Assistivetechnology Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Omnifer adds Braille, makes iPad useful for the blind

by Dave Caolo (Aug 15th, 2011)

Here's an interesting concept for a case meant to make the iPad usable for blind and visually impaired customers. The Omnifer almost covers the iPad completely, save for a small portion of the screen, and adds raised Braille buttons. What's really cool is that the Omnifer is more than Braille ...

Apple enables 'Assistive Touch' features on iPad in latest iOS 5 beta

by Michael Grothaus (Jul 11th, 2011)

Apple has enabled a very cool feature for iPad users in the latest beta of iOS 5. "Assistive Touch" allows users to perform gestures and button actions on the iPad with one touch. Users can call up the Assistive Touch menu by tapping a designated corner of the iPad's screen. The menu itself is ...

Macworld 2011: Expressive helps the speech impaired learn and communicate

by David Winograd (Jan 28th, 2011)

Speech therapist Barbrara Fernandez founded Smarty-Ears apps last January and has since created over 15 apps for the field. I spoke to her about Expressive (US$29.95) an augmentative-alternative communication (AAC) app that at first seems similar to the much more expensive Proloquo2Go, but it serves ...

Rep. Giffords' recovery includes the iPad

by Michael Rose (Jan 20th, 2011)

As reported by Reuters earlier today, the ongoing recovery and rehabilitation of wounded Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has progressed very well since the tragic and deadly assault at her event 12 days ago. Dr. Michael Lemole, the chief of neurology at Tucson's University Medical Center, ...

iPads bring accessibility to the disabled at a far lower cost

by David Winograd (Nov 4th, 2010)

It's only been half a year since its introduction, but the iPad has already become a major player in the field of assistive technology, helping disabled people communicate. A number of studies are underway (and many more are in the planning stages) to offer much-needed data on the effectiveness of ...

Proloquo2Go gets a major update

by David Winograd (Sep 13th, 2010)

Proloquo2Go (US$189.99) is the most fully featured augmentative and alternative communication device (AAC) we've yet covered. It provides iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad owners who do not have the ability to speak well enough to be understood (and that number is estimated to be 2.5 million Americans ...

Helping autistic children with iOS devices

by David Winograd (Aug 18th, 2010)

Autism is a developmental brain disorder that, in some manner, plagues one out of every 110 children (according to the Centers for Disease Control). It's usually discovered by the time the child is three years old. Varying medical and scientific authorities characterize the condition in ...

Digit-Eyes identfies everything for the blind without breaking the bank

by David Winograd (Jul 31st, 2010)

The Digit-Eyes Audio Scanner and Labeler (US$29.95) from Digital Miracles is a remarkable Assistive Technology (AT) app for the iPhone and iPod touch geared to the blind and visually impaired community. What it does is fairly straightforward once you get the big idea, but the implications of its ...

Video relay calling breakthrough uses FaceTime to help the deaf

by David Winograd (Jul 14th, 2010)

In the past, the only way for the hearing impaired to communicate was either in person or by way of the TTY (teletypewriter); the TTY is a device that's about as large as a laptop computer, and it allows the hard of hearing to type on a QWERTY keyboard and have the communication transferred. ...

The AutoVerbal Talking Soundboard speaks for those who can't

by David Winograd (Jun 16th, 2010)

The AutoVerbal Talking Soundboard (US$0.99 for the next few weeks) is the latest in the growing field of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices available for the iPhone, iPod touch and (best of all) the iPad. An AAC device allows the autistic or vocally challenged to communicate ...

The iPad could be the best mobile accessibility device on the market

by David Winograd (Jun 1st, 2010)

In 1995 Dr. Norman Coombs, a blind professor of history at the Rochester Institute of Technology and chairman of EASI: Equal Access to Software and Information wrote that the rapid adoption of a graphical user interface (GUI) would close the door on computing for the visually impaired. This was in ...

Proloquo2Go: Assistive communication for the iPhone and iPod touch

by David Winograd (Oct 21st, 2009)

Proloquo2Go [iTunes Link] is not your usual iPhone/iPod touch app. It turns the mobile device into a full augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device. According to the AAC Institute, an estimated 2.5 million Americans are speech disabled to the extent that they experience significant ...

Buy an ad here