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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

#41

Post by easton »

onedognight wrote: post #35
nordsieck wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. Not sure if you know this, but the latest iPhone SE still uses the iPhone 8 body complete with home button. Depending on which phone he's on, it might be a good idea to upgrade; all of the rumors that I've heard are that Apple will make the next SE on a different body.

I switched my mother, who also has cognitive decline, from the iPhone 7 to the iPhone SE to keep the same shape and the home button. She was never able to master the upward swipe on her new iPad. Changing to the newer iOS was challenging for her due to the significantly smaller and pushed to the top call answering buttons. Apple does a lot for accessibility, but I really wish they had an “old persons mode”.

It’s coming in iOS 17: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/05/apple-previews-live-s...

Re: The iPad was meant to revolutionize accessibility

#42

Post by codetrotter »

nordsieck wrote: post #13
hnbear wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 proo…

> 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. Not sure if you know this, but the latest iPhone SE still uses the iPhone 8 body complete with home button. Depending on which phone he's on, it might be a good idea to upgrade; all of the rumors that I've heard are that Apple will make the next SE on a different body.

There is also an assistive mode available that you can use on all iPhones to put a software "home button" always on screen.

I know because one of my previous iPod Touch devices had a broken physical home button so I used the assistive mode sofware button instead.

This might also work for people who are too old to understand how to use the phone without the physical button.

Re: The iPad was meant to revolutionize accessibility

#43

Post by username190 »

onedognight wrote: post #35
nordsieck wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. Not sure if you know this, but the latest iPhone SE still uses the iPhone 8 body complete with home button. Depending on which phone he's on, it might be a good idea to upgrade; all of the rumors that I've heard are that Apple will make the next SE on a different body.

I switched my mother, who also has cognitive decline, from the iPhone 7 to the iPhone SE to keep the same shape and the home button. She was never able to master the upward swipe on her new iPad. Changing to the newer iOS was challenging for her due to the significantly smaller and pushed to the top call answering buttons. Apple does a lot for accessibility, but I really wish they had an “old persons mode”.

iOS 17 is supposed to come with a new "Assistive Access" setting[0] which is intended to be an "old person's mode" with limited but pronounced functionality.

In the meantime, you should be able to solve the call banner issue through a relatively hidden setting; Settings > Phone > Incoming Calls > "Full Screen" should put things back to the way they were.

[0] https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/05/apple-previews-live-s...

Re: The iPad was meant to revolutionize accessibility

#44

Post by smoldesu »

brookst wrote: post #22
smoldesu wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Again, these ideals don't have to be mutually exclusive. Apple has made successful and secure platforms before with both an App Store and an external packaging system - they just don't bring that philosophy to the iPhone for profitability reasons. Once the EU enforces their external app store policy, you won't be forced into using non-Apple software. You can still continue using your iPhone exactly the way you do tod…

... Or unless you have family members likely to install and pay for scams. I'm ambivalent about the EU regulations. But it'll be interesting to see what happens, and whether consoles are next, and what that means.

If you have family members likely to pay for scams, you probably shouldn't give them access to SMS, phone calls or email, for that matter. If they would fall for these threat vectors, then they could already be exploited with a link to Safari or a social engineering scam on speakerphone.

Re: The iPad was meant to revolutionize accessibility

#46

Post by [deleted] »

maccard wrote: post #26
smoldesu wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Again, these ideals don't have to be mutually exclusive. Apple has made successful and secure platforms before with both an App Store and an external packaging system - they just don't bring that philosophy to the iPhone for profitability reasons. Once the EU enforces their external app store policy, you won't be forced into using non-Apple software. You can still continue using your iPhone exactly the way you do tod…

> You can still continue using your iPhone exactly the way you do today, with the option of letting it do more if you ever wanted. Until publishers decide to launch their own app store and remove games from the app store, forcing me to create accounts and store payment details with them. Then, poeple like me who explicitly purchased apple devices because this is a feature, are forced to have a "choice" between instal…

[deleted]

Re: The iPad was meant to revolutionize accessibility

#47

Post by msh »

CobaltFire wrote: post #28
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 son is semi-nonverbal and autistic and this is a real pain point for us. We use amazon fire tablets simply because they DO have a kids (simplified) mode. Google has a version for Android on tablets, but they don't support it well. iOS has exactly nothing. iOS also sucks in that trying to load all his favorite shows for when we are out is near impossible (I have them loaded on an SD card on the fire). Ideal, no, bu…

Is it just not a question of the right app? If you install VLC or infuse you can easily side load videos.

Re: The iPad was meant to revolutionize accessibility

#48

Post by dagmx »

charcircuit wrote: post #40
chaostheory wrote: post #32

I’m not sure if the author is aware of the Apple Vision announcement, but that will be a giant leap forward for the disabled since it primarily relies on eye tracking for interaction. To my knowledge, iPad and iOS have been a leap for accessibility. Prior, you’d have to spend thousands on speech setups instead of a few hundred. Its walled garden also affords accessibility given that there’s much less of a chance for…

It uses hand tracking too. And if you are using hand tracking you might as well use a touch screen.

Actually it has multiple interaction methods for accessibility purposes.

https://developer.apple.com/wwdc23/10034

> The Dwell Control accessibility feature allows people to select and interact with the UI without using their hands.

There’s also Pointer Control in that talk which provides alternatives to eye control.

Note: I obviously haven’t tried this since it’s just Apple’s own videos on it, nor am I someone who would need to. So I can’t speak to the efficacy of those input models. but just relaying the information.

Re: The iPad was meant to revolutionize accessibility

#49

Post by r_p4rk »

My Grandmother was hospitalized many times from 2019 through to 2023 and passed in April, one of the standout things that made this a lot easier to go through was 2021 iPad Mini. During the years she suffered from various magnitudes of physical disability, including being almost completely paralyzed. A lot of this was during covid restrictions so we had to get creative with how we kept in touch.

Here are a few things that the iPad afforded her with no other easy options:

- The tracking webcam let her facetime with us without needing completely steady hands or even the capability to hold the iPad properly.

- The huge amount of accessories that let her use a pen (when capable), drop the iPad without risk of breaking, hold the iPad in various ways let us easily customise the ergonomics for her capabilities at various times.

- Shortcuts and automation let us ensure volume was always maximised during Facetime calls with us, set the volume lower at night so she didn't disurb the ward, have easy to press buttons to call certain family members, and even reset the volume and screen brightness when nurses changed it.

She chose the music to her own funeral, made drawings when she could, played games, and even drafted some pages of a book she left for us after her passing, letting her talk to us one last time. Maybe the author of the link disagrees, but seeing the difference in quality of the calls when she didn't have to worry about getting frustrated about trying to frame her face and everything was night and day.

Re: The iPad was meant to revolutionize accessibility

#50

Post by abecedarius »

BirAdam wrote: post #27
cmrdporcupine wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny though that the Apple Lisa -- the amazing computer that Jobs worked his ass off to copy parts of and then get killed (after they kicked him off the project) -- was actually far more locked down than the Mac, which Jobs was more involved in. The Mac was more of a general purpose computer, though obviously more locked down than the DOS & CP/M type & home computer type machines it was contemporary with. And t…

I don’t think it factored in much to his thinking beyond market acceptance. The mass market mostly didn’t seem to care much about accessibility. Special purpose users do, but that’s a smaller market. I think for Steve Jobs the point was beauty, simplicity, and anti-fragility. A machine with tons of ports, openings, mechanical parts, and janky software is one that breaks easily. Jobs hated things that were janky and t…

Ironic that the Apple /// was so janky due to hardware design choices insisted on by Jobs (on power and cooling).
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