Apple honored with Louis Braille Award for efforts in device accessibility

The Associated Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired on Friday featured Apple as a corporate honoree at the 57th annual Louis Braille Awards, a ceremony that recognizes those who contribute to the blind and visually impaired community.

Announced through the ASB's website, Apple received the prestigious Braille Award for its efforts in building accessibility functions into products like iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac.

An institution since 1957, the Louis Braille Award honors individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions on behalf of individuals who are blind or visually impaired, the ASB says. The award has also been handed out to blind or visually impaired people who overcome great obstacles to accomplish outstanding achievements.

Apple engineer Jordyn Castor, who has been blind since birth, was among those who accepted the award on behalf of the company. Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed gratitude for the award and congratulated the company's accessibility team for their work in a tweet today.

A rundown of Apple's accomplishments in the accessibility space is provided on the award's official website. The company tweaked its boilerplate company statement to highlight efforts for the blind and visually impaired, including mention of Mac, the first platform to incorporate a full featured screen reader directly into its operating system. Apple also touts iOS for delivering the first devices with accessible touchscreen displays and Apple Watch for being the first "accessible consumer wearable."

The company notes braille is supported across both Mac and iOS device lineups with braille tables for more than 25 languages and support for over 70 models of refreshable braille displays.

Apple is considered an industry leader in device accessibility and has in the past been recognized for its efforts in the space. In 2015, the company received the American Foundation for the Blind's Helen Keller Achievement Award for creating and implementing VoiceOver screen reader technology across its computing platforms.

Beyond accolades, Apple consistently promotes awareness for disabled users. Last year, for example, accessibility advocate Haben Girma was invited to address developers at a special Worldwide Developers Conference session covering product design and utility.

Continuing efforts in the area, Apple during October's "Hello Again" MacBook Pro event launched a special mini-site that highlights the many accessibility features built into its various products. A month later, the company integrated AirPods-style streaming and Live Listen accessibility to MFi hearing aids.

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12 Comments

chasm 3586 comments · 10 Years

About 7 years ago

This is what I really love about Apple: they show that you can make the effort to pursue goals that are not directly profitable because they are the right thing to do. We see this in a number of areas, such as HealthKit, and in efforts large and small to be inclusive to those with disabilities or learning issues. There's always more to be done, but it is nice to see such a large corporation remember to take time and effort to help those who need it most, as well.

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

What about Apple’s “competitors”? How do they stand up in the light of this announcement?

gatorguy 24603 comments · 13 Years

chasm said:

This is what I really love about Apple: they show that you can make the effort to pursue goals that are not directly profitable because they are the right thing to do. We see this in a number of areas, such as HealthKit, and in efforts large and small to be inclusive to those with disabilities or learning issues. There's always more to be done, but it is nice to see such a large corporation remember to take time and effort to help those who need it most, as well.

lkrupp said:

What about Apple’s “competitors”? How do they stand up in the light of this announcement?

Why not just be happy with Apple receiving well-deserved recognition? It doesn't always have to be "Yeah but... but... Google/Android/Microsoft/Samsung... LOL" That's why threads sometimes unintentionally go off track (with the blame for it very often misplaced). But since you want to bring "competitors" into the conversation:

If you're including Google as a competitor they spend a lot of engineering talent and money on goals that are not directly profitable "because it's the right thing to do". That's what many of the "moonshots"are.
If you're referring to specifically the visually-impaired Google has been honored in previous years by the American Federation for the Blind for their efforts at making access to services available, offers $Millions in grants each year thru the Google Impact Challenge to organizations working to increase accessibility for the visually or otherwise disabled, and Google's Android has long included Talkback along with Brailleback.
https://support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/6006589?hl=en
https://support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/3535226

To be fair Microsoft too offers many accessibility options in their products, tho I'm not up to speed with most of them.

What Apple has been particularly good with is using their high-profile position to highlight the some of the problems of the disabled, what can/should be done, and raising public awareness of solutions (preferably Apple ones of course) available thru mobile devices. Apple's ability to get their message out to the the press and the public in a positive way is second-to-none. Apple deserves the awards they receive.

g-news 1093 comments · 23 Years

Ironic in the face of having removed a whole row of physical keys to replace them with a touchbar that is utterly useless without sight.

StrangeDays 12959 comments · 8 Years

gatorguy said:

chasm said:

This is what I really love about Apple: they show that you can make the effort to pursue goals that are not directly profitable because they are the right thing to do. We see this in a number of areas, such as HealthKit, and in efforts large and small to be inclusive to those with disabilities or learning issues. There's always more to be done, but it is nice to see such a large corporation remember to take time and effort to help those who need it most, as well.

lkrupp said:

What about Apple’s “competitors”? How do they stand up in the light of this announcement?

Why not just be happy with Apple receiving well-deserved recognition? It doesn't always have to be "Yeah but... but... Google/Android/Microsoft/Samsung... LOL" That's why threads sometimes unintentionally go off track (with the blame for it very often misplaced). But since you want to bring "competitors" into the conversation:

If you're including Google as a competitor they spend a lot of engineering talent and money on goals that are not directly profitable "because it's the right thing to do". That's what many of the "moonshots"are.

Must...defend...google...Must defend...

Are you honestly comparing unprofitable moonshots to the sort of initiatives apple is known for and criticized on earnings calls for such their Accessibility and Green endeavors?