I was at a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game a few weeks ago, and was doing a little tailgating with a friend (to those unfamiliar, that is grilling out in the parking lot before the game).

At one point, a young man approached us and gestured to a small pamphlet he was holding. It had a message on the front that read, “I am selling this Deaf Education System card to make living. Will you kindly buy one? Pay any price you wish! Thank you.”

These sorts of things definitely tug at my heart strings, so I gave him a $5 (for both me and my friend). He gave me a complicated handshake that I feebly imitated, and went on his way. It looked like the next several people he approached similarly give him donations.

After mentally wishing him well in whatever struggles he was facing, I got to thinking about portable “deaf education systems” like the hand-drawn representations in the pamphlet.

I naturally wondered what sort of mobile applications are out there for this sort of thing. So I did a search in the app store.

I expected to see a handful of results, but was surprised to find several dozen when I typed in “sign language”.

Like any subject matter, I’m sure some of these apps are good, some are mediocre, and some are just plain bad. I can’t say as I want to check all of them out, but I think I’ll rummage through a few of them and post some thoughts later on.

Are there sign language or deaf-assisting applications that you’ve experienced that are worthwhile? Are you a deaf person who uses his or her iPhone or mobile device to make your life a little easier?

Tags: app, apple, deaf, iphone, sign language

I’m downright appalled at how much I’ve neglected this blog in the past month. The fact of the matter is that work demands, among other things, contributed to theaccessibility.com taking a hiatus.

Nevertheless, that still doesn’t make me feel good about disrupting what was becoming a good blogging rhythm. And we all know that frequency of quality posting is key to any successful blog.

This is a short blog post to get back into the swing of things.

Last week, Apple released iPhone OS 3.1. There are some nice features in the release, but one in particular adds a nice little accessibility win.

The upgrade makes it easier to activate the accessibility features on your iPhone. By clicking the Home button three times, you can toggle on VoiceOver, Toggle White on Black, and Ask.

While arguably a minor enhancement, anything that makes accessibility features easier to get to is admirable. As I’ve said before, Apple seems to genuinely take accessibility seriously, as they continue to evolve their products such as the iPhone, Snow Leopard and now the mobile OS. Are they perfect? Of course not. But at least there is continual progress.

Tags: apple, iphone, mobile

Admittedly, I have been and always will be an Apple devotee. With that disclaimer aside, during one of my many ventures through the Web looking for interesting web accessibility topics, I came across extensive coverage of the topic of accessibility on Apple’s website.

To cover the highlights briefly, Apple claims the iPhone has these accessibility features:

For the Visually Impaired:

• Physical buttons for commands such as sleep, ringer and home
• Zoom ability for viewing content
• Font size increasing for Mail
• Alert and ringtone customization based on audio, visual or vibration

For the Hearing Impaired:

• Support for open and closed captioning, as well as subtitles
• Using Safari, ability to use web-based instant messaging services such as Meebo
• SMS texting
• Headset options including hearing-aid induction ear loop
• Visual Voicemail feature
• TTY support (with a separate iPhone TTY Adapter)

They similarly point out some of these features — like the tactile buttons, voice dialing, and assignable ringtones — as being accessible to those with physical disabilities as well.

Furthermore, AT&T has a Text Accessibility Plan for iPhone, which offers unlimited messaging and data usage and pay-per-use voice and Visual Voicemail.

There are conflicting views, not surprisingly, on how successful Apple’s accessibility efforts with the iPhone are. Some laud Apple and AT&T for considering those with disabilities and providing growing options. Others feel that these features aren’t enough.

For example, Touchscreens, from the inability to feel buttons to supplying multiple levels of menuing, provide significant problems for those unable to see. See TechNewsWorld article “Is Technology Accessibility the New Green?.”

Again, like website accessibility, it is not always practical and feasible to make something for absolute everybody? The challenge is continuing to push the technology envelope in making cool and useful new innovations, while doing as much as possible to enable those with disabilities to enjoy the experience as well.

Does the iPhone have further to go? The answer seems to be yes, but I would say that Apple at least appears to take the subject of accessibility seriously, and all signs point to them doing better with future releases.

A sampling of differing viewpoints in the blogging world:

• Forget the iPhone: accessibility trumps trendiness from Computing Unplugged Magazine
• iPhone Accessibility: But Not For Me from ShellyBlog
• AT&T Intros iPhone Text Accessibility Plan; Phone Still Not Accessible to Blind Customers from Disability Nation

Tags: accessibility statement, apple, iphone, safari, sms, tactile buttons, text telephone, touchscreens, TTY, zoom