Did you know that Thursday is International Accessibility Awareness Day? No, neither do I. However, it appears that this made-up holiday provides businesses with the ideal opportunity to demonstrate their inclusiveness by announcing features that make their products more accessible.
Apple commemorates the day by highlighting features that add to its growing list of accessibility features.
Although it won’t be available until later this year, Apple has revealed several new accessibility settings for Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches.
While the features are intended to make it easier for people with disabilities to use Apple devices, some of them are intriguing alternatives for those looking for more convenient input methods — particularly the new gesture controls for Apple Watches, but more on that in a moment.
Door detection was one of the first features to be revealed. Door detection is intended for the blind or visually impaired. It improves building navigation by utilizing the camera, LiDAR scanner, and machine learning on newer iPhones and iPads.
When users arrive at a new location, the function can tell them where a door is, how far away it is, and how to open it — turning a knob, pulling a handle, and so on. It can also read signs and symbols on the outside of the door, such as room numbers and accessibility signs.
Following that, Apple is working on Live Captions for the deaf. Live Captions aren’t entirely novel.
For a while, Android devices had a similar feature, but now iPhone, iPad, and Mac users can have real-time closed captioning overlays on video and FaceTime calls. It can also transcribe sounds in the user’s environment.
Buddy Controller, Siri Pause Time, Voice Control Spelling Mode, and Sound Recognition will be available later this year. In Apple’s press release, you can learn more about what these do.
To read our blog on “Apple’s foldable iPhone could use Kindle screen technology,” click here.
