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                 Apple to Expand Accessibility Options in 2023

   Adam Engst

   From [1]Apple Newsroom:

     Apple today previewed software features for cognitive, vision,
     hearing, and mobility accessibility, along with innovative tools for
     individuals who are nonspeaking or at risk of losing their ability
     to speak. These updates draw on advances in hardware and software,
     include on-device machine learning to ensure user privacy, and
     expand on Apple's long-standing commitment to making products for
     everyone.

   It's well worth reading Apple's press release for all the details (and
   see [2]Shelly Brisbin's commentary on Six Colors), but the feature I'm
   most interested to see is Assistive Access, which 'distills experiences
   across the Camera, Photos, Music, Calls, and Messages apps on iPhone to
   their essential features in order to lighten their cognitive load for
   users.' Along with helping those with intellectual and developmental
   disabilities, I could see these alternative interfaces as a boon for
   older people (and others) with cognitive impairments. Possibly also for
   the very young, but I'm not a fan of giving toddlers digital devices.

   Apple also says that Made for iPhone hearing devices will be able to be
   paired with select M1-based Macs and all M2-based Macs, which is good
   news for hearing aid users, and Voice Control will add phonetic
   suggestions so users can choose the desired word from those that sound
   similar, like 'there,' 'their,' and 'they're.' With luck, Apple will
   extend this and other text editing features to the standard dictation
   capabilities.

   [3]Read original article

References

   1. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/05/apple-previews-live-speech-personal-voice-and-more-new-accessibility-features/
   2. https://sixcolors.com/post/2023/05/apple-previews-new-accessibility-features/
   3. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/05/apple-previews-live-speech-personal-voice-and-more-new-accessibility-features/

.