“In March, Apple was sued in a class action lawsuit by the blind and we pointed out how Apple has done more for the disabled than any other tech company,” Jack Purcher reports for Patently Apple.
“Then a report in July surfaced about how the disabled wanted Apple to do more for them,” Purcher reports. “Today, two new inventions have come to light that will assist the disabled in different ways at some point in the future on both iDevices and Macs.”
“Today a new patent application surfaces that covers the inner workings of Apple’s In-App program,” Purcher reports. “And lastly, another invention was published today covering more about Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint enrollment feature.”
Much more, including Apple’s patent application illustrations, in the full article here.
Related articles:
Advocates for blind, deaf want even more from Apple – July 9, 2014
OS X Mavericks: How to control your Mac with your voice – April 9, 2014
Can Apple help make hearing aids cool? – March 10, 2014
Apple files new patents relating to haptics, Thunderbolt, iSight and improved accessibility for the hearing impaired – August 23, 2012
Inside Apple’s OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion: New iOS-style Accessibility – July 18, 2012
Stevie Wonder thanks Steve Jobs, praises Apple for iOS accessibility – September 15, 2011
Good news for music fans with vision loss: Apple adds accessibility features to iPod nano and iTunes – September 18, 2008
Isn’t amazing how people with disabilities are able to define what they want once they have had a taste of what they did not have?
That is in no way different to people who do not think that they have a disability only to find that they want more from Apple inc. once Apple inc. has given them what they never new they needed until they tried it and then realized that it is what they had been looking for all their lives without knowing it!!
HUMAN NATURE ay?
My advice to the association that is representing the complainants is to outline what it is they think they need and how they will be wanting to access it on Apple inc. hardware, and then give Apple inc. a period that is realistic in tech terms to come up with a solution or a viable road map to provide that solution. Only after such dialogue comes to an impasse should they then seek redress through the judicial F*****g system.
IMHO I think they have jumped the gun to stuff the publicity channels with flammable oxygen.
Just saying…
No you have not!
It is human nature to complain, and you have answered it honestly.
Back when I was living in London and selling classical music recordings, there was an afternoon when young blind fellow came down our stairs then just stood there. Instead of vocally asking for assistance, he went into a full blown hissy fit mental attack, screaming loudly for someone to help him. The full impression was that he expected the world to wait upon him hand and foot, that he was deserving not of humane and cordial treatment, but that we were supposed to immediately rush to him and provide him with the extraordinary bend-and-fetch-it treatment he deserved as the most vaulted of aristocrat, the blind person.
IOW: His behavior was training us to stay the hell away from him because he was nuts. It’s of course brave of anyone blind to venture out into the world, especially into a music store. But all he had to do was ask for help, not pull a child’s temper tantrum. I get the same creepy feeling from this lawsuit against Apple from some people in the blind community. Just ask! You don’t have to freak out.