[nfbcs] [iDevices] Fw: [Missouri Chat] Article about Blind Apple Engineer

Thu Jul 14 16:24:17 UTC 2016

Looks like she's already part of the group. Lol

On 7/14/16, Jessica Dail via nfbcs <nfbcs at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi
> Yes, this would be a good idea.
> I've never thought of using a braille display when programming.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Jul 14, 2016, at 10:48 AM, Cricket Bidleman via nfbcs
>> <nfbcs at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> I totally agree. Which is why, if y'all would like me to, I would be
>> more than happy to contact her and see if I can get her to join us. I
>> knew her from the Braille Challenge, and we had some good
>> conversations last week. Maybe she could provide us with some good
>> insights into CS. So what do you all think?
>>
>>> On 7/14/16, Buddy Brannan via nfbcs <nfbcs at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> She sure did! Moreover, this article is exactly how this sort of article
>>> should be written. She's a young engineer, doing important things,
>>> perhaps
>>> even world changing things, and oh yeah, she's blind. Blindness was part
>>> of
>>> the picture, not the entire focus, which was really kind of refreshing.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
>>> Phone: 814-860-3194
>>> Mobile: 814-431-0962
>>> Email: buddy at brannan.name
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> On Jul 14, 2016, at 9:02 AM, Susan Stanzel via nfbcs <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> She had a wonderful presentation last week. Susan Stanzel
>>>>
>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>
>>>> Begin forwarded message:
>>>>
>>>>> From: John and Donna Weidlich via iDevices
>>>>> <idevices at gatewayfortheblind.com>
>>>>> Date: July 13, 2016 at 1:22:13 PM CDT
>>>>> To: <idevices at gatewayfortheblind.com>
>>>>> Cc: John and Donna Weidlich <jdweidlich at charter.net>
>>>>> Subject: [iDevices] Fw: [Missouri Chat] Article about Blind Apple
>>>>> Engineer
>>>>> Reply-To: "Support for iDevices." <idevices at gatewayfortheblind.com>
>>>>> I thought some of you might find this article interesting. John
>>>>> This blind Apple engineer is transforming the tech world at only 22
>>>>>
>>>>> 3 days ago
>>>>>
>>>>> Apple engineer Jordyn Castor has never been one for limitations. She
>>>>> was
>>>>> born 15
>>>>> weeks early, weighing just under two pounds. Her grandfather could hold
>>>>> her in
>>>>> the palm of his hand, and could even slide his wedding ring along her
>>>>> arm
>>>>> and
>>>>> over her shoulder. Doctors said she had a slim chance of survival.
>>>>>
>>>>> It was Castor's first brush with limited expectations — and also the
>>>>> first time
>>>>> she shattered them.
>>>>>
>>>>> Castor, now 22, has been blind since birth, a result of her early
>>>>> delivery. But
>>>>> throughout childhood, her parents encouraged her to defy expectations
>>>>> of
>>>>> people
>>>>> with disabilities, motivating her to be adventurous, hands-on and
>>>>> insatiably
>>>>> curious.
>>>>>
>>>>> It was that spirit that led to her interact with technology, whether it
>>>>> was the
>>>>> desktop computer her family bought when she was in second grade, or the
>>>>> classroom computer teachers encouraged her to use in school.
>>>>>
>>>>> "I could help make technology more accessible for blind users."
>>>>>
>>>>> She says the adults in her life would often hand her a gadget, telling
>>>>> her to
>>>>> figure it out and show them how to use it. And she would. "I realized
>>>>> then I
>>>>> could code on the computer to have it fulfill the tasks I wanted it
>>>>> to,"
>>>>> says
>>>>> Castor, whose current work focuses on enhancing features like VoiceOver
>>>>> for
>>>>> blind Apple users. "I came to realize that with my knowledge of
>>>>> computers
>>>>> and
>>>>> technology, I could help change the world for people with disabilities.
>>>>> "I could
>>>>> help make technology more accessible for blind users."
>>>>>
>>>>> Bringing a personal perspective to Apple innovation
>>>>>
>>>>> There's an often overlooked component of "diversity" in workplace
>>>>> initiatives —
>>>>> the need to include the perspectives of people with disabilities.
>>>>> Keeping
>>>>> tabs
>>>>> on the needs of the blind and low-vision community is a key component
>>>>> of
>>>>> Apple's
>>>>> innovation in accessibility. Castor is proof of how much that can
>>>>> strengthen a
>>>>> company.
>>>>>
>>>>> She was a college student at Michigan State University when she was
>>>>> first
>>>>> introduced to Apple at a Minneapolis job fair in 2015. Castor went to
>>>>> the
>>>>> gathering of employers, already knowing the tech giant would be there —
>>>>> and she
>>>>> was nervous.
>>>>>
>>>>> "You aren't going to know unless you try," she thought. "You aren't
>>>>> going
>>>>> to
>>>>> know unless you talk to them ... so go."
>>>>>
>>>>> Apple engineer Jordyn Castor poses for a headshot. Castor is a driving
>>>>> force
>>>>> behind accessibility of Apple products, especially for blind users.
>>>>> Image:
>>>>> Provided by Apple and Jordyn Castor Castor told Apple reps how amazed
>>>>> she
>>>>> was by
>>>>> the iPad she received as a gift for her 17th birthday just a few years
>>>>> earlier.
>>>>> It raised her passion for tech to another level — mainly due to the
>>>>> iPad's
>>>>> immediate accessibility.
>>>>>
>>>>> "Everything just worked and was accessible just right out of the box,"
>>>>> Castor
>>>>> tells Mashable. "That was something I had never experienced before."
>>>>>
>>>>> "I'm directly impacting the lives of the blind community."
>>>>>
>>>>> Sarah Herrlinger, senior manager for global accessibility policy and
>>>>> initiatives
>>>>> at Apple, says a notable part of the company's steps toward
>>>>> accessibility
>>>>> is its
>>>>> dedication to making inclusivity features standard, not specialized.
>>>>> This
>>>>> allows
>>>>> those features to be dually accessible — both for getting the tech to
>>>>> more
>>>>> users, as well as keeping down costs.
>>>>>
>>>>> "[These features] show up on your device, regardless of if you are
>>>>> someone who
>>>>> needs them," Herrlinger tells Mashable. "By being built-in, they are
>>>>> also
>>>>> free.
>>>>> Historically, for the blind and visually impaired community, there are
>>>>> additional things you have to buy or things that you have to do to be
>>>>> able to
>>>>> use technology."
>>>>>
>>>>> At that job fair in 2015, Castor's passion for accessibility and Apple
>>>>> was
>>>>> evident. She was soon hired as an intern focusing on VoiceOver
>>>>> accessibility. As
>>>>> her internship came to a close, Castor's skills as an engineer and
>>>>> advocate for
>>>>> tech accessibility were too commanding to let go. She was hired
>>>>> full-time
>>>>> as an
>>>>> engineer on the accessibility design and quality team — a group of
>>>>> people
>>>>> Castor
>>>>> describes as "passionate" and "dedicated."
>>>>>
>>>>> "I'm directly impacting the lives of the blind community," she says of
>>>>> her work.
>>>>> "It's incredible."
>>>>>
>>>>> Innovation with blind users in mind
>>>>>
>>>>> Increased accessibility for all users is one of Apple's driving values,
>>>>> under
>>>>> the mantra "inclusion inspires innovation." Herrlinger says the company
>>>>> loves
>>>>> what it makes, and wants what it makes to be available to everyone. She
>>>>> describes the need to continuously innovate with accessibility in mind
>>>>> as
>>>>> part
>>>>> of Apple's DNA.
>>>>>
>>>>> "Accessibility is something that is never-ending," Herrlinger says. "It
>>>>> isn't
>>>>> something where you just do it once, check that box and then move on to
>>>>> do other
>>>>> things."
>>>>>
>>>>> And it's a dedication that isn't going unnoticed by the blind
>>>>> community.
>>>>> On July
>>>>> 4, Apple was the recipient of the American Council of the Blind's
>>>>> Robert
>>>>> S. Bray
>>>>> Award for the company's strides in accessibility and continued
>>>>> dedication
>>>>> to
>>>>> inclusion-based innovation for blind users.
>>>>>
>>>>> Sarah Herrlinger, senior manager for global accessibility policy and
>>>>> initiatives
>>>>> at Apple, and Eric Bridges, executive director of the American Council
>>>>> of
>>>>> the
>>>>> Blind (ACB), pose with the Robert S. Bray award at ACB's national
>>>>> conference on
>>>>> July 4, 2016.
>>>>>
>>>>> The company, for example, made the first touchscreen device accessible
>>>>> to
>>>>> the
>>>>> blind via VoiceOver. Recent announcements of Siri coming to Mac this
>>>>> fall, and
>>>>> of newer innovations, like a magnifying glass feature for low-vision
>>>>> users, have
>>>>> continued the promise of improving the Apple experience for those who
>>>>> are
>>>>> blind
>>>>> and low vision.
>>>>>
>>>>> "The fact that we take the time to innovate in these ways is something
>>>>> new and
>>>>> different," Herrlinger says. "It was not the expected thing in the tech
>>>>> community."
>>>>>
>>>>> Often, the success of such innovations depends on the input of the
>>>>> community —
>>>>> and employees like Castor provide irreplaceable first-hand insight into
>>>>> the tech
>>>>> experience for blind individuals. The most recent example of
>>>>> community-driven
>>>>> innovation can be found on the Apple Watch. During a meeting,
>>>>> Herrlinger
>>>>> explains, a person who sees could easily peer down at their watch to
>>>>> keep
>>>>> an eye
>>>>> on the clock. A person who is blind, however, hasn't had a way to tell
>>>>> time
>>>>> without VoiceOver. After confronting the conundrum, Apple solved the
>>>>> issue by
>>>>> making a feature that tells time through vibrations. The addition,
>>>>> Herrlinger
>>>>> says, is coming to watchOS 3 this fall.
>>>>>
>>>>> High-tech meets low-tech
>>>>>
>>>>> Castor says her own success — and her career — hinges on two things:
>>>>> technology
>>>>> and Braille. That may sound strange to many people, even to some who
>>>>> are
>>>>> blind
>>>>> and visually impaired. Braille and new tech are often depicted as at
>>>>> odds
>>>>> with one another, with Braille literacy rates decreasing as the
>>>>> presence
>>>>> of tech
>>>>> increases. But many activists argue that Braille literacy is the key to
>>>>> employment and stable livelihood for blind individuals. With more than
>>>>> 70% of
>>>>> blind people lacking employment, the majority of those who are employed
>>>>> —
>>>>> an
>>>>> estimated 80% — have something in common: They read Braille.
>>>>>
>>>>> "Braille allows me to know what the code feels like."
>>>>>
>>>>> For Castor, Braille is crucial to her innovative work at Apple — and
>>>>> she
>>>>> insists
>>>>> tech is complementary to Braille, not a replacement. I use a Braille
>>>>> display
>>>>> every time I write a piece of code," she says. "Braille allows me to
>>>>> know
>>>>> what
>>>>> the code feels like."
>>>>>
>>>>> In coding, she uses a combination of Nemeth Braille — or "math Braille"
>>>>> —
>>>>> and
>>>>> Alphabetic Braille. Castor even says that with the heavy presence of
>>>>> tech
>>>>> in her
>>>>> life, she still prefers to read meeting agendas in Braille. "I can see
>>>>> grammar.
>>>>> I can see punctuation. I can see how things are spelled and how things
>>>>> are
>>>>> written out," she says.
>>>>>
>>>>> The technologies that Apple creates support her love of Braille, too —
>>>>> there are
>>>>> various modifications, like Braille displays that can to plug into
>>>>> devices, to
>>>>> help her code and communicate. But Castor also often forgoes Braille
>>>>> displays,
>>>>> solely using VoiceOver to navigate her devices and read screens.
>>>>>
>>>>> A Braille display like this one, which is compatible with Apple
>>>>> products,
>>>>> allows
>>>>> blind users to navigate technology using Braille commands. Image:
>>>>> PRovided by
>>>>> Apple
>>>>>
>>>>> That autonomy of choice in accessibility, Apple says, is intentional. T
>>>>> he
>>>>> company believes that the ability to choose — to have several tools at
>>>>> a
>>>>> user's
>>>>> disposal, whenever they want them — is key to its accessibility values.
>>>>>
>>>>> Giving back to the community
>>>>>
>>>>> Last week, Castor attended a conference hosted by the National
>>>>> Federation
>>>>> of the
>>>>> Blind, where she gave a speech telling her story. She says the impact
>>>>> that Apple
>>>>> has had on the blind community was extremely clear as soon as she
>>>>> stepped
>>>>> into
>>>>> the conference hall — just by listening to what was going on around
>>>>> her.
>>>>>
>>>>> "When I walk through the convention, I hear VoiceOver everywhere," she
>>>>> says.
>>>>> "Being able to give back through something that so many people use is
>>>>> amazing."
>>>>> Castor was recently able to use her presence and perspective at Apple
>>>>> to
>>>>> give
>>>>> back to a part of the community she's especially passionate about — the
>>>>> next
>>>>> generation of engineers. She was a driving force behind accessibility
>>>>> on
>>>>> Apple's
>>>>> soon-to-be released Swift Playgrounds, an intro-to-coding program
>>>>> geared
>>>>> toward
>>>>> children. She's been working to make the program accessible to blind
>>>>> children,
>>>>> who have been waiting a long time for the tool, she says.
>>>>>
>>>>> "I would constantly get Facebook messages from so many parents of blind
>>>>> children, saying, 'My child wants to code so badly. Do you know of a
>>>>> way
>>>>> that
>>>>> they can do that?'" Castor says. "Now, when it's released, I can say,
>>>>> 'Absolutely, absolutely they can start coding.'"
>>>>>
>>>>> how the program will work when released in fall. Users will code
>>>>> commands
>>>>> to
>>>>> make a character move throughout puzzle-like challenges. The program
>>>>> will
>>>>> use
>>>>> VoiceOver to be accessible to blind children. Image: Provided by Apple
>>>>>
>>>>> Castor says working on Swift Playgrounds has been an empowering
>>>>> experience, and
>>>>> her team has deeply valued her perspective on the VoiceOver experience
>>>>> for blind
>>>>> users.
>>>>>
>>>>> She says the task-based, interactive app would have made a massive
>>>>> impact
>>>>> on her
>>>>> as a child. The program is, after all, a guided way of taking tech and
>>>>> figuring
>>>>> out what makes it tick — a virtual version of the hands-on curiosity
>>>>> adults
>>>>> instilled in her as a child.
>>>>>
>>>>> "It will allow children to dive into code," she says of the program.
>>>>> "They can
>>>>> use Swift Playgrounds right away out of the box; no modifications. Just
>>>>> turn on
>>>>> VoiceOver and be able to start coding." As someone who was always
>>>>> encouraged to
>>>>> challenge expectations, Castor says she has one simple message for the
>>>>> next
>>>>> generation of blind coders, like the children who will sit down with
>>>>> Swift
>>>>> Playgrounds in the fall. "Blindness does not define you," she says.
>>>>> "It's
>>>>> part
>>>>> of who you are as a person, as a characteristic — but it does not
>>>>> define
>>>>> you or
>>>>> what you can do in life."
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>>
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