Parallel

Andrew Leland's memoir "The Country of the Blind" tells a story about his ongoing journey into vision loss. It's also a kind of history of blindness, and blindness technology, with stops along the way to unpack the literary deployments of vision loss by other writers. He talked with me about the book, about the technology he uses, and some of his encounters with people made uncomfortable by low-vision.

09-13

54:27

Even before ChatGPT brought AI into the mainstream of collective consciousness, companies touted artificial intelligence as a way to make your web site accessible – a magic bullet that meant web devs could skip the accessibility checks normally done by humans. And technologies like computer vision had brought AI into devices and image software. Today's guest has a few bones to pick with what marketers call AI, and some good things to say about computer vision.

07-20

44:07

My colleagues from the Maccessibility Roundtable join me for a conversation about Apple's Vision Pro and accessibility. We still don't know a lot, but be know more than we did an hour after the WWDC keynote.

06-20

47:15

Taking a look back at this year's Google I/O events, with an eye toward accessibility. Our favorite followers of the Goog are back! We talk AI, Android, Pixel phones and tablets, and how Google does its spectacle.

05-23

59:52

This week, Apple previewed accessibility features coming to the Mac and iOS. It's an annual event, which even sat briefly atop TechMeme. Want to know more about what Apple discussed and how these new features fit in with the existing accessibility suite? We've got you!

05-18

01:18:05

iOS developer Rob Whitaker returns to Parallel for a chat about APIs and tools developers can use to make their mobile apps more accessible.

04-25

48:40

Starting or maintaining a fitness program is a challenge for anyone. If you have accessibility needs, you might experience barriers related to touchscreen devices, coaching that doesn't address a hearing or visual disability, or a need for accommodations related to physical limitations. With its Fitness+ service, Apple has taken on some of these issues, and opened up the program to many more people with disabilities, We'll talk with a Fitness+ user, and someone who has worked on Apple accessibility teams.

04-11

43:01

Ten iOSes ago, I wrote a book called iOS Access for All. Here's how it has evolved over the years.

03-29

27:57

AppleVis, an excellent community of blind and visually-impaired Apple users, surveyed its members to get their thoughts on how well Apple's platforms provide accessibility. We talk over the survey, and add some impressions of our own.

03-14

01:23:22

What if you could design the experience of listening to Web content in the same way you design the experience of seeing it? That's the premise of the CSS Speech Module, a retired W3C proposal that's now being championed by my guest. She knows a thing or two about CSS and the W3C, as a member of the standards group's board of directors. So is CSS the way to design spoken experiences, or is it a hindrance for screen reader users? Let's talk about it.

02-15

36:13

We're talking automation - mostly on macOS, with developer Brett Terpstra and fellow automation fan Darcy Burnard.

10-26

01:07:47

The W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines – WCAG – is the standard against which Web developers test for accessibility. Like most good standards, WCAG is evolving, with a new release anticipated within a few months. We talk about what the 2.2 candidate includes, and what's next for this important standard.

09-27

01:02:11

Parallel is back from summer break, and glad to be! We gather to review Apple's latest hardware announcements: do we like them, do we want them, are they accessible? Behold, the iPhones 14, Apple Watch Ultra (and otherwise), and AirPods Pro, 2nd gen.

09-14

01:09:10