Apple Inc. has just offered a preview of the accessibility functions that will officially arrive at the end of this year on all its platforms, fulfilling its mission of offering products that work for everyone, for which they will try to help users who suffer from some type of disability so that they can also make the most of it.
these functions combine hardware, software and machine learning to help people with different disabilities, highlighting functions such as Door Detection, which will help users with vision problems to know the location of a door when heading to a specific destinationknowing how far away it may be, its location and, if it is closed, the forms of opening it has, also taking into account the symbols that may be available around it.
Apple also highlights assistive features like Voice Control and Switch Control for users with physical and mobility disabilities to control an Apple Watch through iPhone with Apple Watch Mirroring; and the arrival of Live Captions on iPhone, iPad, and Mac for hearing-impaired users.
It further adds that support for your VoiceOver screen reader will also come to 20 new languages ​​and locales. As we say, these accessibility releases are coming later this year.
For Sarah Herrlinger, senior director of Accessibility Policies and Initiatives at Apple:
Apple integrates accessibility into every aspect of our work, and we’re committed to designing the best products and services for everyone (…) We’re excited to introduce these new features, which combine the innovation and creativity of Apple teams to bring users more options to use our products in the way that best suits their needs and lives.
To give us an idea of ​​the extent to which hardware, software and artificial intelligence converge, just access the description of the Door Detection function:
This new feature combines the power of LiDAR, camera, and on-device machine learning and will be available on iPhone and iPad models with the LiDAR scanner.1
The company points out that this feature will come through a new detection mode within Magnifier, Apple’s app for users who are blind or have some vision difficulties.
Door detection, along with person detection and image descriptions, can be used alone or simultaneously in detection mode, giving visually impaired users a place of reference with customizable tools to help them navigate and access detailed descriptions of your environment.
More Info/Image Credit: Apple
