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                 Apple Previews Upcoming Accessibility Features

   Josh Centers

   Apple has previewed some [1]upcoming accessibility features that we'll
   presumably see in this year's updates to Apple's operating systems.
   They include:
     * Door Detection: Available on iPhones and iPads with a LiDAR
       scanner, Door Detection tells blind and visually impaired users
       where doors are, how far they are away, whether they're opened or
       closed, and how you open them. (It would be a really interesting
       feature for smart glasses.) It will be available in a new Detection
       Mode in the Magnifier app on the iPhone and iPad.

       IFRAME:
       [2]https://share.newsroom.apple/newsroom/embed/videos/?embedvideoid
       =79c79cd658245f7c02774cae904e0195

     * Apple Watch Mirroring: This feature replicates an Apple Watch's
       display on its associated iPhone, which lets the user employ
       accessibility features like Voice Control and Switch Control on the
       Apple Watch. It will require an Apple Watch Series 6 or later.
     * Quick Actions on the Apple Watch: In the category of accessibility
       features that might gain wide access with the broader community
       (see '[3]iOS 14's Back Tap Feature Provides Interaction Shortcuts,'
       24 September 2020), Quick Actions on the Apple Watch enable
       multi-touch gestures on the little screen. For instance, you could
       define a double-pinch to end a phone call or start a workout.
     * Live Captions: Perhaps the most interesting of the new features,
       Live Captions automatically generate text transcripts for any audio
       content, whether it's a phone call, FaceTime call, videoconference,
       or streaming media. The subtitles are generated on the device
       itself, which will have to be an iPhone 11 or later, iPad with at
       least an A12 Bionic chip, and M1-based Macs. Various
       videoconferencing systems already do this quite successfully, and
       we would hope that Apple could do at least as good a job. Again,
       there are lots of times when subtitles would be welcome for people
       who are not Deaf or hard of hearing, and it's easy to imagine a
       jump to automatic translation in the future. (This would also be a
       really interesting feature for smart glasses.)

       IFRAME:
       [4]https://share.newsroom.apple/newsroom/embed/videos/?embedvideoid
       =21a377c9dfeb44f37e22906136f02cb6

   Apple also outlined a few other upcoming accessibility features, like
   Buddy Controller, which lets two game controllers function as one, and
   new customization options for the Apple Books app. Perhaps the most
   welcome to English speakers will be Voice Control Spelling Mode, which
   lets users dictate words that Voice Control Dictation gets wrong using
   letter-by-letter input.

   We should all appreciate Apple's commitment to accessibility features
   because they make a world of difference for their target audiences, and
   everyone deserves the opportunity to access technology. Our guess is
   that Apple invests more time and effort into these features than it
   makes back in increased sales. More generally, as we noted, many of
   these features stand to benefit those who nominally have no disability.
   Quick Actions for Apple Watch might become a favorite of power users,
   and lots of people will appreciate Live Captions when in a loud
   environment or when talking with someone whose speech is hard to
   understand, for whatever reason. Even Buddy Controller could be a boon
   to any parent whose child insists on playing a video game they're too
   young for.

   The preview also raises some questions. Why did Apple preview upcoming
   features, something it seldom does outside of WWDC? Is it just that the
   WWDC keynote will be so jam-packed that there won't be any time to
   mention them (see '[5]WWDC 2022 Stays Virtual Starting June 6,' 5 April
   2022)? Also, two of these features would make a lot of sense in the
   smart glasses that Apple has supposedly been developing. Could they be
   a clue about what we can expect at WWDC?

References

   Visible links
   1. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/05/apple-previews-innovative-accessibility-features/
   2. https://share.newsroom.apple/newsroom/embed/videos/?embedvideoid=79c79cd658245f7c02774cae904e0195
   3. https://tidbits.com/2020/09/24/ios-14s-back-tap-feature-provides-interaction-shortcuts/
   4. https://share.newsroom.apple/newsroom/embed/videos/?embedvideoid=21a377c9dfeb44f37e22906136f02cb6
   5. https://tidbits.com/2022/04/05/wwdc-2022-announcement/

   Hidden links:
   6. https://tidbits.com/wp/../uploads/2022/05/Apple-Watch-Mirroring.png

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