Getting Around Accessibility Issues

Abstract

The promise of an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch is information at your fingertips. But what if mobility challenges make it difficult to control your hands, much less your fingertips? What if visual challenges make it hard to even see the information? Whether you've had to overcome physical disabilities since you were young or you're discovering new physical limitations almost daily as you get older, that doesn't mean you have to be shut out of the digital device revolution. True, iOS devices can be difficult or impossible to use if you have visual, aural, or physical challenges. But that's only because the default settings seem to have been chosen to benefit twenty-somethings in perfect health. The good news is that you don't have to settle for these defaults. iOS is chock full of useful settings, options, and techniques that can turn any device from being a pain (literally, in some cases) to use, to a pleasure (at least relatively speaking). In this chapter, I take you through various problems related to using an iOS device while dealing with visual, hearing, and physical limitations, and you learn how to configure iOS to enable you to work around those limitations and get the most out of your device.