4 ms·

My daughter who has Fragile X Syndrome, has used an iPod touch for years now. She's 14, and reads at about a grade one level. Between the screen reader that wil

My daughter who has Fragile X Syndrome, has used an iPod touch for years now. She's 14, and reads at about a grade one level. Between the screen reader that will read articles, texts and almost anything else on the screen, and the predictive typing and dictation, the iPod is an incredible device for her. She has an Android phone, but it's not even close in terms of the accessibility options provided. Apple is excellent in this regard.

component 10y ago
There's an iOS accessibility engineer who's blind [1]. It's amazing how dedicated they are on accessibility features [1] http://mashable.com/2016/07/10/apple-innovation-blind-engineer/ http://mashable.com/2016/07/10/apple-innovation-blind-engine...
- d4l3k 10y ago
  There's also a blind Android accessibility engineer at Google. The differences probably come more from the splintered android landscape and Apple's stricter review process. Source: met him
  - canes123456 10y ago
    I don't think the review process matters because their plenty of apps that don't support voice over at all on ios. I think it comes down to apple supporting it much earlier and advocating for it. More blind people started using iOS and then support for apps started getting better.
    - derefr 10y ago
      A major difference (that the review process could influence) is that iOS apps seem to be pushed toward using native controls whenever possible (or abstraction libraries atop those controls), where Android tends to have a lot of custom controls. The native OS controls have very good accessibility, so the average iOS app (which leans heavily on native controls) should be more accessible than the average Android app (which doesn't.)
zulln 10y ago
> She has an Android phone, but it's not even close in terms of the accessibility options provided. Anything except the price that made you/her go with an Android as phone?
- james_pm 10y ago
  Just price. $100 for the phone (Moto E) makes it less painful if she loses it. The cost difference between the iPod and the iPhone is a bit steep so the Android phone provides emergency connectivity on the go.

component 10y ago

There's an iOS accessibility engineer who's blind [1]. It's amazing how dedicated they are on accessibility features [1] http://mashable.com/2016/07/10/apple-innovation-blind-engineer/ http://mashable.com/2016/07/10/apple-innovation-blind-engine...

d4l3k 10y ago
There's also a blind Android accessibility engineer at Google. The differences probably come more from the splintered android landscape and Apple's stricter review process. Source: met him
- canes123456 10y ago
  I don't think the review process matters because their plenty of apps that don't support voice over at all on ios. I think it comes down to apple supporting it much earlier and advocating for it. More blind people started using iOS and then support for apps started getting better.
  - derefr 10y ago
    A major difference (that the review process could influence) is that iOS apps seem to be pushed toward using native controls whenever possible (or abstraction libraries atop those controls), where Android tends to have a lot of custom controls. The native OS controls have very good accessibility, so the average iOS app (which leans heavily on native controls) should be more accessible than the average Android app (which doesn't.)

zulln 10y ago

> She has an Android phone, but it's not even close in terms of the accessibility options provided. Anything except the price that made you/her go with an Android as phone?

james_pm 10y ago
Just price. $100 for the phone (Moto E) makes it less painful if she loses it. The cost difference between the iPod and the iPhone is a bit steep so the Android phone provides emergency connectivity on the go.