Ah, a good post. From my experience though, it isn't always the main
stream media that's at fault when some facts and expectations are
misrepresented. I've seen plenty a marketing brochure or press release
from a company making products for the blind that do more than imply
that some technology was off limits by the blind until they put out
there product. Some of this is to be expected; obviously a company is
going to hype their products, but IMHO, I've seen this carried too far
in quite a few instances.
On 01/29/2015 01:39 PM, christopher hallsworth wrote:
You know, blind people can actually use touchscreens
<http://macdailynews.com/2015/01/29/you-know-blind-people-can-actually-use-touchscreens/>
by MacDailyNews <http://macdailynews.com/author/macdailynews/>
[cfsp key="adsense_336x280"]a
href="http://www.applevis.com/blog/advocacy-apple-applevis-assistive-technology-braille-ios-ipad-news-opinion/note-mainstream";
target="_new">By Michael Hansen
Over the last couple years, I’ve come to a conclusion about life as a
blind person: it isn’t the physical lack of sight that’s the biggest
difficulty I face; but rather, it is attempting to overcome peoples’
negative stereotypes and misconceptions about what I can — and cannot —
do that is the real problem.
When I think of situations where negative stereotypes about blind people
come into play, the use of technology isn’t the first thing that comes
to mind. I tend to think about education, or employment, or parenting
long before I think of access to the latest and greatest tech. But, as a
recent /Wire/d article about a new Braille-writing app demonstrated,
misconceptions still abound about what technology blind people are able
to gainfully use.
The article, published on January 23, 2015, was written about a new iPad
app called iBrailler Notes. The app, which allows users to type notes on
their iPad using Braille, was just recently released on the App Store.
iBrailler’s main selling point is a "Dynamic Keyboard" — a feature which
adjusts the position of the Braille keyboard each and every time you
place your fingers on the screen.
It’s always great to see mainstream media outlets reporting on news
impacting the visually impaired, because these stories often educate the
public about just how much empowerment blind people can have through the
use of assistive technology. What isn’t so great, however, is when
journalists get very important details wrong and thus inaccurately
represent a story — and therein lies my motivation for writing this post.
In the first paragraph of the /Wired/ article, the author states that it
is "nearly impossible" for blind people to use devices with touchscreens:
/The proliferation of touchscreen technology may have revolutionized
mobile computer input for most everyone, but there’s one sector of the
population that isn’t exactly feeling the pinch, the tap, or the swipe:
the blind. It’s nearly impossible to interact with elements on a totally
smooth screen if you can’t see./
Put simply, the author’s "facts" are completely inaccurate. Thanks to
Apple’s excellent implementation of VoiceOver screen-reading technology,
blind users are able to fully and independently utilize the touchscreens
on their devices.
Need to find a specific app on your home screen? No problem! Either
flick left or right with one finger and listen to VoiceOver read the app
names as you pass them; or you can just move your finger around the
screen to get an idea of the layout.
Want to send an e-mail? You got it! Your options include using the
touchscreen keyboard in three different typing modes; built-in Braille
Screen Input; Handwriting Mode; and of course, dictation. (That’s
another thing that gets on my nerves: dictation is not the
be-all-and-end-all solution for text entry on an iOS device if you are
blind.)
iOS isn't for you? Have no fear! It’s possible to use a touchscreen on
an Android device as well, even if the experience isn’t as polished as
it is on iOS.
Oh, and about those gestures that blind people supposedly can’t "feel":
not only can blind users tap, pinch, and swipe; we can two-, three-, and
four-finger double-tap; we can write Braille with Apple’s built-in
Braille keyboard feature; and we can even use Handwriting Mode if we so
desire.
For being "nearly impossible" to use, Apple’s touchscreen-equipped
devices are popular with blind people the world over. Android, while not
as accessible as iOS, also has blind people using touchscreen devices.
It’s even possible to use touchscreen Windows 8.1 computers with screen
reading software. The only mobile phone platform blind people don’t have
access to is BlackBerry, but who really uses that in 2015, anyway?
It is worth noting that not all touchscreen technology is currently
accessible to blind people. As one of my readers pointed out,
point-of-sale systems, ATM machines, and any other touchscreen-equipped
devices that do not have speech output are not useable by blind people
without sighted assistance. However, blind people do have the capability
to use touchscreen devices if appropriate assistive technology solutions
are implemented—a point the author conveniently failed to mention in the
article.
Further down in the article, the author contradicts herself by stating,
correctly, that the iPad was completely accessible to blind users from
day one — thanks to VoiceOver. And yes, that includes the "nearly
impossible" task of finding elements on that smooth, glass touchscreen.
In fact, that smooth, glass touchscreen was made accessible when the
iPhone 3Gs was released in June 2009 — well before the iPad’s 2010 launch.
In today’s era of sensational journalism, I guess I shouldn’t be too
surprised that /Wired/ got one of the most fundamental details of
Apple’s accessibility efforts so horribly wrong. And yet, I still am.
Furthermore, I’m disappointed that a major mainstream news source chose
to perpetuate factually inaccurate information about blind people, even
though it’s clear from my reading of the article that some research was
done on the topic. I’m disappointed because the subtle message sent in
the article is that blind people can't use touchscreen technology, even
though all the available evidence suggests just the opposite. And I’m
disappointed because, in all likelihood, there will be people who
actually accept the Wired article as fact—and there is probably very
little I can do to change that. If nothing else, at least I can go to
sleep tonight knowing that I did my part to set the record straight.
*This article originally appeared on AppleVis here
<http://www.applevis.com/blog/advocacy-apple-applevis-assistive-technology-braille-ios-ipad-news-opinion/note-mainstream>.*
*Related articles:*
*MacDailyNews <http://macdailynews.com/author/macdailynews/>* |
Thursday, January 29, 2015 at 11:15 am | Tags: Apple
<http://macdailynews.com/?tag=apple>, AppleVis
<http://macdailynews.com/?tag=applevis>, Assistive Technology
<http://macdailynews.com/?tag=assistive-technology>, blind
<http://macdailynews.com/?tag=blind>, Braille
<http://macdailynews.com/?tag=braille>, iBrailler Notes
<http://macdailynews.com/?tag=ibrailler-notes>, iOS
<http://macdailynews.com/?tag=ios>, iPad
<http://macdailynews.com/?tag=ipad>, iPhone
<http://macdailynews.com/?tag=iphone>, Michael Hansen
<http://macdailynews.com/?tag=michael-hansen>, VoiceOver
<http://macdailynews.com/?tag=voiceover> | Categories: News
<http://macdailynews.com/?cat=103> | URL: http://wp.me/p19WFc-CYV
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