passing this along as some interesting info in this
Begin forwarded message: From: Jessica Moss <[email protected]> Date: September 17, 2012 6:50:15 PM CDT To: The Accessible Phones Discussion List <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Accessible-iOS FWD:Warning about new IOS6 accessibility Reply-To: The Accessible Phones Discussion List <[email protected]> I really appreciate that as well. A friend of mine sent me a link to this app from "Braille Institute," called "Via," that I like a lot that cadagorizes the apps designed for the blind/vi to downlode to the ios devices, and I like it a lot better than trying to use the app store, sense I don't have to weed through all the other stuff and find out if it's going to be accessible or not, and there's usually a good bit of info on how vo-friendly an app is. So for the time-being, that could be a good alternative that we could all use until this gets straightened out. On Sep 17, 2012, at 3:18 PM, Christopher Chaltain wrote: > I assume this originated on the AppleVis site. I appreciate the original > article. The only thing I wish they'd stated in the original article was > what steps they'd taken to make Apple aware of the problem. I'm sure > they've notified Apple, but it would have been good to see that > documented in the article. > > On 17/09/12 14:04, Wahid Raza wrote: >> Hi all, >> hope all are doing fine >> pasting below an important article, which get from another site. >> Regards >> Wahid >> >> >> Submitted by David on 16 September 2012 >> >> >> >> As you should be aware, our stated policy is to allow no postings on >> this site which would be a breach of Apple's Non Disclosure Agreement. >> Essentially, this Agreement places legal restrictions on what can be >> publicly revealed about beta versions of Apple software. >> >> Posting specific and detailed information about iOS 6 before it is >> released to the public on 19 September would in most cases be a breach >> of this Agreement, and could place you at risk of legal action by >> Apple. However, we have been alerted to a significant accessibility >> issue that is likely to be present in iOS 6, and we believe that with >> the public release just a few days away, we would be failing the >> community if we did not issue a warning. >> >> There are likely to be some who will condemn our decision. All that we >> can say is that it is not something we have done lightly and without >> much discussion. >> >> Here is the problem as we understand it: >> >> At the time of writing, the App Store app is virtually unusable with >> VoiceOver on the version of iOS 6 that was released to developers last >> week. This release is commonly referred to as the Gold Master, and is >> effectively the final version. >> >> This problem has been reported and replicated by several iPhone users. >> We are unable to confirm whether the same problem exists on the iPad. >> >> The App Store app has been significantly rewritten for iOS 6, with >> changes made to the way that content is displayed and navigated. >> >> There are 5 tabs in the app: >> >> Featured >> Top Charts >> Genius >> Search >> Updates >> >> Of these, only the Updates tab appears to be fully accessible with VoiceOver. >> >> Results on the Search tab are no longer displayed as a vertical list. >> Instead, each app is displayed on its own page. When not using >> VoiceOver, you flick to the left or right to navigate through the >> search results. This allows for more information about each app to be >> shown. We assume that it is also considered to be more visually >> appealing and engaging. >> >> When using VoiceOver, only the first search result is easily >> accessible. If you swipe right through the first search result, >> VoiceOver will read subsequent results in much the same way that it >> always has. However, visually, the screen is still displaying the >> first result, and double-tapping on the name of subsequent apps will >> achieve nothing. >> >> Each page in the search results indicates what page it is - 1 of 250 >> for example. However, this is only recognized by VoiceOver on the >> first page if you tap directly on it or swipe left from the bottom bar >> of tab buttons. Although this element might seem similar to the one >> present on your iDevice's home screen, it cannot be used with >> VoiceOver to move between pages. >> >> To date, the only gesture that appears to work to move between pages >> is the following - double-tap and hold with one finger. Whilst keeping >> that finger pressed to the screen, use a second finger to flick left >> or right across the screen. This is not a gesture that is likely to be >> intuitive to many VoiceOver users, and reports say that it can be >> difficult to action consistently. >> >> The Genius tab exhibits the same problem. Again, suggested apps are >> displayed one per page, and you cannot easily navigate to other pages >> with VoiceOver. >> >> A further issue in this section is the page element used to indicate >> that you are not interested in a suggestion. Apart from not being >> reported by VoiceOver as an active page element, it gives no feedback >> on its selection status. >> >> In the Top Charts tab, apps are listed in the more traditional >> vertical list format. However, this does not automatically scroll as >> you swipe through the list, meaning that only the first 4 apps are >> ever visually displayed on screen and accessible with VoiceOver. This >> makes it impossible to browse charts or app categories. We are unaware >> of any gesture that will work to gain access to apps below the first 4 >> in the list. >> >> On the Featured tab are three rows of apps. Each has a small thumbnail >> icon, along with its name, category and price. When not using >> VoiceOver, you use you finger to slide this row of icons across the >> screen and reveal more apps. This cannot be done with VoiceOver. >> Instead, when you swipe through the row of apps, VoiceOver will >> announce the four which are visually being shown on screen, and the >> last right swipe will have focus jump back to the very first app. >> Because of this, only by exploring the screen with your finger will >> you learn that there are 2 further rows of apps and other items >> further down the page.. >> >> It is not easy to explain in writing the nature and scope of these >> problems. If they have not been fixed before the final version of iOS >> 6 is released, we hope to have available a podcast demonstration. >> >> The App Store app in iOS is different to most other native apps, in >> that it is not hard-coded into iOS. The main content area of the app >> is delivered dynamically from Apple's servers, meaning that they can >> make changes at any time to how this content is displayed and >> navigated. As a result, the accessibility issues described above could >> be fixed without the need for an update to iOS itself. >> >> It is likely that Apple are working to do this right now, and it is >> possible that it will be fixed by the time the public release of iOS 6 >> becomes available. If not, you should bear in mind before updating >> that you will no longer have access to most features of the App Store >> directly from your iDevice. For those who only ever access the App >> Store this way, it means that in many instances you will have to use >> iTunes on your Mac or PC. >> >> Like everybody else, we hope that the problem can and will be fixed >> before the public release of iOS 6. However, if that doesn't happen, >> we want people to be able to make an informed decision about updating >> on Wednesday. Waiting until Wednesday to post a warning would mean >> that many people would have updated before they knew of this potential >> problem. >> >> We would also like to mention that people were already posting to our >> forum about this problem, and we had been deleting these posts. This >> situation was not tenable, as we simply couldn't remove those posts >> before some people had read them. We either had to close the forum >> until Wednesday, allow those posts to remain, or take a position on >> this problem ourselves. The rest, as they say, is history. >> >> We will be sure to let you know as soon as this problem is fixed. >> >> Remember, we do not know if it will be present on the iPad. >> >> >> http://www.applevis.com >> >> ----- >> > > -- > Christopher (CJ) > chaltain at Gmail > You received this message because you subscribed to the Accessible Phones > Discussion List. > > If you don't want to receive messages from this list anymore, just send a > blank e-mail to: > [email protected] > You received this message because you subscribed to the Accessible Phones Discussion List. If you don't want to receive messages from this list anymore, just send a blank e-mail to: [email protected]
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