New in OS X: Get MacRumors Push Notifications on your Mac

Resubscribe Now Close

Apple Celebrates Global Accessibility Awareness Day With Stevie Wonder Concert

Friday May 19, 2017 7:59 am PDT by Mitchel Broussard
Apple yesterday held a concert at One Infinite Loop in honor of Global Accessibility Awareness Day. This morning, CEO Tim Cook tweeted out a thank you to Stevie Wonder, who performed at the concert.



The event marked one of Apple's traditional "Beer Bash" celebrations, which in the past have seen performances by Maroon 5, One Republic, Darius Rucker, and more, usually coinciding with a major milestone like the 30th anniversary of the Macintosh.

Apple has been highlighting the importance of accessibility features throughout the week, beginning with a large collection of "Designed for" promotional videos that it posted on YouTube on Tuesday. The clips showcased features like VoiceOver and Made for iPhone hearing aids, accompanied by personal stories of how Apple fans with disabilities use each feature.


On Wednesday, Tim Cook then sat down with three accessibility activists to discuss the company's accessibility features across its range of devices. Last October, Apple published an all-new accessibility website that brings all of these features to the forefront as a way to explain and celebrate how the company has built unique accessibility features into iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Watch.

Tag: accessibility
[ 59 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

(View all)

Avatar
bitfactory
14 months ago

Gone are the days when ceo's of Apple used to focus on technology


Give it a rest. Accessibility is one area Apple needs to stay nimble.

I have zero problem with any of this. +morale +public goodwill
Rating: 27 Votes
Avatar
Rogifan
14 months ago

Gone are the days when CEO'S of Apple used to focus on technology!






Rating: 24 Votes
Avatar
keysofanxiety
14 months ago

Seems like gone are the days when CEO'S of Apple used to focus on technology!


Umm, assistive tech is techology. Jesus, it's called AT. Assistive technology.

Oh sure, throwing in a new CPU every now and then must be far more 'technology focused' than, say, making your devices fully accessible and usable for somebody who can't see squat. Or people who can't hear, or even have control of their limbs.

But no, you really nailed it. Not focused on technology at all.
Rating: 22 Votes
Avatar
Sunny1990
14 months ago
Seems like gone are the days when CEO'S of Apple used to focus on technology!
Rating: 19 Votes
Avatar
keysofanxiety
14 months ago

i swear there is a day for everything now...


How about a "MacWhiners" day? Oh wait, that'd be a year-long event.
Rating: 12 Votes
Avatar
joe2k17
14 months ago

i swear there is a day for everything now...

I'm blind excuse me for having 1 article a year written on accessibility. The IPhone means way more to me than to you it's a light detector, money reader, scanner for my mail, identifier of objects like can goods, reader, radio, and a whole bunch of other things. Apple was the first to make the same out of box experience for someone blind as yourself by not making them pay extra for a product. Things will return back to normal for yourself now I'm sure there will be a bunch more new posts about the same old things.
Rating: 11 Votes
Avatar
happydude
14 months ago
i find it shocking people complain apple is making its devices and technology more accessible for everyone. i assume half the people complaining are just the knee jerk-complain about everything posters. the other half just jerks.

apple can focus on products, technology, accessibility (and omg...some of those all fit together) at the same time. yes i've been waiting far too long for an iMac, but it isn't their focus on accessibility that's keeping me from an updated iMac. you think some engineer working on accessibility features is just going to be able to jump departments and get an iMac out the door? different people, different specialties, different areas...

just celebrate a day in age technology is more and more capable and trending toward being in the hands of everyone.
Rating: 10 Votes
Avatar
blacktape242
14 months ago
i swear there is a day for everything now...
Rating: 9 Votes
Avatar
B.K.
14 months ago

i swear there is a day for everything now...

Tomorrow is National Quiche Lorraine day. ARE YOU READY?!
Rating: 9 Votes
Avatar
sinsin07
14 months ago
You go from this:

to all the sourpusses who keep complaining about the lack of this, the lack of that really need to get a life. They are starting to become like an old worn vinyl record that gets stuck in a rut repeating the same few bars forever.
If you really don't like what Apple as a company (rather than the specific bits of kit you moan about) then please go elsewhere.

To this:

We don't need a detail roadmap but come on Apple something official would be really nice. Many of us have money sitting in the bank earning next to nothing in interest just wanting to be spent. In my case, do you really want me to blow it on a trip to Antartica or a new iMac?

Somehow you managed to incriminate yourself.
Looks like that "rut" is deeper than you thought.
Rating: 8 Votes

[ Read All Comments ]