The AppleVis iOS App Hall of Fame: Inductions Re-open and we want your Opinions on Some Basic Rules

We're excited to announce that inductions into the AppleVis iOS App Hall of Fame are set to re-open.

These were suspended for the past two months so that we could focus on the AppleVis Golden Apple Awards. Now that those have all been handed out, it's time once again to find another app worthy of a place in our Hall of Fame.

We're still deciding on the apps that will feature in the next vote, so there is time left to nominate any apps that you believe should be considered. As always, the nominees in the vote will come from apps which have been suggested by users of this site. So, do get your nominations in now!

We're also currently looking to formalize the rules governing the criteria for nomination and induction into the Hall of Fame - fundamentally, the app should be fully accessible with VoiceOver, but there is likely to be some other criteria too. The most likely is that the app should have been available for at least 6 months. Our reasoning for this goes along the lines that you wouldn't induct a singer into the Rock Hall of Fame on the strength of one song. So, we believe that an app should have an established history and reputation before it can earn a place in our own Hall of Fame.

Perhaps more challenging, is setting the rules which determine if and when an existing inductee can lose its place in the Hall of Fame. Previously, this has happened to TuneIn Radio, which lost its place after some accessibility issues were introduced. Although these weren't major, the developer has failed to fix them ... despite promises to do so. In this instance, it seemed reasonable that the app should lose its place in the Hall of Fame. We gave the developers several months to fix these problems, during which time numerous updates were released. But, to date, no fix has arrived. On this basis, it's extremely difficult to argue that the developers have demonstrated the commitment to accessibility that a place in our Hall of Fame is supposed to acknowledge.

So, the experience with TuneIn has demonstrated that we need to firm-up our rules. It's looking like these will say that an app will lose its place immediately if major accessibility issues are introduced in an update. This seems only appropriate. However, we're still to decide what should happen if minor issues occur. In these instances, it seems only fair to give the developer some time to correct things. Right now, we are thinking this should be 2 months. If, after that, the problems are still present, the app will be removed from our Hall of Fame.

Something else that we have to decide is whether an app should automatically regain its place in the Hall of Fame once the problems are fixed, or if it should have to go through the induction process again ... essentially, earn its place once more.

These are all questions that we would love to hear your opinions on. So, do please post a comment to share any thoughts or suggestions that you have on the rules for induction into our Hall of Fame.

One fairly obvious rule, is that the app must be available in the App Store. And, on that basis, we have now removed Papa Sangre from our Hall of Fame. It's now been more than 3 months since this was withdrawn from the App Store. And, despite comments on the developer's website that this was only a temporary measure, there is nothing to indicate that it is on it way back any time soon. So, for now, its induction into our Hall of Fame has been suspended. If it does return to the App Store, we will then have to decide whether it will automatically regain its place in the Hall. This is likely to depend upon the state of the app when it returns. If it's as great and accessible as previously, then there will be a strong case for it going straight back into the Hall.

But, for now, our thoughts are with the apps that should be fighting it out to be the next inductee. So, do please make your nominations and then be sure to check back next week when we expect to have the vote open.