Parallel

Three Apple news junkies give the company's fall product announcement event a few days to settle. We weigh in on all the new hardware announcements and what we imagine could come next.

Ten years ago, a pair of accessibility advocates decided to bring attention to the need for better accessibility in digital realms. They created Global Accessibility Awareness Day, or #GAAD. The annual event now attracts participation from Fortune 500 companies, including Apple, Google and Microsoft. But according to cofounder Joe Devon, #GAAD is still about developers doing the work to build things everyone can use.

Mobile and desktop accessibility are similar, but different, just as mobile browsers can show the same pages desktop ones can, but with different interfaces and quirks. On this episode, we're talking about how to use mobile tools to test the accessibility of Web sites in iOS. My guest is the author of the [#a11ytools](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/a11ytools-web-accessibility/id1356241530) testing suite.

Beyond the checkboxes and status reports that tally the numbers of women, people of color, and (on rare occasions) people with disabilities an organization has hired, are the lived experiences of individuals who seek to thrive in a variety of STEM careers. We discuss these topics and lots more with an educator, an engineer and an advocate for meaningful, sustainable DEI in the workplace.

NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory has a bird's-eye view of exploding stars, black holes and other distant astronomical phenomenon. Part of interpreting the massive amounts of data the telescope collects is creating data visualizations. But how can someone who is blind or visually impaired share in the beauty and the science of the images Chandra data scientists create? You're about to find out.

Tech-assisted navigation means more than using your phone or other GPS-equipped device to find your way outside. Improving indoor navigation has long been a project for people with blindness and low vision, but its importance is growing for venues and tech companies, too.

What's new in Android 12, and in accessibility for Google platforms? I'm visiting with my favorite Google-focused writers for a one-month-past-I/O update from Google world.

Apple laid a bevy of updates on the waiting throng during its 2021 WWDC Keynote event. From iOS to macOS, privacy to Siri, the announcements touched most aspects of the company's operating systems. How much can we talk about in an hour? Let's find out!

We take a look at several preview announcements Apple made in late May. Unusually for the company, and for accessibility updates, the focus was on features we'll see later in the year. They include: assistive touch for Apple Watch, eye tracking on iPadOS, vastly improved hearing aid support, enhancements to VoiceOver image recognition and the proverbial MORE.

Apple AirTags have been in the wild for a few weeks now, and my guests have them. We talk about how and whether the little object-finders are useful, what using them is like, and how they work for blind users.

In its second-larges acquisition ever, Microsoft is buying Nuance Communications. Variously identified as a cloud AI company and a purveyor of speech-to-text tools like Dragon, Nuance is a leader in voices for screen readers. So. What does it all mean?

Traditionally, making web sites accessible to all began with coding pages to follow established standards from the W3C. Developers can also go further to support screen reader users, people with low vision, cognitive disabilities, ADHD and more. Now, AI has been applied to this task in the form of server-side software called accessibility overlays. But while these overlays promise turnkey protection from lawsuits, many people with disabilities say they do not deliver accessibility, and sometimes compromise it.

A platform that first entered many people's consciousness as the social network for teens and younger has become a place many creators and viewers find joy, and respite from some of the more toxic aspects of social media. We're talking TikTok.

Clubhouse is the buzzy, audio-only social network with lots of venture funding and problematic privacy policies. Some call it "talk radio," – not a compliment – some say it could replace podcasts, and some are just trying to have an accessible experience. This episode was recorded inside Clubhouse with a few guests you've heard before on Parallel, and some you haven't. We'll talk about privacy, exclusivity, the tech bro vibe, how the service has benefited community in the accessibility community, and how that community has begun to come together to address some of the app's own accessibility problems. Because I recorded (with knowledge and permission from all speakers) in the app, the audio is good, but not great. Better to say that it varies. This is an edited version of a two-hour conversation – not including the after-party. I'm going to call it the first Parallel live show.

Seeing AI, an app for iOS that provides AI-driven information to users with blindness and visual impairments, debuted to rapturous reviews in 2017. Born during a hacking competition at Microsoft, Seeing AI has been features on the main stage at Build, and is now maintained by a dedicated team within the company. The latest version takes advantage of the LIDAR sensor in iPhones 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max, and in the 2020 iPad Pro. Today we're talking to the leader of the Seeing AI team.

What's it like to cover the biggest tech trade show of the year when it's virtual? We talk with Daily Tech News Show's Tom Merritt about how he did it, what he saw, and what he hopes for the next time CES rolls around. How big were the TVs, how many phones folded and was the accessibility buzz any louder than usual?

Audio description – the process of explaining aspects of the visual world for the benefit of people with blindness or visual impairments, is usually a one-directional process, where the describer explains and the listener consumes. But a pair of podcasters wanted to make the process more dynamic, giving the AD consumer a way to ask questions about what the describer sees. I'm talking with the hosts of Talk Description to Me.

What does it mean to have a productivity system? For many, Getting Things Done provides structure and a method. Your host is a stranger in this land of systems, having used her own methods and digital tools to manage time and projects, but never taken up a system. On this episode, two guests explain how a systematic approach has improved their lives and work

From the technology impacts of COVID-19 to the ways Apple succeeded and didn't, here's Parallel's sendoff of 2020.

In the second installment of my review of the new iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, I take some new accessibility features for a spin, including people detection, screen recognition, image description and text recognition.

How do Apple's iPhone 12 and 12 Pro stack up from an accessibility perspective? In part 1 of my review, I tackle some hardware basics. Do their size, weight, grippability, displays and camera features make them compelling options for people with disabilities? This generation of phones also extend the accessibility features of iOS, using machine-learning and, in the 12 Pro, the LIDAR scanner. [Transcript](https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/relayparallel/par_038.docx)

In this solo show, I talk about how I've set up and problem-solved for daily video calls and video podcasts. It's a lot! I've included helpful personal experiences and tips that apply whether you're using Zoom, Google Meet, Skype or Teams. It's about looking good on video if video is hard for you to see.

We talk about the many ways to implement home automation with or without a plan. Today's guests agree on a favorite platform, and they're here to tell you why.

In what has become at least an annual tradition, I talk Android with two people who know it well, from both the mainstream and accessibility perspective. What's new in Android 11 and what accessibility features have joined the ranks, even before Google's phones got the new OS?

The filmed version of "Hamilton" as presented on Disney+ has an audio description track. Some who have used it find the track lacking. Someone decided to do something about it. Find out how it happened, how it was done, and how one AD user reacted.

What's coming for accessibility on Apple's platforms later this year? My guests are Sarah Herrlinger, Apple's Director of Global Accessibility Policy and Initiatives, and Dean Hudson, an engineer on the Apple accessibility team. We talk VoiceOver/Screen Recognition, accessibility improvements for XCode, Magnifier updates, new Braille features for iOS, Big Sur's impact on low-vision accessibility, Headphone Accommodation and Back Tap.

There are accessible video games, but it's not a given. The long-awaited The Last of Us 2 has taken lots of knocks from reviewers, but it's probably the most accessible game ever.

WWDC 2020 is like no previous iteration of Apple's annual developer event. We talk about what's new from Apple, including accessibility updates for various platforms. We also dig in on tech conferences, both virtual and real. What do we want from them and what are the barriers to making them great experiences.

Here's where you learn about developing inclusive apps – not why it's a good thing, but how developers can get started doing it. We talk about addressing a variety of disabilities, and the ways and means of user testing to achieve apps that are accessible in more than name only

Video just keeps growing as a way to tell stories about technology. Both of my guests have made video a mainstay of their creative output. I wanted these two experts to school my audio-centric self. We also talk a whole lot about accessibility advocacy through the video medium.

Here's the Parallel take on two new bits of Apple gear. What will each mean for users, and for Apple itself. We talk iPhone SE the sequel, iPad's new Magic Keyboard, how WWDC could come off this year, and what Apple stories we hoped we would be talking about in 2020 – before the pandemic.

How do product reviewers work? Do the people who evaluate gadgets for your favorite sites do rigorous testing, or rely on their gut to form an opinion? And who are they writing for? We talk with two people who review tech products about what it takes to write an authoritative post that people looking to buy will actually want to read.

What's it like to work at home when you usually go to an office? My guests, a Microsoft program manager and a radio reporter, will fill you in.

I'm BACK, with a solo episode that amounts to 'what I did on my unintended podcast vacation.' With Apple products. I finally own an Apple Watch, and the latest edition of my book about iOS accessibility is out the door.

There's a new operating system in town, and it's delicious. It's Android 10. Join us for a look at what's new.

In the final episode featuring bonus content from "36 Seconds that Changed Everything: How the iPhone Learned to Talk" I chat with someone who had very good reasons for being skeptical of Apple, but who eventually embraced iOS, once it proved itself.

When Apple brought accessibility to the Mac, and later, the iPhone, Jonathan Mosen was a skeptic. But unlike a lot of them, Jonathan could back up his point of view. He's spent his career working in assistive technology, both as an advocate and product reviewer, and as an employee of companies that make it. He has many fans, and is a lightning rod for plenty of others in the blindness community. When I interviewed Jonathan for "36 Seconds that Changed Everything: How the iPhone Learned to Talk," I didn't expect that his journey from critic to iPhone owner and book author would form such a neat arc in the story.

Research for my documentary, "36 Seconds that Changed Everything: How the iPhone Learned to Talk" included interviews with two longtime iOS developers, each of whom took an early interest in accessibility. We talked about the process of developing accessible apps, why they do it and how users respond to what they build.

From the moment Steve Jobs announced it in 2007, anticipation for the first iPhone was off the charts. And when it shipped? Customers lined up around their local Apple stores; some arriving days before the phones could be bought. But the hype and hysteria left one group of cell phone users out – if you had a disability, the new hotness was just a cold, unresponsive rectangle of plastic and glass. This is the story of how that changed in June of 2009, and what it has meant to people who are blind, have a hearing disability, or experience motor delays. This is the story of iPhone accessibility.

Apple's Director of Global Accessibility Policy and Initiatives, Sarah Herrlinger talks about new and updated accessibility features on the company's platforms, as well as a bit of iOS access history.

Google I/O and Microsoft Build are in the rear view mirror, but what did each dev conferences have to tell us about accessibility? And which of their tent pole technologies are being used to power the next generation of fancy tach for people with a variety of disabilities? And also gaming!

I talked with two iOS developers who have a lot in common. They're independents who produce series of popular apps. And without really meaning to, they have each earned a reputation for thoughtful accessibility.

Each spring, all the accessibility tech nerds go to the CSUN Assistive Technology Conference in Southern California. At the end, a bunch of us do a wrap-up podcast for Blind Bargains, which covers the show from soup to nuts, Braille to navigation. I'm bringing you that show in hopes that it gives you some insight into how what's happening in accessible tech matches up with the wider world.

Last Monday, Apple announced Apple News +. And I'm breaking usual format to give you a first look and demo, complete with extra accessibility sprinkles.

Darcy Burnard, a friend and longtime podcast collaborator, talks with me about making podcasts accessibly. Which tools work, which ones don't, and which can be made to do our bidding?

Every tech-savvy person ends up helping some portion of her or his family get the printer working, software installed, or spam banished. I wanted to find out how others do it, so I talked to fellow family tech supporters, who have also done this work professionally.

Can you turn an iPad into your primary computer, and if you do that, is it the best choice you can make, or a stunt to talk about on podcasts? I pose these blunt questions to my iPad-dominant guests. And give you a bushel of links, too.

I wanted to celebrate the end of another year by bringing listeners a few gifts from past Parallel guests. And as it turned out, there's great stuff for users of iOS, Android, macOS and Windows. And games!

Which is more fun; a thorough-going discussion of home automation tech, or Allison and Mikah geeking out on any subject? Fortunately, it's not necessary that you make a choice.

Shortcuts, not just the Siri ones, have the potential to change the way people use iOS. I talk with a couple of shortcut-makers. The enthusiasm is infectious.

We gather to mourn the demise of the FilmStruck streaming service, a lifeline for cord-cutting fans of classic and art film, and a way to pass film history on to new generations. We also offer you an amazing array of links.