Apple: Making accessibility better year after year

'Every year we try to add in new things. We do look at how can we make it slightly better year over year.'

May 17 is Global Accessibility Awareness Day and, ahead of it, Apple's Sarah Herrlinger, director of global accessibility policy and initiatives, addressed how the company sees ongoing development.

Speaking to CNET:

Every year we try to add in new things. We do look at how can we make it slightly better year over year.

She discusses everything from HomePod for controlling accessories around the house, to iPhone camera for reading barcodes on spices, to compatibility with portable braille readers and switches.

Sarah and the entire accessibility team at Apple — which includes engineers with a range of accessibility requirements themselves — are absolute aces. If you have the skills and are interested in joining them — and you should be — do it and help dent the world for the better.

The iOS #a11y team is looking for a talented and driven engineer to work with us on VoiceOver, Switch Control, and the myriad of other products we create to empower users. Get in touch with me if interested. Details here: https://t.co/DGe00zorTO

— Darren Minifie (@minofifa) May 10, 2018

But I'm burying the lede. CNET highlighted Austin Pruitt, a two-time US Paralympian:

Pruitt has cerebral palsy from the knees down, which forces him to walk slowly, but he's able to compete on the world stage by racing in a wheelchair. He said he used to set up a bunch of trackers on his chair to log his workouts, but now uses just an Apple Watch instead.

It's amazing how relentlessly Apple works on accessibility. It's even more amazing what people do with the technology.