To celebrate World Accessibility Awareness Day, Apple announced a bunch of new features to make it easier for people with musculoskeletal conditions to use their smartphones.
If you’ve ever dreamed of navigating a software interface with just a glance, know that Apple has thought of you. In a press release published on May 15, 2024, the Apple firm detailed a package of new accessibility features to allow everyone to navigate on their phone with ease.
No need for additional accessories
Perhaps the most impressive of these features is gaze navigation. Thanks to eye tracking algorithms and the devices’ front camera, it will be possible to navigate the interface, select elements on the screen, scroll through text and more. The icing on the cake is the “does not require additional hardware or accessories», Indicates Apple. The feature is reminiscent of another deployed on Android in 2021.
Although the idea of controlling the interface by eye may seem trendy and futuristic at first glance, Apple nevertheless specifies that this functionality is “designed for users with physical disabilities“. The feature’s teaser video leaves no doubt, featuring a woman in a wheelchair controlling her iPad at a glance.
Plethora of accessibility features
Apple has not stopped there on the accessibility issue. “Haptic music” should make it possible to feel the vibrations of a song thanks to the taptic engine so that hearing-impaired people can also “experience the music” on their iPhone, says Apple. “Voice shortcuts” will also allow you to launch specific actions in response to “custom sounds”. Enough to facilitate the use of controlled devices by “users suffering from illnesses which modify diction”.
Finally, other adjustments concern lighter disabilities such as adjusting the color of the interface for color blind people on CarPlay or the superimposition of small moving dots on the screen to reduce motion sickness. “Research has shown that motion sickness is usually caused by a sensory conflict between what a person observes and what they feel […] Vehicle Motion Cues feature appears animated dots at the edges of the screen corresponding to different vehicle movements to help reduce sensory conflict», explains the manufacturer.
These various improvements should arrive in the coming months on the various Apple devices concerned.
Source : Apple
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