Skip to main content

The Touch ID Fingerprint Sensor on the New iPhone 5s Has Major Accessibility Implications


Today Apple announced the iPhone 5s with a fingerprint sensor dubbed Touch ID. Touch ID allows users to unlock their iPhone and purchase iTunes content using just their fingerprint. The Touch ID sensor is located under the home button. This feature allows all users to secure their iPhone without typing in a passcode each and every time. This will encourage more users to secure their phone and decrease frustration when they enter the passcode incorrectly.

While the new Touch ID sensor is not exclusively an accessibility feature it will have large implications for some disabled users. Blind and visually impaired users will be one group to benefit greatly. These users use the built in VoiceOver screen reader to navigate the iPhone. Without being able to see the screen typing in even a simple four digit passcode with VoiceOver may be time consuming compared to a sighted user typing in the same passcode. (Don't take this the wrong way, VoiceOver is a fantastic feature that gives blind and visually impaired users access to their devices. It just takes longer to enter information). With the new Touch ID sensor VoiceOver users will be able to almost instantly unlock their iPhone just as quickly as any other sighted user.

The Touch ID sensor will also benefit people with cognitive disabilities who are unable to remember a passcode, but still need to protect their device. People with cognitive disabilities can benefit greatly from various iPhone apps, but may not be able to remember a passcode to protect their device. Now with the Touch ID sensor cognitively impaired users can easily unlock their iPhone with their finger.  It eliminates the fear and possibility of forgetting your passcode.

The iPhone 5s will also include iOS 7 which includes new accessibility features. Click here to learn more about iOS 7 accessibility. Click read more below to view videos about the iPhone 5s.




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Emergent Cloud Computing Business Models

The last year I wrote quite a few posts on the business models around SaaS and cloud computing including SaaS 2.0 , disruptive early stage cloud computing start-ups , and branding on the cloud . This year people have started asking me – well, we have seen PaaS, IaaS, and SaaS but what do you think are some of the emergent cloud computing business models that are likely to go mainstream in coming years. I spent some time thinking about it and here they are: Computing arbitrage: I have seen quite a few impressive business models around broadband bandwidth arbitrage where companies such as broadband.com buys bandwidth at Costco-style wholesale rate and resells it to the companies to meet their specific needs. PeekFon solved the problem of expensive roaming for the consumers in Eurpoe by buying data bandwidth in bulk and slice-it-and-dice-it to sell it to the customers. They could negotiate with the operators to buy data bandwidth in bulk because they made a conscious decision not to st...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Data Scientist's View On Skills, Tools, And Attitude

I recently came across this interview (thanks Dharini for the link!) with Nick Chamandy, a statistician a.k.a a data scientist at Google. I would encourage you to read it; it does have some great points. I found the following snippets interesting: Recruiting data scientists: When posting job opportunities, we are cognizant that people from different academic fields tend to use different language, and we don’t want to miss out on a great candidate because he or she comes from a non-statistics background and doesn’t search for the right keyword. On my team alone, we have had successful “statisticians” with degrees in statistics, electrical engineering, econometrics, mathematics, computer science, and even physics. All are passionate about data and about tackling challenging inference problems. I share the same view. The best scientists I have met are not statisticians by academic training. They are domain experts and design thinkers and they all share one common trait: they love data!...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reveiw: Celluon Epic Laser Keyboard

The Celluon Epic is a Bluetooth laser keyboard. The compact device projects a QWERTY keyboard onto most flat surfaces. (Glass tabletops being the exception) You can connect the Epic to vertically any device that supports Bluetooth keyboards including devices running iOS , Android , Windows Phone, and Blackberry 10. On the back of the device there is a charging port and pairing button. Once you have the Epic paired with your device it acts the same as any other keyboard. For any keyboard the most important consideration is the typing experience that it provides. The virtual keyboard brightness is adjustable and is easy to see in most lighting conditions. Unfortunately the brightness does not automatically adjust based on ambient light. With each keystroke a beeping sound is played which can be turned down. The typing experience on the Epic is mediocre at best. Inadvertently activating the wrong key can make typing frustrating and tiring. Even if you are a touch typist you'll still ...
Post a Comment
Read more