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AhAs many in the accessibility community say, inclusive design is not a “one and done” thing. It is an ongoing and continuous effort to ensure that people with different needs and disabilities are not left behind when new products and services are created. Over the past three years, Engadget has gone beyond its regular coverage to create reports looking back at tech industry developments impacting the accessibility community, focusing on big companies like Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta. . Of course, there are plenty of other big companies to consider such as Uber, Airbnb, and Netflix. However, the 6 we have chosen have a tremendous impact and influence on the industry.
The past year has seen significant developments, such as the opening of Microsoft’s Inclusive Tech Lab, that could pave the way for more accessible design in the future. In October, the University of Illinois (UIUC) partnered with Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft on a speech accessibility project to improve speech recognition for people with atypical speech patterns that AI algorithms rarely consider. I was. However, there were also major setbacks: Elon Musk Dismantling Twitter’s Accessibility Teamamong everything else that happened in that hell hole.
Across the industry, we’ve seen news showing a general increase in interest in accessible products and design. According to LinkedIn According to Erran Berger, VP of Engineering, there was a 33% increase in “people sharing accessibility-related insights, ideas, and problem-solving together” last year. Berger said this was in response to “a significant increase in the annual total number of US job listings with the word ‘accessibility’ in the job title.” Those posts “surged by 171 people,” according to LinkedIn data. [percent] From September 2019.
This growing interest has permeated all of technology.Comcast debuts Xfinity Large Button Voice Remote Last year, popular chat apps Discord has updated its Windows app Supports high contrast mode and enables image alt text on iOS. There were also many startups and small device makers creating products like wearables and hearing aids to help people with disabilities interact better with the world.
We continue to seek a more inclusive design process that follows the accessibility community slogan ‘we are nothing without us’, so which companies work well and which have different needs. It’s worth checking if people aren’t being considered.
Amazon
Amazon
Like most companies on this list, Amazon has updated numerous products in various categories to improve accessibility. For example, we’ve added gesture support to Echo Shows, allowing users to dismiss timers by waving their hands or raising their open palms, so people who don’t want or can’t use their voice to silence alarms You can do it without touching your device. We’ve also added support for hearing aid audio streaming to the Fire TV platform. Introduced the Tap To Speech (or Tap To Alexa) feature From Fire tablets to Echo Show displays.
Amazon has also worked with select organizations to bring their products to communities who can benefit from them. We donate products like Echos and Ring home security devices to Home For Our Troops and the Gary Sinise Foundation to help provide them to veterans. The company is also working with India’s National Association for the Blind to provide local school districts with Echo devices for use as educational materials for visually impaired children.
Many new Alexa features also have accessibility benefits.of Notification of people and luggageFor example, when a compatible Ring camera or video doorbell detects a person or package, it notifies you via the Alexa mobile app, Echo Show, Fire TV, or Fire tablet. This way you can choose to be alerted by visual or audible cues. With the latest Echo Dot, an onboard accelerometer lets you tap the top of the speaker to pause and resume media playback, snooze alarms, end timers and calls. It provides people with speech disabilities an alternative way to interact with the device.
It’s also worth noting that Amazon’s remote care service Alexa Together also won the award. update This allowed users to add family members to care for their aging loved ones, and primary caregivers to remotely set routines for their wards.
In October, the company released a new campaign that included videos featuring Amazon employees and people with disabilities using accessibility features like Alexa and Fire TV. We’ve also redesigned the accessibility home page to make the tool easier to find. And, as we noted in an earlier edition of this report, the company’s venture capital arm, the Alexa Fund, invests in startups working on products that improve accessibility.
apple
As an established leader in making accessible products, Apple continued to thrive last year, even though it didn’t do much. On May 19th, Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), announced A new door detection feature on iPhone helps blind and partially sighted people by identifying entrances and reading signs and text there.
At the same time, Apple Watch Mirroring was announced. It allows people with mobility impairments and physical disabilities to control smartwatches using the iPhone’s assistive features. These include voice control, switch control, head tracking, sound actions, and external inputs for Made For iPhone.
Apple also introduced live captions to iPhone, iPad, and Mac. This will transcribe all the content played through your device as well as the speech of people in the real world. People using live captions for calls on their Mac can also type their response and speak aloud to the caller. We’ve also added 20 new languages to VoiceOver screen readers, voices, and locales.
apple
Other features include a buddy controller that allows users to ask another person to co-control a game character, and Siri Pause Time, which adjusts how long the assistant waits for a response. The company has also updated sound recognition to identify custom noises such as unique doorbells and alarms, and added new themes, fonts and line customizations to the Apple Books app for improved readability. A number of small updates were also announced in the GAAD, too many to cover in detail here, A complete list can be found on the company’s website.
On December 3rd, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Apple released a short film showcasing its assistive capabilities. The video was well received, not only highlighting how people with disabilities use their iDevices to live their lives, but also introduced lesser-known features to a wider audience.
Contributing to accessibility is especially important because Google is fundamentally the Internet. The company’s reach is immense, as its product portfolio is extremely diverse, spanning smartphones, speakers, displays, browsers, apps, email, search, and more. In other words, Google typically more updates More than any other name on this list. Across Android, Pixel, Chrome, Search, and more, the company rolled out improvements to screen readers, captions, alt text support, and more. Much of the work in 2022 was to extend existing functionality to cover more platforms and languages.For example, in December, the company Announcing Project Relate The non-standard speech recognition pilot will be extended to include Hindi.
At its Global Accessibility Awareness Day in May, Google also said: Built out-of-the-box Braille display support into Android’s Talkback No need to install another app.this Also announced new educational updates Support for alt text in Gmail and tweaks to the document experience for users with braille readers. Chrome OS is also easier to use with improved voice control and dictation. Meet now allows users to pin multiple people to a call, allowing people with ASL to see the sign language interpreter and other speakers at the same time. time.saw the company Make the font easy to read.
Notably, at the Pixel 7 launch, Google also introduced Guided Frames, a tool that helps blind and low-vision users take selfies. Share the stage with other highlights during the flagship phone reveal.
Google continues to be involved in the disability community, Twitter accessibility accountBack in August, I was planning to do a research study on the Chrome browser with a dyslexic student. First store opened in December UK Accessibility Discovery CenterThis outreach and engagement pattern makes Google appear to be taking a meaningful approach to accessibility. This adheres to the principle of “nothing about us without us”.
