Apple has announced software features designed for people with mobility, vision, hearing, and cognitive disabilities.
These next-generation technologies showcase Apple’s belief that accessibility is a human right and advance the company’s long history of delivering industry-leading features that make Apple products customizable for all users.
Apple has released a new sofware updates for people with disability which includes:
SignTime
The SignTime features enables users to communicate with AppleCare and Retail Customer Care by using American Sign Language (ASL) in the US, British Sign Language (BSL) in the UK, or French Sign Language (LSF) in France, right in their web browsers.
Customers visiting Apple Store locations can also use SignTime to remotely access a sign language interpreter.
According to the tech company SignTime will start the US, UK, and France, with plans to expand to additional countries in the future.
Assistive Touch for Apple Watch
The assistive touch for apple watch to support users with limited mobility, Apple is introducing a revolutionary new accessibility feature for Apple Watch.
Assistive Touch for watch OS allows users with upper body limb differences to enjoy the benefits of Apple Watch without ever having to touch the display or controls.
Apple has added a built-in motion sensors like the gyroscope and accelerometer, along with the optical heart rate sensor and on-device machine learning.
Apple Watch can detect subtle differences in muscle movement and tendon activity, which lets users navigate a cursor on the display through a series of hand gestures.
Assistive Touch on Apple Watch enables users who have limb differences to more easily answer incoming calls, control an onscreen motion pointer, and access Notification Center, Control Center, and more
Eye-Tracking Support for iPad
iPadOS will support third-party eye-tracking devices, making it possible for people to control iPad using just their eyes.
Explore Images with VoiceOver
Apple is introducing new features for VoiceOver, an industry‑leading screen reader for blind and low vision communities. users can now explore even more details about the people, text, table data, and other objects within images.
Users can navigate a photo of a receipt like a table: by row and column, complete with table headers.
Made for iPhone Hearing Aids and Audiogram Support
Apple has added updates on MFi hearing devices program.
The microphones in these new hearing aids enable those who are deaf or hard of hearing to have hands-free phone and FaceTime conversations.
Users can also customize their audio with their latest hearing test results imported from a paper or PDF audiogram.
Background Sounds
Apple is introducing new background sounds to help minimize distractions and help users focus, stay calm, or rest. Balanced, bright, or dark noise, as well as ocean, rain, or stream sounds continuously play in the background to mask unwanted environmental or external noise.
