Apple's Announcements Impact on Accessibility

<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/bFDdj8zS-A4?rel=0" width="420"></iframe><br /><br /></div>This week <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2013/10/apple-announces-october-22th-event.html">Apple</a> announced a variety of new hardware and software products at media event. While <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2013/10/apple-announces-october-22th-event.html">Apple</a> executives didn't devote stage time to accessibility announcements as they have in years past, the announcements still impact accessibility and assistive technology.<br /><br /><b>Mac</b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www9.pcmag.com/media/images/388573-mac-os-x-mavericks.jpg?thumb=y" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www9.pcmag.com/media/images/388573-mac-os-x-mavericks.jpg?thumb=y" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2013/10/apple-announces-october-22th-event.html">Apple</a> previewed OS X Mavericks at their World Wide Developers Conference (<a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2013/04/apple-to-update-os-x-and-ios-at-wwdc.html">WWDC</a>) in June. This week Apple released the <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2011/07/mac-os-x-lion-includes-new.html">Mac</a> operating system to the public and announced that it would be a free update. Like iOS 7, Mavericks includes some exciting <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2013/10/amazon-improves-accessibility-features.html">accessibility</a> improvements including <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2013/10/os-x-mavericks-enhanced-dictation.html">enhanced dictation</a> and <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2013/10/os-x-mavericks-includes-switch-control.html">Switch Control</a>. Click to read more about each new feature.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>iPad</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.apple.com/pr/products/images/iPadminiRD_Svr_PSR_PF_PB_HERO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="255" src="http://images.apple.com/pr/products/images/iPadminiRD_Svr_PSR_PF_PB_HERO.jpg" title="Image of white and silver iPad mini with Retina display" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The main focus of the event was updated iPads. <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2013/10/apple-announces-october-22th-event.html">Apple</a> released a new full size iPad named iPad Air. The iPad Air is considerably thinner and lighter than the previous full size <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/10/apple-announces-ipad-mini.html">iPad</a>. In addition to the slimmer design Apple included the new A7 processor which increases performance. The <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/10/apple-announces-ipad-mini.html">iPad mini</a> was also updated to include a higher quality retina display and is now called the iPad mini with Retina display. Notably, the new iPads don't include Apple's new <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-touch-id-fingerprint-sensor-on-new.html">Touch ID</a> finger print sensor that debut on the iPhone 5s.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Updated Apps</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Apple updated their iLife and iWork software for both the Mac and iOS devices. The updates have some useful new features, but I have not found any new accessibility features in these updates. Notably, Apple's education focused <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2013/10/new-in-ios-7-system-wide-large-type.html">iOS</a> apps <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2011/12/ibooks-update-adds-useful-new-features.html">iBooks</a> and <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-itunes-u-app-perfect-for-students.html">iTunes U</a> were not updated. I'm hopeful that these apps will be updated soon and include new features. In particular, I hope Apple adds improved <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2013/10/have-you-ever-wondered-how-text-to.html">text-to-speech</a> integration for iBooks. In particular I hope a "read" or "speak" button will be added to allow continuous text-to-speech with highlighting for all books. Currently continuous <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2013/10/have-you-ever-wondered-how-text-to.html">text-to-speech</a> with highlighting is not possible in iBooks. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>iOS 7.0.3</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">iOS 7.0.3 is a minor update to <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2013/10/new-in-ios-7-system-wide-large-type.html">iOS 7</a> but the new release includes a few accessibility improvements. In <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2013/10/new-in-ios-7-system-wide-large-type.html">iOS</a> 7.0.3 the reduce motion accessibility setting decreases navigation animations. This is designed to limit motion sickness that some users reported after updating to iOS 7. iOS 7.0.3 also includes <a href="http://bdmtech.blogspot.com/2013/05/kindle-app-for-ios-updated-with.html">VoiceOver</a> fixes for a sensitivity issue that was present in previous versions of iOS 7.</div>

Diposting oleh Abdullah Syafii