Below is a list of the major highlights from today's WWDC keynote, compiled from the twitter feed of AppleVis Editorial Team member Michael Hansen. Other sources include the live blogs from Macworld, 9 to 5 Mac, and Mac Rumors.
Assistive Technology
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Voice in the Machine: A dialogue with my Mac, based on actual events from 2012-2013, circa Mavericks.
The blobby, glowing, white-on-black magnified letters are smudging together again. I blink several times, only now realizing I am squinting. I lean back from my MacBook Pro, a dull thudding beginning behind my eyes. It seems like it's getting to that point, my ability to read and write is rapidly disappearing. Gently rubbing my eyes, I decide to take a break.
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"The stone walls smell of must and moss, damp-cold seemingly radiating from their surface in the narrow tunnel. Sounds of dripping water can be heard, echoing lightly somewhere in the distance. your torch sputters a bit, not much time left. The huge, nasty smelling thing lurches back away from you, leaving behind more damage than you'd like. Briefly in the distance you see some creature being chased by a huge spotted lion, which seems to be enjoying itself tremendously. Then they are gone into darkness."
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Brought to you by the letter "Control-Option-A".
Before my VoiceOver adventures began, I would tutor my clients on the use of standard shortcut keys and how to discover new keys by looking at the menus. The key-combinations are listed to the right of each menu item. Most of the often-used keys involved the use of the Command key on Mac, or the Control key on Windows. On the Mac, hold down Command with your thumb and press "s" and the current document will be saved. Look at the File menu, next to the "Save" menu item is "Command-s." Simple, right?
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Yo, human! - Proofreading Mac, a VoiceOver Activity: Accessing Life with Adaptive Technology
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A Message for the Blind
Are you sending a decent message to the blind community? Are you sending 'any' messages to the blind community? If you are a web or app developer, a blogger or a YouTuber, if you use Facebook or any messaging app or email, I am here to tell you that you 'are' sending a message with everything you create. The question one should ask is, "Am I sending an intentional message?" Those of us who use a screen reader or Braille display get the message literally loud and clear, intentional or not.
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There is something about SIRI, I don't know what it is, but we seem to share a relationship now. Actually we share many relationships. SIRI even knows about all my other relationships. In fact, she helped me in their creation.
Me, right after startup: SIRI?
SIRI, a bit sluggish at first: Yes Nicholas?
Me: What time is it?
SIRI: It's 5:30 AM. You woke me up.
Me: Well get up, it's time to get busy.
SIRI: What?
Me: Open 'your' settings.
SIRI: (Yawn.) Okay.
VO says: System Preferences, Siri window, toolbar.
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Digital Assistants are becoming standard in most modern homes. They are available on most devices and computers in some form. They are gradually working more and more together as an environment. Looking ahead to the future, I can not yet tell if we are heading towards Star Trek or more towards the Jetsons. With all these 'currently fringe' technologies beginning to overlap, I hope the future focus remains on accessing life, as well as the technology. With this in mind, I thought a more light-hearted post might be appropriate.
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A Verbal Prehistory
In an earlier stage of my eyesight I did a lot of zooming in on the screen. My set up was such that the magnified portion of the screen followed the mouse cursor most of the time. I would use Control-2-finger scroll on the trackpad to zoom in and out. While this worked fine, it forced me to use both hands to accomplish the maneuver. Ugh! I felt like a caveman, having to set down my coffee just to navigate with two hands. :-)
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Speaking Up with AppleScript
Once You gaze into the System, the System also gazes into You! :-)
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The information hit me hard, almost not understandable. What did that service rep just say? No internet for almost two weeks? Really? I had her repeat the installation date again. Yup, no internet for two weeks. Wow.
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Previously.
In my previous post, "Mac Scripting, Hello World", we looked at 'tell blocks' where indented commands could be sent to specific applications. The commands were indented one tab spot, while the blocks were finished off with an 'end tell' command. There are several types of blocks, tell blocks, if blocks and repeat blocks to name a few.
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A Screen Reader, what's that?
The room around me is dim and stifling as I set the large rectangular object gently on the wobbly table. The thick, musky scent of incense assaults my nostrils almost making me sneeze, but then I don't. An ancient, heavy-set woman leans forward over the table, gazing intently at the window screen. Her bushy eyebrows flex as she states, "I see many things in your future."
Errrrt! (sounds of brakes slamming.) Wait a minute, thats definitely not it!
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I love customizing and tweaking my Mac operating System. From finding those little speed boosts to reducing keypresses for navigation, there is something exciting about finding settings that actually help and make things easier and more comfy. If it were a car it would be a low-rider and have pin-stripes. A stereo would be blasting Led Zeppelin or Santana with a thumpin' subwoofer in the trunk. Some fuzzy dice would be hanging from the mirror. Oops, showing my age again.
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We are pleased to announce that voting for the AppleVis Golden Apple Awards of 2018 is now open; read on to find out which apps and developers have been shortlisted and how to cast your vote.
First launched in 2012, the AppleVis Golden Apples is an opportunity for blind and low vision users of Apple products to recognize and acknowledge the hard work and dedication which developers have put into making and maintaining great and accessible applications over the last twelve months.
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We are pleased and excited to announce that voting for the AppleVis Golden Apple Awards of 2015 is now open. Read on to see which apps and developers have been shortlisted and to cast your own votes.
The AppleVis Golden Apple Awards is our community's opportunity to recognize and acknowledge the hard work and dedication which developers have put into making great and accessible iOS and OS X applications over the last twelve months.
To be eligible for consideration for the Golden Apple Awards of 2015, an app must:
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We are pleased to announce that voting for the 2018 inductees into the AppleVis iOS App Hall of Fame is now open.
Now in its seventh year, the AppleVis iOS App Hall of Fame is one of the ways in which the AppleVis community seeks to recognize developers of accessible iOS applications. Apps in the Hall of Fame can be liberating; empowering; life-changing; provide access to information that sighted users take for granted; or, in some cases, they can just be good fun!
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It is time for the AppleVis community to choose the next inductee into the AppleVis iOS App Hall of Fame.