My Open Letter To Craig Federighi, Requesting Siri Advancements to Help my Vision Impaired Friend

hello everyone! long time lurker of macrumors , have decided create account myself. forward being part of macrumors community!

wrote email craig federighi last wednesday , have yet hear back. know shouldn't expect response, issue addressing serious one. more serious faqs others he's been responding recently.

chose come here because i've consistently seen forum members being supportive of each other. hope supportive of me! means, feel free critique me if think should have done differently, , don't afraid add new ideas or build off of mine. first , foremost, want attention brought these concepts. if enough attention can garnered, maybe craig or else @ apple more respond.

added curly brackets { } areas edited privacy reasons. not in curly brackets part of original letter.

quote

dear craig,

hoping address difficulties facing people vision impairment (and greater community of people special needs) implementing software solutions make lives easier. make both me , close friend michael happy.

let me introduce friend michael. legally blind , has been vision impaired since birth, seeing shadows. {throughout youth, has attended public schools in area best offer appropriate resources educational needs. after high school, attended california school blind has since graduated from. currently, participating in special needs work program.}

in addition being vision impaired, has coordination , motor skill issues. can eat hands , has fed baby if fork or spoon. while strong, cannot open sealed twist-off bottle caps (he can once seal broken). requires assistance washing hands , showering. needs changing clothes, putting on shoes, , can’t tie shoes himself. dependent on others majority of everyday routines take granted. being said, voiceover feature not suited him, dexterity of fingers limited.

first started hanging out michael on regular basis in october of 2011, right after apple first introduced siri. told him siri , ways potentially him. @ time, had samsung flip phone dragon dictation , excited siri had offer. moved on iphone next phone, , has had iphone ever since. siri has helped him in many ways, can ask play music, read texts, , call others.

there still 1 thing samsung flip phone better , bothers me after 6 years, apple has not addressed issue. flip phone, able to, himself, answer phone flipping open , hang flipping closed. iphone 7, else has tap or swipe touchscreen can answer call. if himself, has ask siri check missed calls , call person back. it’s disconcerting siri doesn’t understand command “answer” on device referred smartphone. if ethan hawke can tell infotainment system “answer” phone in movie getaway (2013), should able command siri same thing today. (in apple’s defense, android team has done nothing address either.) asking siri answer call not friend , other’s special needs, people handling raw chicken in kitchen , mechanics greasy hands neither want touch phone nor stop they’re doing.

michael has shown interest in new apple watch series 3. loves idea of taking calls on wrist, has trouble taking phone out of pocket quick enough answer phone (with 1 of parent’s finger). answering siri 1 solution him become more independent. might possible use gyroscope , accelerometer sense movement of wrist toward user’s mouth, , answer call automatically. solution 1 saw implemented chinese smartwatch manufacturer on kickstarter allows users shake wrist answer. or of acceptable michael.

thank listening concerns.

sincerely,

{my name}

click expand...

 

more broadly, tech should working harder on improving accessibility. wonder if apple employs specialised in field. should. solving accessibility issues provide benefits all; examples demonstrate that. me, sounds interesting area of development.

speaking friend. i, one, , michael.

 

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