Oct
13
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MC20131013.mp3 [37.0MB 01:16:49 64kbps]
A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 465. A special episode of the Maccast. I’m joined by Josh de Lioncourt (Maccessibility Roundtable Podcast) and we go over all the latest accessibility features built into iOS 7.
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Hi Adam,
I love the show. I enjoyed your comments regarding the screen size rumors. As a baby boomer with deteriorating eyes, I have been tracking this topic very closely. I have noticed that the majority of the people that are hoping for a larger screen size are usually a little older. Keep an ear out. You may notice the same trend.
Some may say just hold our phone closer. But those of us with older eyes know that the screen gets blurry when positioned closer. I’ve had others suggest pinch and zoom, but this is not always an option and when it is much of the text gets cropped off on the sides, forcing me to use my finger to pan back and forth in order to see the text cropped by the screen edge. And still other suggest using the three-finger accessibility feature that allows you to use three fingers and drag up and down to enlarge the content on your screen. This creates a virtual screen with enlarged content, but moving around in this environment is not smooth and difficult at best. The best solution I have seen so far is to use the new iOS 7 feature to enlarge text; however, apps must integrate this feature for it to work correctly.
I realize that I have to be careful with the next topic I would like to discuss because it can easily appear that I am finger-pointing here. My only intention is for all to be nicer to each other.
As a fellow web developer, I can tell you that this is as much an accessibility issue as much as programming for the legally handicapped. We need to ask ourselves, are we embracing accessibility because it is politically correct or are we embracing it because it is the right thing to do? If it is because it is the right thing to do, then we should strive to make information accessible to everyone — even us baby-boomers.
As a prolific podcast listener, I have heard many hosts refer to larger phones as phablets or gigantuaphones because holding such a device to your ear would make you look silly. For the most part I would agree. However, who says you have to hold it up to your ear? We have had hands-free head sets for quite some time now. Secondly, how politically correct would it be to say that the devices that visually impaired people use make them look stupid?
I am not suggesting that we do away with the smaller iphone any more than I am saying that we should do away with the ipad mini or the 21″ imac. I am just saying that there should be an option.
P.S. I hope you get the ipad Mini Retina that you are looking for.