‘Commentary’ Archives

Despite declaring their intention to implement accessibility in a future version of their Flash player, Adobe Systems continues to display a seeming disregard for accessibility of their products. Indeed, things just keep getting worse. Last week, Adobe released version 10.1 of their Flash player plugin for both the Mac and Windows operating systems, which included [...]

In this special edition episode of the Mac-cessibility Round Table and Screenless Switchers podcasts, our knights discuss the WWDC keynote announcements, the new iPhone 4, iOS 4.0, iBooks, and mobile accessibility in general.

Today, Apple will be taking the wraps off of new products and services at its annual World Wide Developer Conference in San Francisco, California, if history is any indication. Also historically, Apple’s advancements in accessibility tend to be announced during WWDC, though not always necessarily during Steve Jobs’s keynote presentation. For example, last year brought [...]

On Monday, 07/June, Steve Jobs will take the stage at APple’s annual World Wide Developer Conference in San Francisco. The Screenless Switchers, ATMaine.com, and Mac-cessibility are joining forces to bring you live discussion of the event as it happens. You can tune in at approximately 12:30 PM EDT, (9:30 AM PDT), at this link. Additionally, [...]

In the May 2010 issue of AccessWorld, a publication of the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), readers are presented with a first look at the Apple iPad. In an article entitled "24 Hours with the iPad", Bradley Hodges discusses his impressions of the iPad in his initial 24 hours with the device. It is [...]

Today, Apple posted its thoughts on Adobe Flash, and the reasons why it has not been included on the company’s line of mobile de ices, such as the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. The piece is well reasoned and clearly presented, although it is interesting that the biggest reason to VoiceOver users not wanting Flash [...]

29/April/2010 marks the fifth anniversary of the release of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and the VoiceOver screen reader. The Screenless Switchers podcast offers a retrospective in episode 36, looking back at the last five years of Apple accessibility with a couple of the earliest Mac converts, and ahead to the future.

On 29/April/2005, Apple Inc. released Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, the first commercial operating system with a built-in screen reader: VoiceOver. A lot has changed since the introduction of VoiceOver. Here are some highlights: The creation of the Mac Visionaries community of visually impaired Mac users The birth of the Screenless Switchers podcast The introduction [...]

In the

After our recent editorial where M.J. Phoenix voiced her concerns about the Royal National Institute for the Blind‘s recent review of the Apple iPad and some apparent misconceptions, Shaun Leamon, the author of the original review, took the time to write up a response in the hopes of clarifying the RNIB’s stance on the latest [...]

In our latest editorial, Apple in the "Blind" World, Mac-cessibility contributor M.J. Phoenix voices her frustration with an article from the RNIB regarding the iPad, which includes some blatant mis-statements.

In part 2 of our iPad review, we explore the Mail app which is included on Apple’s new iPad device. We focus primarily on its usage and accessibility with the VoiceOver screen reader. For additional coverage, be sure to read part 1 here.