On the most recent episode of The Parallel, a few names in the Apple community came up in passing. So last night, I decided to check out the latest episode of The Talk Show. That’s a fairly high-profile podcast by a fairly high-profile Apple writer guy named John Gruber. He and his guest, Serenity Caldwell, were running down some of the news from last week’s Apple Worldwide Developer’s Conference. They mentioned the addition of Live…
Tag: a11y
My Podcast Smorgasbord
Posted in Pods and Presos
In the course of promoting my book, iOS Access for All, I’ve been invited onto several podcasts. For the most part, these are new opportunities for me, though a few invites came from old friends. I’ll link you to all the shows, but I want to give you reasons to listen to specific ones, since they’re so different. Also, if you just can’t get enough of my yammering, subscribe to the All Shelly, All The…
Less Than or Equal Guest Shot: My Beef with Tech Journalism
Posted in Access and Disability, Announcements, and Pods and Presos
I was honored to join Aleen Sims on episode #89 of her podcast, Less Than or Equal. It’s a great show, where you will meet a wide range of people, many of whom are not among the usual suspects of podcast guests (present company excepted, I guess.) We talked about the reasons accessibility is often invisible in the mainstream tech world, and why I get grumpy when I read (or don’t read) about accessibility in…
Maccessibility Roundtable #85
Posted in Pods and Presos
With WWDC approaching, we share our wish lists for the probable new versions iOS and OS X. Also, watch updates from those who have em. Download Maccessibility Roundtable #85: The Guys Only Name the Big Ones
Apple’s Trust Dividend
Posted in Access and Disability
If I were asked to summarize the attitude of enthusiasts toward Apple Watch accessibility, this would be my pull-quote: “It was kind of weird for awhile, and I’m still not 100 percent sure what to expect, but everything will be awesome!” (By the way, that’s less than 140 characters, leaving plenty of room for breathless hashtags.) The chain of events leading to next week’s delivery of the first Apple Watches has not been without twists…
Apple Watch Demos, and the Irony of Low-Vision
Posted in Access and Disability, and New Media and Tech
I wrote last week about Apple Watch accessibility, mostly pointing to the first hands-on articles written by VoiceOver users. Many of our questions have now been addressed. VO is part of the watch, and so are some low-vision features, including zoom and grayscale. But during the long few weeks between watch pre-orders and watch unboxings, uncertainty obviously remains. In the larger context, that’s the point of the in-store try-on program, right? You use some combination…
Outside the Box with Jason Snell
Posted in Access and Disability, and Pods and Presos
A committee of the Maccessibility Roundtable chatted recently with Jason Snell, former Macworld poobah, and current proprietor of Six Colors. We talked about Apple accessibility, as seen from the mainstream tech world. I should note, too, that I’ve known Jason since we both worked at MacUser, back in the day. He and I covered the Internet, initially in our spare time. We also shared custody of an email server, from which we ran music mailing…
You’re the Last to Know
Posted in Access and Disability, Announcements, and General Store
A bit less than a month ago, I released an updated version of my book, iOS Access for All. The new edition covers iOS 8. I would just love for you to buy, read, and enjoy a copy of the book. I would also love to be able to tell you why my own blog, the one that features an image of the book’s cover there on the sidebar, is the last to get the…
Apple Versus Samsung, My Take
Posted in Access and Disability, Announcements, and New Media and Tech
Here is a story I wrote for Stabley Times about the latest Samsung lawsuit against Apple. This one is all about a subject that’s near and dear to my heart, the accessibility of iOS.