Den Sep 20, 2013 kl. 10:10 AM skrev Jonathan Mosen <[email protected]>:
Hi everyone, since I believe this is such a vital issue, and given that
it is 100% on-topic for this list, I would like to paste below an entry
I
just posted to my blog. I hope you enjoy it and that you'll give it some
thought.
People from all walks of life, not just blind people, can get extremely
partisan about their technology preferences. Anything their team does is
unquestionably wonderful, while anything another company does is
rubbish,
simply by virtue of the fact that it’s the other guys who did it. If you
criticise the company such people support, you’ve committed heresy.
As blind people, I don’t believe we have the luxury of being so
childish.
Unemployment is high. Misconceptions abound regarding how capable we can
be in the workplace, and in society as a whole. We need to be open to
all
solutions, and where possible, use the best mix of technology we can to
be as productive, functional and self-reliant as we can.
To be clear, I have enormous admiration for the way Apple has changed
the
game in assistive technology. When they released VoiceOver in 2009, I
was
concerned that Apple might do just enough to get people off its back
regarding the inaccessibility of the iPhone. But that has not been the
case. With every release, Apple has added tangible enhancements such as
alternative forms of input, innovative ways for us to use the camera,
and
so much more. So Apple’s commitment to accessibility is real, its
ongoing, and it has earned enormous praise and respect.
Is there a “but” coming? Yes, there is, actually., because being
grateful
for a product doesn’t mean we don’t have rights as paying consumers to
point out where a product falls short. But more than that, if Apple’s
innovations risk killing off a category of product, and the literacy of
our kids is threatened, we have a moral obligation to speak up
constructively and ask Apple to engage with us as a community about
fixing the issue.
The Internet is buzzing with reports of bugs in iOS 7. I’m not unduly
concerned about most of these, because I believe the majority of them
will come out in the wash. iOS 7 was a massive refactoring of the OS. I
hope that there’ll be fixes released steadily across the coming year.
However, I am deeply troubled by Apple’s ongoing apparent failure to
understand what constitutes Braille support of an appropriate quality.
We’re not talking bugs in this case, we’re talking a fundamental user
interface failure – a feature not fully fit for purpose.
Since Braille was introduced in iOS, it has supported contracted Braille
in English markets. This is a means by which space is saved, and speed
increased, by using a series of symbols and abbreviations. When one
reads
contracted Braille in iOS, it works quite well. When one rights it, it
is
the worst implementation of contracted input I’ve ever used on any
device.
Since its inception, if you input a letter in contracted Braille which
would be the abbreviation for a word if surrounded by spaces, iOS
expands
the word it represents if you pause for a short time before inputting
the
next character. For example, write “p” and it will quickly be expanded
to
the word “people”. If you are proofing a document you’ve brailled and
wish to insert a letter in the middle of a word, you must preface the
letter with a letter sign, dots 5-6, to prevent it from being expanded.
This is not in accordance with the Braille code and is simply wrong.
Apple must surely know about this poor implementation. It’s been talked
about in many forums, including an excellent presentation by Judy Dixon
at the CSUN Technology Conference on Persons with Disabilities. I, and
I’m sure others, have also raised it.
It’s also evident that Apple knows about the issues, because to its
credit, it appears to at least have made an effort to try and fix the
problem in iOS 7. It now offers an “Automatic Braille Translation”
toggle. This feature is so below par compared with most of the design of
all other VoiceOver features, that it must surely be the case that Apple
is getting no advice, or poor advice, from anyone actually using Braille
in their daily life.
When you toggle “Automatic Braille Translation” off, you can take as
long
as you wish when inputting characters, and they’re not back-translated.
Isn’t that what we want? Well yes, it would appear to be a step in the
right direction. Except when you use it, you find that Braille is not
readable on the display until you either press the space bar, or dots
4-5-cord. Why Apple believes this is acceptable, I have no idea. Can you
imagine a sighted person finding it acceptable in any other scenario
other than password entry, to not be able to look at what they’re
entering until they press “Space”?
But it’s worse than that. If you backspace over what you’ve typed, you
run into back-translation issues similar to those experienced when
automatic translation is set to on.
Additionally, having to press dots 4-5-cord after inserting a letter in
the middle of a word is counterintuitive, and again, an implementation
far more primitive than anything else that offers contracted input.
Apple
seems to have implemented a pretty crude buffer, that is simply dumped
when you type one of two commands to empty it. That is not a solution.
The Braille implementation in iOS does not meet the “it’s intuitive and
it just works” test that has been the hallmark of Apple products
including VoiceOver.
Now if it were just about us as Braille reading adults, I wouldn’t
bother
writing this post. It would get on my nerves, but I’d continue to work
around it and just put it down to a bizarre, less than optimal
implementation. I’m not writing this for me. I’m not asking blind
people,
and the world’s consumer organisations, to come together on this for me
or people like me. I’m writing this for the kids. It’s the kids who
matter.
If you’re a Braille user, you’ll have seen the implementation of Nemeth
in iOS 7. It’s there because Apple’s going after the education market,
particularly in the US. Good for Apple. I can see enormous benefit in a
kid being given an iPad and a Braille display for use at home and in
school. Don’t underestimate how mainstream tech can be a great way to
help blind kids blend in with sighted kids. Parents feel more empowered,
because the iPad is technology they know and understand, so when the
child gets in trouble at home, they can help out. Classroom teachers in
mainstream schools know what an iPad is as well and feel similarly
empowered.
But all of these benefits have to be secondary considerations to the one
that matters above all else, – equipping our kids with good Braille
literacy skills. Braille is their ticket to higher education. Braille
offers a greater chance of gainful employment. Braille is absolutely
critical, and Braille is not to be trifled with. Half-baked Braille
solutions are not appropriate for our kids when there’s a crisis in
getting Braille instruction to them already.
We should not expect our kids to have to learn to work-around Apple’s
poor implementation, we should expect Apple to fix its Braille.
For the last 20 years or so, blind kids have increasingly used
proprietary notetaker technology. I’ve no problem whatsoever with
technology moving on, and a category of product becoming obsolete. I
love
the idea of investing in a good Braille display that will last you for
years, and upgrading the technology that drives the display on a more
regular basis. But that technology has to do the Braille properly.
There are cost savings to be made by cash-strapped agencies who purchase
equipment for blind children, and that’s also why I’m writing this post.
I can see bean-counters concluding that the combination of an iPad and a
Braille display is a good solution for kids now. Many of these
purchasers
are not Braille users themselves, and I believe we have a duty of care
to
our kids to spread the word that Apple is not there yet. It is trying,
and should be applauded for doing so, but still, it’s not there.
You will remember the huge backlash caused by the initial release of
Apple Maps in iOS 6. In terms of fitness for purpose, Apple Maps was far
superior at release than Braille is now. The only difference is that
Braille affects a tiny fraction of Apple’s user-base, not hundreds of
millions of people.
Lest anyone think I’m whining without a solution, I actually know a lot
about this subject, having worked as a product manager with a range of
products that use contracted Braille. I have a good feel for where Apple
has got it wrong and what it might do to fix it, while not of course
being familiar with the VoiceOver code. But I am absolutely confident
that it’s fixable. Let’s not forget, Apple invented a way for blind
people to make effective use of touch screens. Apple gave us unimagined
access to taking photos. It is certainly not beyond Apple to look at
best
practice and figure this one out, because unlike some of the other
things
it’s done, the solutions already exist.
If this poor-quality support had been offered to us by an assistive
technology company, we’d have jumped all over it long before now. But
given that Apple develops screen readers, that makes it both a
mainstream
technology company, and an assistive technology company. We should hold
it to no less a standard.
Having outlined the problem, here’s what I think needs to happen.
Typically, I’d suggest that Apple needs to engage with the community
with
a view to fixing these issues for the sake of our kids, but that’s not
really been its style. It is secretive by nature. In that case then, it
needs to buy the expertise to make Braille truly viable in the education
market.
As Braille readers, we need to politely articulate the problems to
Apple,
and let Apple know we consider it important that they are fixed.
Consumer organisations should do what they’ve done so many times before,
and focus on their unity when it comes to Braille issues. A
broad-coalition of consumers, educators and parents needs to ensure this
issue is not allowed to drop.
And finally, no one in charge of any purse strings should consider it an
appropriate solution to give a kid an iPad in the classroom if they’re a
Braille user. If purchasers want to move away from the blindness
notetaker, and I get that, a laptop and Braille display is a far better
solution in terms of Braille reliability and consistency.
I’ll be the first to cheer loudly, and sing Apple’s praises, if it fixes
its Braille. And I’ll continue to praise all it has done right, which I
often do in media interviews and blindness tech forums. But please, for
the sake of the kids, lets do what we need to do to advocate for good
quality Braille on Apple devices. We have a duty to the next generation
to do no less.
I’ve done what I can as an individual to make Apple aware of these
failings, but clearly, we need to do more to help it gain an
appreciation
of why this is so important.
Jonathan Mosen
Mosen Consulting
Blindness technology eBooks, tutorials and training
http://Mosen.org
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