibility-...

Re: The iPad was meant to revolutionize accessibility

#9

Post by hnbear »

jph wrote: post #5

I develop iPad accessibility software for people who have dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, MS, etc. The iPad is a godsend. The large screen couples well with easy-grip shock-resistant spill-proof cases and attachments. My wishlist for accessibility: louder speaker (as the article mentions), and accessibility settings for a simplified patient-mode UI/UX versus a full-featured caregiver-mode. For example, zero-visib…

My father is 84 with cognitive degeneration. He’s used an iPhone for years but is stuck on an old one with the home button purely because we don’t think he’ll transition to swiping up. His short term memory is shot, learning new behaviors is tough, and his fine motor skills aren’t great. Some of the adaptive settings help, but the home button is so easy.

Could someone not build the case you mention (shock, spill proof, easy hold) with a big speaker in it?

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