As a part of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Apple previews a number of features like Door Detection, Apple Watch Mirroring, Live Captions, and more. These features will bring additional ways for disabled users to use the Apple products. Users with disabilities can navigate and connect easily to the products.
New Accessibility Features Door Detection, Live Captions, Quick Actions & More Announced
These updates have the company’s latest technologies to deliver unique and customizable tools. Apple has been honored for its accessibility work, and now it has announced a whole series of features. Apple’s senior director of Accessibility Policy and Initiatives, Sarah Herrlinger, said in a statement, “Apple embeds accessibility into every aspect of our work, and we are committed to designing the best products and services for everyone.” “We’re excited to introduce these new features, which combine innovation and creativity from teams across Apple to give users more options to use our products in ways that best suit their needs and lives.”
Door Detection
One of the features is called “Door Detection”. According to Apple, it helps individuals who are blind or have low vision. They can use their iPhone or iPad to locate a door while they arrive at a new destination. Door detection will make them understand how far they are from it and will also describe the door’s attributes. It will also explain how to open it and the nearby signs or symbols if any are available. This feature is a part of the new “Detection Mode” in Magnifier along with People Detection and Image Descriptions. Door Detection will be available on iPhones, and iPad with LiDAR Scanner.
Apple Watch Mirroring
Apple Watch Mirroring feature allows users to control their watch using iPhone’s features like Switch Control and Voice Control. Watch Mirroring also uses inputs including voice commands, sound actions, head tracking, or external Made for iPhone switches. Apple describes the new feature as a way to make Apple Watch more accessible than ever for disabled people. This feature combines hardware and software capabilities like “Advances built on AirPlay.” It is helpful for people who depend on these mobility features. It can access Blood Oxygen, Heart Rate, Mindfulness, and more from Apple Watch.
Quick Actions
It lets users use double-pinch gestures to answer or end a phone call, take photos, or dismiss notifications. In the Now Playing app, you can play or pause media, start, Pause or resume workouts.
Live Captions
Live Captions is for deaf or people who hardly hear. This feature has been announced for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It captions audio content in real-time, including FaceTime calls, streaming media content, or other social media apps. Live Captions feature also helps while having a conversation with someone next to them.
Other New Accessibility Features Announced By Apple
VoiceOver Buddy Controller Siri Pause Time Voice Control Spelling Mode Sound Recognition Apple Books app
