Community Agreement

Welcome to AppleVis. We are glad you are here.

AppleVis' mission is to empower blind, DeafBlind, and low vision people to get the most from Apple products and services. To help make AppleVis a safe and welcoming place for all, we ask everyone who posts to follow this Community Agreement. Our Community Agreement is built around four principles:

  • Be Kind
  • Be Considerate
  • Be Helpful
  • Be Genuine

Be kind

  • Please treat others with the same respect and consideration that you would like to receive from them.
  • Please remember that there is a real person on the receiving end of your post. Disagree with ideas, not people.
  • Everyone comes to AppleVis with different experiences, knowledge, abilities, and points of view. Please give others the same opportunity to hold and express their opinion that you would want for yourself.

Be considerate

  • Please think about how your words and actions affect others.
  • Please use jokes and sarcasm thoughtfully, as they can be easy to misunderstand in writing. Please make sure your meaning is clear and that humor does not take the place of a useful contribution to the discussion. Likewise, although mild profanity is permitted when used sparingly for emphasis or expression, please remember that some people may find it offensive.
  • Please do not correct or criticize another member's spelling, grammar, punctuation, or writing style for any reason. Some members may not speak English natively or may have disabilities that affect how they communicate.

Be helpful

  • Please share what you know.
  • Please answer questions when you can help, and do not answer when you cannot.
  • When sharing information or advice, please make a good-faith effort to ensure that it is both accurate and relevant to the topic being discussed.

Be genuine

  • Please come to AppleVis to take part in the community, ask questions, share your knowledge, and learn from others.
  • Please be open about any connection you have to a product, service, company, or organization being discussed.
  • If you use AI tools to help create or polish a post, please review the result carefully and make sure that it still sounds like you. AI-assisted writing can be inaccurate, generic, formulaic, or awkward. If the result sounds like AI rather than you, please revise it before posting.

Posting Etiquette

  • Please keep posts within the scope of AppleVis. With the exception of the non-Apple forums, all content on AppleVis must relate to Apple hardware, software, or services, or to third-party apps and accessories that can be used with Apple products. In forums for non-Apple technologies, posts should relate to the subject of that forum.
  • All content must be in English. You are welcome to use translation tools to translate your own words from another language.
  • When replying to a post, please stay on topic. If you want to discuss something different, please start a new topic.
  • Please post each message only once, in the most appropriate forum.
  • Before starting a new topic, we recommend searching AppleVis to see whether the subject has already been discussed.
  • When starting a new topic, please use a clear and descriptive subject line so that others can easily preview what your post is about.
  • Please keep each new topic focused on only one subject. This makes discussions easier to follow and helps you get more useful answers.
  • Please be careful when sharing information about yourself. AppleVis is a public website, and we very strongly discourage the posting of your email address or any other personal information that you do not want to be publicly available on the internet.

For developers

  • We welcome developer participation on AppleVis and thank you for being here. Everyone benefits when developers and users work together to improve app accessibility.
  • Developers may not post their own apps to the App Directories under any circumstances.
  • Developers may share and discuss their apps on the Forum, answer questions, seek feedback, respond to criticism, and otherwise take part in relevant discussions.
  • Developers are encouraged to share updates about their apps as they evolve. When possible, please keep updates for each app in a single ongoing thread rather than creating new topics for each update.
  • Developer participation should be genuine, transparent, and not primarily promotional.
  • The same expectations of kindness, consideration, helpfulness, and genuine participation apply to everyone.

Prohibited conduct

The following rules apply to all content posted on AppleVis.

  • Discrimination and hateful content are not permitted. Please do not attack or otherwise mistreat a person or group because of their race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, nationality, disability, religion, political affiliation, or any other personal characteristic.
  • Explicit, lewd, or sexualized content is not permitted. This includes sexualized jokes or innuendo; unwanted comments or advances; remarks about another person's body, appearance, or sexuality; comments that treat people as sexual objects; and sexualized descriptions, examples, or comparisons. Sexual harassment and conduct that creates or contributes to a hostile or unwelcome environment are also prohibited, even when no offense was intended. We recognize that legitimate accessibility issues may sometimes involve intimate material, and discussion of these issues is welcome. When discussing intimate material, please be thoughtful and discreet, avoid sexualized detail, and include only what is needed to explain the accessibility issue.
  • Harassment, bullying, personal attacks, insults, stalking, threats, and intimidation are not permitted.
  • Strong, sexualized, hate-based, or graphic profanity is not permitted. Mild profanity, defined as language widely considered acceptable for a general audience, is permitted when used sparingly for emphasis or expression. Profanity must never be used to harass, intimidate, demean, or degrade another person or group. The AppleVis Editorial Team will determine what constitutes mild or strong profanity based on the language used and the context.
  • Impersonation and defamation are not permitted. Please do not pretend to be another person or organization, or publish false statements of fact that harm their reputation.
  • Trolling and deliberate disruption of website operations are not permitted. Please do not deliberately provoke arguments, pick fights, derail discussions, repeatedly post disruptive content, or otherwise interfere with the operation of AppleVis.
  • Advertising is not permitted. The AppleVis Forums may not be used to trade, swap, sell, or advertise products or services. In exceptionally rare cases, the AppleVis Editorial Team may choose to allow promotional content that we believe has particular value and relevance to our community and mission.
  • Announcements about surveys, research projects, trainings, meetings, and similar activities are not permitted. In exceptionally rare cases, the AppleVis Editorial Team may choose to allow posting of an opportunity that we believe has particular value and relevance to our community and mission.
  • Referral and affiliate links that financially benefit the person posting them are not permitted. Such links can create conflicts of interest when discussing products or services.
  • Self-promotion is not permitted. Please do not use AppleVis to promote or discuss your own website, podcast, YouTube channel, mailing list, or other online resource. This rule does not prohibit sharing your own resources when doing so would benefit an existing discussion.
  • AI agents, bots, or other automated systems may not submit content on a user's behalf. Users must personally review and submit anything posted under their account.
  • Spam is not permitted. Repeatedly posting the same or substantially similar content is not allowed.
  • Copyright infringement and misuse of other people's intellectual property are not permitted. Please obtain the necessary permission before using copyrighted material in written work, podcasts, or other content.
  • Illegal content is not permitted. This includes content that promotes or facilitates the illegal use of licensed software.

This list does not cover every possible situation. If something you want to post is not addressed by this Community Agreement and you are unsure whether it is appropriate for AppleVis, please contact the AppleVis Editorial Team for guidance. The AppleVis Editorial Team may unpublish or remove content that we believe is objectionable, disruptive, inappropriate for AppleVis, or otherwise against the purpose or spirit of this Community Agreement.

How moderation is handled

  • You are responsible for what you post. The AppleVis Editorial Team is responsible for moderation as a whole. If you believe another member has violated this Community Agreement, please report the matter to the AppleVis Editorial Team rather than attempting to handle it yourself.
  • Content that violates this Community Agreement may be unpublished or removed. Repeated violations may result in your posting privileges being temporarily restricted or permanently revoked. Harassment or discrimination based on a personal characteristic is considered a very serious violation and may result in the immediate and permanent loss of posting privileges.
  • For minor violations of this Community Agreement, a moderator will usually post a public reminder of the relevant rule. This helps both you and others understand what is expected and makes clear to everyone that the issue has been addressed.
  • In more serious situations, we may contact you privately and require a response by a specified deadline. If we are unable to reach you or do not receive the required response, we may temporarily pause access to your account until the issue can be resolved.
  • In exceptionally rare situations where allowing unrestricted posting could create a risk to the safety, security, or orderly operation of AppleVis, we may pause access to your account immediately while we resolve the issue with you.
  • If access to your account is paused, you will need to satisfy any requirements set by the AppleVis Editorial Team before access can be restored.
  • Good-faith questions and discussion about moderation policies and decisions are always welcome, and we will do our best to thoughtfully address your concerns. If a discussion is closed, we ask that you please respect this decision.
  • Please do not deliberately circumvent this Community Agreement or any moderation action taken by the AppleVis Editorial Team.

The AppleVis Editorial Team has final authority over moderation decisions and the enforcement of this Community Agreement.

Last Updated: October 2, 2026