David, 
Thank you so much for taking the time to set these folks straight.  
This kind of irresponsible broadcasting of information is becoming more widespread, and it's truly troubling.  
Many people have the mind set that, if they read it on the internet somewhere, it must be true.  Thus, the potential for loads of people seeing this gibberish and coming away with the idea that none of us poor blind folk can use iPhones is significant.

Please let us know if they get back to you.  
If they don't, more of us need to weigh in.  
Peace,

Deborah
-----Original Message-----
From: Visually Impaired Computer Users' Group List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Goldfield
Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2015 9:07 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VICUG-L] Fwd: World’s first Braille smartwatch gives blind people a lifeline to i

This is an interesting product. However, I was appalled at one of the statements contained in the piece and wrote the following comment on their Web site.

While I'm always pleased to see new products to help make the lives of blind and visually impaired people easier, I take issue with one sentence in this piece which really jumped out at me. The text says, "But you never see a blind person transfixed to their iPhone or honed in on their smartwatch, because the technology simply isn’t compatible with the vision-impaired way of life."

This statement is so inaccurate that it's almost laughable. The fact is that the iPhone has become one of the most accessible smartphones ever released and blind people around the world have embraced it and are using it to its fullest potential. This device, along with the Apple Watch, is fully accessible, thanks to the built-in VoiceOver screen reader. Not a day goes by when I don't use my iPhone to read top stories from the BBC, text a friend, read my mail, surf the Web, enjoy books from a variety of sources, listen to radio feeds, etc. Plus, a Braille display makes the device accessible to Braille users. Please visit Apple's own accessibility Web site at http://www.apple.com/accessibility/ which will provide details on all of the accessibility features found in Apple products. Also, Web sites such as www.applevis.com will surely demonstrate that there is an enthusiastic, worldwide community of blind people who use their iDevices for a variety of functions. Please correct this article. It's an example of poor and irresponsible journalism as it conveys something which simply isn't true.



David Goldfield,
Assistive Technology Specialist

Feel free to visit my Web site
www.davidgoldfield.info

On 8/3/2015 11:20 PM, Rachel wrote:
> World’s first Braille smartwatch gives blind people a lifeline to 
> information | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Inn 
> <http://inhabitat.com/worlds-first-braille-smartwatch-gives-blind-peop
> le-a-lifeline-to-information/>
>
>
>
> Rachel
>
>
>    VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
> Archived on the World Wide Web at
>    http://listserv.icors.org/archives/vicug-l.html
>    Signoff: [log in to unmask]
>    Subscribe: [log in to unmask]


    VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
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