[Njtechdiv] FW: [nfbcs] Fwd: [iDevices] Article about Blind Apple Engineer

Thu Jul 14 14:50:16 UTC 2016

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Susan Stanzel via nfbcs
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2016 9:03 AM
To: nfbcs at nfbnet.org
Cc: Susan Stanzel
Subject: [nfbcs] Fwd: [iDevices] Fw: [Missouri Chat] Article about Blind Apple Engineer

She had a wonderful presentation last week. Susan Stanzel

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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