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I thought so too at first, but in hindsight this is a bad take. Pinch-to-zoom was revolutionary for people with low vision. VoiceOver was revolutionary for peo

I thought so too at first, but in hindsight this is a bad take. Pinch-to-zoom was revolutionary for people with low vision. VoiceOver was revolutionary for people with no vision. Blind people ended up being early adopters of iPhones because of how much better the UX is compared to phones with physical controls, where memorization of the controls and menus is much more necessary. The flexibility of UI enabled by touchscreens was revolutionary for people with dexterity and cognitive issues. See the Assistive Access feature, for example, which has made Jitterbug phones obsolete for many people. Touchscreens not responding to dry skin is a real problem, though I’ve only ever seen that on cheap hardware. Testing the device is obviously necessary. I still want physical controls for simple and common cases, such as the vents in my car. But I now think of them more in terms of convenience and safety rather than accessibility.

croes 2y ago
Good for them, bad for everyone else.
joe_the_user 2y ago
I'm a caregiver for a couple people with dexterity and cognitive issues and I'm pretty sure a physical button is the absolutely simplest thing for them as much as for anyone else. And sure, an Ipad definitely can solve some accessible issues for some things but my clients watch things on TVs and monitors rather than Ipads (even when they have them). But more to the point, I love my clients and friends with such issues but they don't drive and shouldn't drive.
- sholladay 2y ago
  I wasn’t suggesting anything about driving. I brought up the car as an example of where, yes, touchscreens have gone too far and physical controls are often preferable. TV remotes are among the most inaccessible consumer electronics devices. They can be made much better with a touchpad or a phone app or even a voice assistant. It’s still nice to have physical volume controls, of course.
  - skydhash 2y ago
    The apple tv is a nightmare to use. First, the form factor with its sharp edges. Then, the swipable area, which I had to disable. In comparison, my AVR receiver is way better: soft keys with good travel, great tacticle recognition, fit well in the hand, and practically impossible to lose. It’s not as beautiful, but it’s very practical.
    - sholladay 2y ago
      If you have an iPhone, go into Settings > Control Center and add the Apple TV Remote to the list. Now your phone can act as a remote. Just swipe down from the top right to access the control center and tap the TV remote icon. I personally like the blocky design, but a phone case can make the edges very rounded if you like that. And of course the touchpad is much improved with it being on your phone screen compared to the physical remote.
- saltcured 2y ago
  I have a relative with dementia who still has enough volition to want to call people and chat. It's been eye opening to see how fluctuating abilities impact use of the smartphone UX. Periodically, I have to remind them to turn their volume up when they complain they cannot hear me. Their grip on the phone can inadvertently hold the "volume down" button. Their reduced motor control mixes up tap versus long press and accidentally triggers all kinds of functions. I've seen the home screen littered with shortcuts accidentally created in this manner. Somehow, they periodically managed to call me, put me on hold, and call me again. I'm sure this was not intentional, but the rapid replacement of on-screen buttons causes different functions to be activated without any real awareness of what is happening. The "Emergency" button on a locked phone screen can be misunderstood as a sign of danger. The random assignment of a color icon to names on a recent calls list, contact list, or favorites list can be misinterpreted as some kind of message about the health of that named individual. I tried to disable emergency alerts, but I fear the chaos at the care home if an emergency alert comes through and triggers that horrible alert siren.
  - Brian_K_White 2y ago
    All of this. It really makes you wonder, and by that I mean it really makes me think unflattering things, about the monoculture of 26 year old infants who designed and built all of this.
    - thrway01234 2y ago
      Design over function If they would see beyond their own circle of friends and hire someone with varied life experience, the business may actually benefit. It's the same people who put charging ports under the mouse so that you can't use it while it is charging. Otherwise the consumers could choose to have it always plugged in, which would make it look like an "ordinary" mouse, and the designers can't allow that :-)
  - thrway01234 2y ago
    I don't have any experience with this, but I know that some phone brands (like Doro) exists for elderly people https://www.doro.com/en-us/ https://www.doro.com/en-us/
thrway01234 2y ago
There are some cases where you actually need physical controls. One example is card payment terminals. Vision impaired users don't know where the buttons are for entering the pin code. On a phone they could allow the phone to read out numbers, but you don't want your pin numbers to be read out loud in a public space.
- sholladay 2y ago
  Once again, VoiceOver + Apple Pay blows them all out of the water. No secret numbers need to be read out loud, including your phone passcode if you use Face ID. And even if you don’t have Face ID set up, earbuds can be used. There’s so much misunderstanding of what it’s like to be vision impaired here and what solutions are available for common tasks.

croes 2y ago

Good for them, bad for everyone else.

joe_the_user 2y ago

I'm a caregiver for a couple people with dexterity and cognitive issues and I'm pretty sure a physical button is the absolutely simplest thing for them as much as for anyone else. And sure, an Ipad definitely can solve some accessible issues for some things but my clients watch things on TVs and monitors rather than Ipads (even when they have them). But more to the point, I love my clients and friends with such issues but they don't drive and shouldn't drive.

sholladay 2y ago
I wasn’t suggesting anything about driving. I brought up the car as an example of where, yes, touchscreens have gone too far and physical controls are often preferable. TV remotes are among the most inaccessible consumer electronics devices. They can be made much better with a touchpad or a phone app or even a voice assistant. It’s still nice to have physical volume controls, of course.
- skydhash 2y ago
  The apple tv is a nightmare to use. First, the form factor with its sharp edges. Then, the swipable area, which I had to disable. In comparison, my AVR receiver is way better: soft keys with good travel, great tacticle recognition, fit well in the hand, and practically impossible to lose. It’s not as beautiful, but it’s very practical.
  - sholladay 2y ago
    If you have an iPhone, go into Settings > Control Center and add the Apple TV Remote to the list. Now your phone can act as a remote. Just swipe down from the top right to access the control center and tap the TV remote icon. I personally like the blocky design, but a phone case can make the edges very rounded if you like that. And of course the touchpad is much improved with it being on your phone screen compared to the physical remote.
saltcured 2y ago
I have a relative with dementia who still has enough volition to want to call people and chat. It's been eye opening to see how fluctuating abilities impact use of the smartphone UX. Periodically, I have to remind them to turn their volume up when they complain they cannot hear me. Their grip on the phone can inadvertently hold the "volume down" button. Their reduced motor control mixes up tap versus long press and accidentally triggers all kinds of functions. I've seen the home screen littered with shortcuts accidentally created in this manner. Somehow, they periodically managed to call me, put me on hold, and call me again. I'm sure this was not intentional, but the rapid replacement of on-screen buttons causes different functions to be activated without any real awareness of what is happening. The "Emergency" button on a locked phone screen can be misunderstood as a sign of danger. The random assignment of a color icon to names on a recent calls list, contact list, or favorites list can be misinterpreted as some kind of message about the health of that named individual. I tried to disable emergency alerts, but I fear the chaos at the care home if an emergency alert comes through and triggers that horrible alert siren.
- Brian_K_White 2y ago
  All of this. It really makes you wonder, and by that I mean it really makes me think unflattering things, about the monoculture of 26 year old infants who designed and built all of this.
  - thrway01234 2y ago
    Design over function If they would see beyond their own circle of friends and hire someone with varied life experience, the business may actually benefit. It's the same people who put charging ports under the mouse so that you can't use it while it is charging. Otherwise the consumers could choose to have it always plugged in, which would make it look like an "ordinary" mouse, and the designers can't allow that :-)
- thrway01234 2y ago
  I don't have any experience with this, but I know that some phone brands (like Doro) exists for elderly people https://www.doro.com/en-us/ https://www.doro.com/en-us/

thrway01234 2y ago

There are some cases where you actually need physical controls. One example is card payment terminals. Vision impaired users don't know where the buttons are for entering the pin code. On a phone they could allow the phone to read out numbers, but you don't want your pin numbers to be read out loud in a public space.

sholladay 2y ago
Once again, VoiceOver + Apple Pay blows them all out of the water. No secret numbers need to be read out loud, including your phone passcode if you use Face ID. And even if you don’t have Face ID set up, earbuds can be used. There’s so much misunderstanding of what it’s like to be vision impaired here and what solutions are available for common tasks.