Blog

Welcome to the June 2019 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, our monthly series which aims to highlight what's new and noteworthy on the AppleVis website. Below, you'll find a selection of the best content posted to AppleVis by members of the community - from new app entries, to app updates, to the latest news and podcasts. For easier navigation, the major sections of this post are at heading level 3, and each individual item is at heading level 4.

New and Noteworthy App Entries

We are pleased to announce that the 2019 inductees into the AppleVis iOS App Hall of Fame, as chosen by the AppleVis community, are Voice Dream Scanner and Microsoft Soundscape.

First opened in 2011, the AppleVis iOS App Hall of Fame is one of the ways in which the AppleVis community seeks to recognize developers who prioritize accessibility and take it to the next level. Apps in the Hall of Fame can be liberating; empowering…

We are pleased to announce that voting for the 2019 inductees into the AppleVis iOS App Hall of Fame is now open.

Now in its eighth 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…

I flick around the screen, double-tapping when I want to select something. As I do so, VoiceOver's speech comes through my Aftershokz headset, which I wear most of the time. That makes me a cyborg, or so I'm told. Nothing is showing on my screen. "Is your phone on?" One of the students on my course at university once asked me, as I called a taxi. "The screen is black." Or as one train manager once remarked, as I was searching for my E-ticket to show him, "…

Apple has today released iOS 12.3.2 to address issues with portrait mode.

According to Apple's release notes via 9to5Mac, “iOS 12.3.2 resolves an issue that could cause Camera to capture Portrait mode photos without depth effect on some iPhone 8 Plus devices.”

At the time of writing it is believed that this update may only be available on the iPhone 8 Plus.

As iOS 12.3.2 did not have a public beta…

Update: since posting this article we have recorded an interview with Sarah Herrlinger, Director of Global Accessibility Policy and Initiatives at Apple; and Dean Hudson, Accessibility Evangelist at Apple, who discussed the enhancements mentioned below and shared a few others which we didn't already know about.

These include:

• The use of machine learning in iOS 13 and iPadOS to help VoiceOver users with unlabelled buttons.
• The ability in iOS 13…

Apple today kicked off its annual Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) with the traditional keynote presentation.

WWDC is when the world gets a preview of the software coming out of Cupertino in the Fall. We traditionally see the next iterations of Apple's operating systems for all of its main platforms and maybe a new service or cloud-based offering. This year was no exception: iOS 13, macOS Catalina, watchOS 6, and tvOS 13 were all showcased on stage.

Amongst the…

Welcome to the May 2019 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, our monthly series which aims to highlight what’s new and noteworthy on the AppleVis website. Below, you’ll find a selection of the best content posted to AppleVis by members of the community - from new app entries, to app updates, to the latest news and podcasts. For easier navigation, the major sections of this post are at heading level 3, and each individual item is at heading level 4.

Ahead of next week's WWDC, Apple has quietly released a seventh generation iPod touch featuring an A10 Fusion processor.

The upgrade from the A8 chip found in the previous generation iPod touch will bring support for AR games and Group FaceTime to the new model.

In addition to the upgraded processor, the new iPod touch offers a 256GB model for the first time.

The 2019 iPod touch retains the chassis design dating back to…

Apple has today released iOS 12.3.1 to address issues with voice over LTE calls as well as iMessage filtering and reporting.

According to Apple's release notes via 9to5Mac, iOS 12.3.1 includes the following fixes:

• Fixes an issue that could prevent making or receiving VoLTE…

When writing last November about my short time with an 11-inch iPad Pro and Smart Keyboard Folio, I commented on being generally disappointed by the performance of VoiceOver on iPad and concluded that the iPad had little to offer for my use case and circumstances.

In the months that followed, I regularly found myself reflecting on that post and wondering…

May 16, 2019 is the eighth annual Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD); when people are encouraged to talk, think and learn about digital access and inclusion. This year, we ask both users and developers to get involved. Here's how you can participate.

Users, Let Developers Know What You Think

GAAD is an excellent opportunity to contact developers about their apps, websites, and digital content. Before you…

Today has seen another round of software updates from Apple. In addition to iOS 12.3, Apple has released macOS Mojave 10.14.5, watchOS 5.2.1, and tvOS 12.3.

The macOS Mojave 10.14.5 update appears to focus on under-the-hood bug fixes and performance improvements, with the only notable change being adding support for the…

Apple has today released iOS 12.3 to the public, bringing with it a redesigned TV app; a slightly updated design for the Apple TV Remote app; and enhancements to the Wallet app.

In iOS 12.3, Apple has removed the Accessibility Events switch introduced with iOS 12.2;…

Welcome to the April 2019 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, our monthly series which aims to highlight what's new and noteworthy on the AppleVis website. Below, you'll find a selection of the best content posted to AppleVis by members of the community - from new app entries, to app updates, to the latest news and podcasts. For easier navigation, the major sections of this post are at heading level 3, and each individual item is at heading level 4.

New and Noteworthy App Entries

In the latest versions of iOS and macOS, Apple introduced a new setting called “Accessibility Events” for users of assistive technology.

This new feature tells websites when an assistive technology, such as a screen reader, is being used by the site visitor, enabling developers to customize the behavior of the website accordingly. One example would be to ensure that any custom controls such as custom web sliders are accessible by users.

For blind web users, this should…

A new feature for VoiceOver users called "Accessibility Events" was introduced in iOS 12.2 and macOS 10.14.4 without any announcement or documentation. I cannot find any info about this feature on Apple's website. Even the installed Help files say nothing about it, so far. The only information given is a short description label in the Mac Preferences and IOS settings, shown below. To the best of my knowledge, which is quite limited at this time, leaving it turned on allows webmasters and…

Welcome to the March 2019 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, our monthly series which aims to highlight what's new and noteworthy on the AppleVis website. Below, you'll find a selection of the best content posted to AppleVis by members of the community - from new app entries, to app updates, to the latest news and podcasts. For easier navigation, the major sections of this post are at heading level 3, and each individual item is at heading level 4.

New and Noteworthy App Entries

Apple has today released watchOS 5.2 to the public, bringing the ECG feature to Hong Kong and Europe and adding support for Air Pods 2.

At the time of posting, we do not believe watchOS 5.2 contains any accessibility improvements for blind and low vision users. This is incredibly disappointing, especially as we are nearing what has historically been the end of the current software release life-cycle - and there are still issues with VoiceOver, such as it not speaking certain…

Apple’s major “It’s show time” event was held today at Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino; here’s our summary of the highlights.

Having made a number of hardware announcements last week via press releases, it came as no surprise that Apple's focus for this event was new and upcoming services rather than new or updated hardware. There's a new TV and movie streaming service featuring original content commissioned by Apple; an updated TV app that better integrates third-party services; a…