Apple has announced a suite of new accessibility features set to launch later this year, designed to make its products more inclusive for users with disabilities.
This significant update includes Eye Tracking for iPad and iPhone control, Music Haptics for a tactile music experience, Vocal Shortcuts for personalized voice commands, Vehicle Motion Cues to alleviate motion sickness, and enhanced accessibility for visionOS and CarPlay.
The details:
Eye Tracking: Allows users with physical disabilities to control their iPad or iPhone using only their eyes, leveraging Al and on-device machine learning.
Music Haptics: Translates music into vibrations and taps using the iPhone's Taptic Engine, making music more accessible for deaf and hard-of-hearing users.
Vocal Shortcuts: Enables users to create custom voice commands for Siri to execute complex tasks.
Listen for Atypical Speech: Improves speech recognition for individuals with speech patterns affected by conditions like cerebral palsy, ALS, or stroke.
Vehicle Motion Cues: Reduces motion sickness in moving vehicles by displaying animated dots on screen edges to represent changes in motion.
CarPlay Enhancements: Introduces Voice Control, Colour Filters, and Sound Recognition to improve CarPlay accessibility.
visionOS Accessibility: Features Live Captions for conversations and media, support for hearing devices, and visual adjustments like Reduce Transparency, Smart Invert, and Dim Flashing Lights.
Additional updates: Include new VoiceOver voices, Magnifier enhancements, Braille improvements, Hover Typing, Personal Voice in Mandarin Chinese, Live Speech updates, Virtual Trackpad for AssistiveTouch, Switch Control enhancements, and Voice Control improvements.
Why this matters:
Apple's commitment to accessibility ensures that its products are usable by everyone, regardless of ability. These new features demonstrate how technology can be leveraged to empower individuals and foster a more inclusive digital landscape.
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