At its annual Worldwide Developer's Conference
<http://www.apple.com/developer/wwdc> this week, Apple previewed some of
the new features coming to its iOS, watchOS, tvOS, & macOS platforms later
this year. At this point, it's worth noting that this software is still in
beta form, and not all features--particularly, the specifics of how they
will be implemented--are finalized. With that said, below is what Apple has
told us will be coming for users of accessibility features:
iOS
* Enhanced Dynamic Type: Text now grows to larger sizes especially
designed for users with low vision, and app UIs adapt to accommodate those
sizes.
* Redesigned Invert Colors: While using Invert Colors, media content
and images won't invert with the rest of the screen making them easier to
view
* VoiceOver descriptions for images: With images, three finger tap
to have VoiceOver describe what's there. VoiceOver can detect text that's
embedded in an image, even if it hasn't been annotated. Or it can also tell
you whether a photo contains a tree, a dog, or four faces with smiles.
* Expanded Braille Editing: Using a Braille display with Apple
devices--now including Apple TV--is easier than ever. Your display shows you
the text you're editing in context, and your edits are seamlessly converted
between Braille and printed text. You can also customize the actions that
your Braille display performs on your Apple device by programming new
keyboard commands.
* Spoken/Brailled Captions for videos: Delivers closed caption
content orally or in Braille to provide additional context for VoiceOver
users
* Improved PDF support including access to forms: Tagged PDFs now
receive support for reading detailed information such as tables & lists
* Type to Siri for Accessibility: Supports basic search queries for
those who prefer to type to interact with their device
* Highlight Colors in Speak Selection and Speak Screen: You can now
customize the colors that your iOS device uses when highlighting text with
Speak Selection and Speak Screen.
* Switch Control typing: It's easier than ever to type with Switch
Control. Get access to more predictions, so that you can scan & type whole
words at a time.
* Additional closed captioning style: Video captions now include the
option of a new larger, outlined style for subtitles & captions.
* Additional audit capabilities in Xcode's Accessibility Inspector:
Apple's powerful Accessibility auditing tool, the Accessibility Inspector
built into Xcode, now has capabilities to help developers find Large Text
bugs in iOS applications.
Additionally, users will now be able to add & organise some of what's
displayed in Control Center. Among the items which you will be able to add
are:
* Accessibility Shortcut
* Guided Access
* Magnifier
* Text Size
The Siri voice has been enhanced to sound more "natural". At this time we do
not know if any VoiceOver TTS voices have also been improved; or if there
are new voice options.
watchOS
* Ability to adjust the click speed of the side button, so if you
have motor impairments you have more time to bring up Apple Pay & other
double & triple click functions.
* Improvements in Large Text support on the Apple Watch-related iOS
apps.
tvOS
* Support for Braille Displays: Connected Braille displays deliver
text of what's on screen (button labels, movie titles, etc.) that you are
currently hovering over. As you move focus, VoiceOver speaks & Braille
displays print the text. In addition, Braille display buttons map to
VoiceOver commands & support basic navigation around the Apple TV UI.
* Support for VoiceOver keyboard commands: Bluetooth connected
keyboards will allow you to issue VoiceOver commands for more efficient
browsing/navigation.
* Switch Control Menu for Media Playback: Switch Control users now
have access to a playback control panel to pause, play, fast forward,
rewind, & skip while media is playing.
* Additional closed captioning style: Video captions now include the
option of a new larger, outlined style for subtitles & captions.
macOS
* Improved zoom features: New zoom options make zooming in on your
content a better experience. Quickly zoom in & out with a new zoom toggle by
pressing Ctrl + Option keys. Detach the screen when zooming in and see
contextual tool tips using the Ctrl + Command keys. Zoom improves the
ability to speak text under your mouse, & flashes the screen when a
notification appears that's not currently visible.
* Accessibility Keyboard: macOS can now be used entirely without a
physical keyboard. The new Accessibility Keyboard is a customizable,
onscreen keyboard that gives users with mobility impairments advanced typing
& navigation capabilities.
* Type to Siri for Accessibility: Those who prefer to communicate by
typing have the option to interact with Siri by typing requests & questions.
* Improved Grade2 Braille editing: Improved Grade2 Braille entry &
editing creates a more seamless Braille experience for VoiceOver users. For
example, you'll be able to see the context of what you're typing on the
Braille display. Also as you edit in Grade2 Braille, text won't get
translated back into Grade1 Braille.
* Enhanced multilingual VoiceOver support: VoiceOver automatically
switches to the correct voice when reading in a different language. For
example, VoiceOver has a Japanese voice when you visit:
www.ja.wikipedia.org
from a Mac with English as the primary language.
* Improved PDF support including access to forms: Tagged PDFs now
receive support for reading detailed information such as tables & lists.
* VoiceOver descriptions for images: With a simple key command,
VoiceOver can describe text appearing in the image, even if it hasn't been
annotated. & it can tell you whether a photo contains a tree, a dog, or four
faces with smiles.
* Improved web & Mail message navigation: Improved conformance with
HTML 5 accessibility standards leads to more consistent navigation of
webpages in Safari. There's also better VoiceOver support for navigating
tables in richly formatted email messages.
* Additional closed captioning style: Video captions now include the
option of a new larger, outlined style for subtitles & captions. The new
video captions appear in iTunes, iMovie, Safari, & QuickTime.
Looking Ahead
It is expected that all of these forthcoming software releases will enter
public beta before the end of June , and be released to the public in the
fall.
For those of you who will be participating in either the developer or public
beta programs, we cannot stress enough how important it is that you report
to Apple any bugs that you encounter. Doing so will help to ensure that the
final releases for each of these platforms will be as stable, polished &
accessible as possible.
We know that Apple's Accessibility Team will be particularly keen for you to
explore the new features mentioned above, so do please give these a thorough
testing & report any problems that you encounter to:
accessibility@xxxxxxxxx
We should also stress that we are only at the beginning of the beta cycle,
so it's entirely possible that some of the new features mentioned above may
change or evolve between now and the final release of the software. We can
also be certain that the Accessibility Team will be working on additional
enhancements, improvements & fixes.
Posted by AppleVis at:
www.applevis.com
===========================================================
The fb-exchange mailing list
Manage account, subscribe or unsubscribe:
//www.freelists.org/list/fb-exchange
Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/fb-exchange ;
Administrative contact: insight@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
===========================================================
