AI + Accessibility + Apple
With WWDC just weeks away, Apple’s latest accessibility features promise powerful technologies for all. Most will arrive with the 27 series of Apple operating systems — and many of the most powerful tools lean deeply into AI and Apple Intelligence.
“The accessibility features our users rely on every day become even more powerful with Apple Intelligence,” said Sarah Herrlinger, Apple’s senior director of Global Accessibility Policy and Initiatives. “With these updates, we’re bringing new, intuitive options for input, exploration, and personalization, designed to protect users’ privacy at every step.”
They also give us a glimpse at what Apple has planned across its operating systems in terms of improved contextual intelligence in Siri. For example, a new tool called Image Explorer in VoiceOver lets you use Apple Intelligence to generate detailed descriptions of images held across your system, and those images can be documents, bills, receipts.
The idea is that you can hold up your iPhone, point your camera at the item and ask Apple Intelligence to describe what it is, read it to you, ask questions about what’s there, and even ask follow-up questions about what it sees. This will make a huge difference for disabled people who use voice to control their iPhone or iPad. (It remains unknown whether these services will also be available on Mac.)
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