• RT @ppatel Webaim is conducting a screen reader user survey o gather more definitive data on screen reader users: http://tinyurl.com/3rmwte # 2008/12/18
• News: Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.5.6 http://www.lioncourt.com/?p=250 # 2008/12/15
• Retweet: @cookiecrook BusinessWeek: Apple is greener than Greenpeace says. http://tinyurl.com/57v4fp # 2008/12/08
• Retweet: @vmwarefusion : Fusion 50% off today, one day only. Details: http://is.gd/9Gqi Coupon code "CyberMondayDeal" # 2008/12/01
• It's Thanksgiving Day in the United States. We're thankful for Apple's commitment to accessibility in their products. # 2008/11/27

Tonight, Apple released iTunes 8.0.1 with a number of bug fixes and enhancements to their popular digital media management software. According to the release notes with this update, we will find access to iTunes U with VoiceOver, as well as improved syncing of speaking menus for the iPod Nano 4G, and other improvements to access of iTunes with VoiceOver.

The complete list of big fixes reads:

• Seamlessly plays the current song when creating a new Genius playlist.
• Improves syncing spoken menus to iPod nano.
• Addresses an issue of deleting HD TV episodes when downloading.
• Improves checking for updates from the App Store.
• Improves accessibility with VoiceOver.
• Addresses problems syncing Genius results to iPod.

As always, the update can be found by choosing "Software Update" in the Apple menu of Mac OS X.

Today, AOL released a public beta of their new AIM for Mac software for the popular AOL Instant Messaging service. The new application, still in beta, includes accessibility with VoiceOver on par with Apple’s own iChat program included with the Mac OS. There are a handful of buttons without labels, though these all report Help tags with VO-H. (Control-Option-H).

Additionally, the application boasts the ability to speak incoming messages automatically, a very handy feature for blind and visually impaired chat users.

To try out the public beta, you can download it from AOL here.

Mac-cessibility Quick Tips is a feature of Lioncourt.com to provide brief tips and tricks to assist blind and visually impaired Mac users improve their Apple experience. Not all tips will be specific to VoiceOver, and most will work on either Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger or Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Now for this week’s tip!

So, you’ve got your fresh new iPod Nano 4G with speaking menus, but that’s just not enough. You’d like to personalize your iPod with a custom name that will be shown in the iTunes Sources table and in the Finder. Here’s how it’s done.

1. Navigate to your iPod in the Sources table in iTunes 8.
2. Press Command-Return. VoiceOver will announce "Unknown".
3. Type the name you want. Note that VoiceOver does not give any feed back during this step, so type carefully. If you make a mistake, you can always try to rename your iPod again by following these same steps.
4. Press Return.

That’s it! Enjoy your freshly renamed iPod. And, as always, listen without prejudice!

Thanks to Shane Jackson for the tip.

Today, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) announced a cooperative agreement with Apple Inc. to make Apple’s iTunes software more accessible to the blind and visually impaired. Earlier this month, Apple released iTunes 8 with substantial improvements to accessibility for both Mac and Windows users. Under the agreement between Apple and the NFB, Apple will make iTunes U accessible by 31/December, 2008, and will provide full access to the iTunes application by 30/June, 2009.

Over a span of three years, Apple will continue to work with the NFB to maintain accessibility in iTunes for the visually impaired. Apple will donate $250,000 to the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind to assist the agency in providing adaptive technology to blind residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

It is interesting to note the timing of this announcement. It comes just one day after Freedom Scientific announced iTunes support in its Jaws for Windows screen reading software. The NFB made no such fanfare when GW Micro announced its work with Apple on iTunes accessibility with Window-Eyes earlier this year, when that accessibility came to fruition earlier this month, or when the vast majority of the iTunes application became accessible with Apple’s VoiceOver screen reading technology for Mac OS X in early 2007.

Nevertheless, Apple has shown tremendous commitment to blind and visually impaired computer users over the last several years with the development and release of VoiceOver, Braille display support in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, access to iTunes under both Mac and WIndows operating systems, iPods with speaking menus, and countless updates to their own OS and software to improve accessibility. It’s about time that an organization like the NFB took notice.