[real-eyes] Re: Correspondence With Apple About Accessibility
- From: "Kimberly A. Morrow, PhD" <morrowka@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "'real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'" <real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2011 18:03:24 +0000
I really appreciated this article. If anything, the Itunes Store needs to
indicate whether or not an app is accessible via voice over. I cannot count the
number of times I have purchased an app, only to discover that I cannot use it.
This alone would go a long way.
Kimberly A. Morrow, PhD
Communications Specialist
Unity
Message of Hope Ministry
1901 NW Blue Parkway
Unity Village, MO 64065
Toll Free: 866-421-3066
Local: 816-251-3588
M-F, 7:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (CT)
www.unity.org
-----Original Message-----
From: real-eyes-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:real-eyes-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Claudia
Sent: Monday, September 26, 2011 12:37 PM
To: real-eyes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [real-eyes] Correspondence With Apple About Accessibility
This is just a little something I thought you'd like to see how the NFB is
working with Apple and I think it also shows that the NFB is really tackling
issues that are relevant to what is going on in the world today.
Everette Bacon
>>> "Curtis Chong" <curtischong@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> <mailto:curtischong%40earthlink.net>> 9/25/2011 10:12 AM >>>
Greetings:
On September 10, 2011, I sent an email to Apple regarding Resolution 2011-03,
passed at this year's National Federation of the Blind Convention.
As you may know, Resolution 2011-03 expresses disappointment with Apple for
permitting applications to be released which contains controls that are not
accessible to VoiceOver users and calls upon Apple to work with the National
Federation of the Blind to develop a set of requirements for accessibility.
The key word here is "requirements." There is little doubt that Apple has done
an excellent job of educating and encouraging app developers to incorporate
accessibility features into their software. Apple is also making a change, to
be released with iOS 5, which allows the end user to apply custom labels to
user interface elements so that VoiceOver can identify them. It is also evident
that many app developers are responding affirmatively to Apple's efforts and
are voluntarily incorporating accessibility features into their software. There
is, however, some disagreement about whether or not it is appropriate to impose
requirements of any form which compel app developers to do the right thing.
What the resolution says is that Apple is clearly not shy about imposing other
requirements before permitting apps to be released. Why not negotiate with the
blind to come up with a set of requirements for accessibility?
In any case, here is the chain of correspondence, presented in chronological
order, for your information.
Yours sincerely,
Curtis Chong, President
National Federation of the Blind in Computer Science
From: Curtis Chong
Sent: Saturday, September 10, 2011 10:30 AM
To: Chris Becherer; Sarah Herrlinger
Subject: NFB Resolution Regarding the Lack of Accessibility Requirements in
Apple Products
Dear Chris and Sarah:
On July 7, 2011, at its 71st annual convention, the National Federation of the
Blind adopted Resolution 2011-03 (copy attached). In summary, this resolution
express its "frustration and deep disappointment with Apple for allowing the
release of applications that contain icons, buttons, and other controls that
cannot be identified by the blind user of VoiceOver, thereby rendering them
nonvisually inaccessible."
This is a follow up to my correspondence with the two of you earlier this year
in which I indicated that this issue would be considered by the National
Federation of the Blind at its national convention. As you see, the convention
did consider this issue, and did decide to pass the attached resolution.
I sincerely hope that Apple will consider the points raised in the attached
resolution and take meaningful action to address the concerns it raises.
Thank you kindly for your attention to this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Curtis Chong, President
National Federation of the Blind in Computer Science
Resolution 2011-03
Regarding the Lack of Accessibility Requirements in Apple Products
WHEREAS, Apple has made VoiceOver, a free and powerful screen access program,
an integral part of many of its products, including the Apple Macintosh, the
iPhone, the iPod Touch, Apple TV, and the iPad; and
WHEREAS, VoiceOver has the potential of offering unprecedented nonvisual access
to thousands, if not tens of thousands, of applications that are today
available for these platforms; and
WHEREAS, through presentations at developer conferences, specific guidance
issued through programming guides, and application programming interfaces that
are simple to implement, Apple has made it relatively easy for application
developers to incorporate basic accessibility features in their programs for
VoiceOver users; and
WHEREAS, Apple has clearly stated its desire to provide accessible products to
blind people and has even received an award from the National Federation of the
Blind for its work in making its products accessible to the blind; and
WHEREAS, despite Apple's efforts to encourage accessibility by such examples as
publishing a wealth of information providing clear and unambiguous guidance to
application developers to help them make their software accessible to VoiceOver
users, too many applications are still not accessible to the blind because of
buttons that are not properly labeled, icons whose meanings cannot be
understood, and images of text which VoiceOver cannot interpret; and
WHEREAS, one example of an application with controls that are not accessible to
the blind is the AT&T Navigator, which contains several screens with buttons
that VoiceOver identifies only as "Button"; and
WHEREAS, labeling buttons, menus, checkboxes, and other controls so that
VoiceOver can identify them is neither a technological impossibility nor an
unreasonably costly effort, and even the most visually intensive application
should have menus, buttons, and other controls that can be operated
nonvisually; and
WHEREAS, Apple is not shy about placing requirements and prohibitions on
application developers: for example, developers who use their applications to
sell products must turn over a percentage of their sales to Apple, and
application developers cannot display an application-specific desktop; and
WHEREAS, regrettably Apple does not require application developers to make
their applications accessible to users of its VoiceOver program; and
WHEREAS, accessibility to all users of Apple products should be as important as
the other criteria on which Apple bases its decisions to accept or reject
applications: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled
this seventh day of July, 2011, in the city of Orlando, Florida, that this
organization express its frustration and deep disappointment with Apple for
allowing the release of applications that contain icons, buttons, and other
controls that cannot be identified by the blind user of VoiceOver, thereby
rendering them nonvisually inaccessible; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge Apple, in the strongest
possible terms, to work with the National Federation of the Blind to create and
enforce a set of requirements for accessibility that will, at a minimum, compel
application developers to label buttons, menus, icons, selection lists,
checkboxes, and other controls so that VoiceOver users can identify and operate
them.
From: Sarah Herrlinger
Sent: Friday, September 23, 2011 12:22 PM
To: Curtis Chong
Cc: Chris Becherer
Subject: Re: NFB Resolution Regarding the Lack of Accessibility Requirements in
Apple Products
Dear Curtis,
Apologies for the delayed response -- I've been on vacation for the last 2
weeks.
Thank you very much for sending this on. As always, we greatly appreciate the
NFB's feedback and will continue to share this with both the App Store and the
Accessibility teams.
We'd like to reiterate some of the previous points made as well as to bring you
up to speed on some recent additions:
1) The iOS SDK has the basic foundation for making apps VoiceOver-compatible
built directly into the source code.
2) Late last year, we sent out an article to every registered iOS developer on
the ease and value of making apps VoiceOver compatible including links to the
Accessibility Programming Guide.
3) For the last three Apple Worldwide Developers Conferences, we've run
multiple sessions and follow-up labs on making applications VoiceOver
compatible for both the Mac and iOS devices that have been very well attended.
4) Since then, our Developer Relations team has worked one on one with
developers to continually educate them on the importance of accessibility and
provide tips, documentation, links to videos, code examples and examples of
other developers who have had great success with making their apps accessible
all in an effort to make it as easy as possible for them to ensure their apps
are compatible with VoiceOver.
5) We've added a new VoiceOver feature in our upcoming release of iOS 5 that
allows users to apply custom labels to UI elements in their favorite
third-party apps. This way, even if the developer has not labeled their buttons
in a VoiceOver-compatible way, users have the ability to do this directly. This
won't slow our efforts encouraging developers to build compatible apps using
all the strategies outlined above, but we think it will be a really useful
feature for VoiceOver users.
We will continue to invest time and resources into educating our developer
community about accessibility in general, and specifically messaging what they
can do to ensure their apps are compatible with VoiceOver.
Thank you again for your continued support,
Sarah
From: Curtis Chong
Sent: Saturday, September 24, 2011 5:41 PM
To: Sarah Herrlinger
Cc: Chris Becherer
Subject: RE: NFB Resolution Regarding the Lack of Accessibility Requirements in
Apple Products
Dear Sarah:
Thank you for your September 23, 2011 response to my email. I very much
appreciate your willingness to keep our lines of communication open.
In your response, you mention some very encouraging aspects of Apple's efforts
to promote accessibility and VoiceOver compatibility, among them:
1. that the iOS SDK has the basic foundation for making apps
VoiceOver-compatible built directly into the source code;
2. that late last year, you sent out an article to every registered iOS
developer on the ease and value of making apps VoiceOver compatible including
links to the Accessibility Programming Guide;
3. that during the last three Apple Worldwide Developers Conferences, you ran
multiple sessions and follow-up labs on making applications VoiceOver
compatible for both the Mac and iOS devices--sessions that were very well
attended; and
4. that since then, your Developer Relations team has worked one on one with
developers to continually educate them on the importance of accessibility and
provide tips, documentation, links to videos, code examples and examples of
other developers who have had great success with making their apps
accessible--all in an effort to make it as easy as possible for them to ensure
their apps are compatible with VoiceOver.
I hope that you understand that we in the National Federation of the Blind in
Computer Science have no doubt whatsoever as to your commitment to
accessibility by the blind to Apple products. In this context, we (like
you) are particularly encouraged by the new VoiceOver feature in your upcoming
release of iOS 5 that will allow users to "apply custom labels to UI elements
in their favorite third-party apps." As you say, this will make it possible for
users to label many buttons and controls for themselves, thereby alleviating
some accessibility problems.
As I have been saying all along, Apple is doing a very good job of
"encouraging" app developers to do the right thing. Our views diverge when the
question of accessibility requirements is raised. If you will go back to the
resolution adopted by the National Federation of the Blind at its
2011 Convention, the last Resolve reads:
"BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization urge Apple, in the strongest
possible terms, to work with the National Federation of the Blind to create and
enforce a set of requirements for accessibility that will, at a minimum, compel
application developers to label buttons, menus, icons, selection lists,
checkboxes, and other controls so that VoiceOver users can identify and operate
them."
Like you, we believe in the power of education and encouragement--when they
produce the desired result. However, we believe that there are some instances
where encouragement alone is not enough. Some things simply must be required if
they are to be implemented. This is why Apple and the National Federation of
the Blind need to enter into discussions so that we can come to an agreement as
to what extent requirements need to be applied to the question of accessibility
and compatibility with VoiceOver.
Again, thank you for keeping the lines of communication open and for the
encouraging news about upcoming changes in iOS 5 and VoiceOver. I hope that I
have helped you to gain a better understanding of our perspective on this
entire question of accessibility.
Yours sincerely,
Curtis Chong, President
National Federation of the Blind in Computer Science
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