Parallel

Audio description – the process of explaining aspects of the visual world for the benefit of people with blindness or visual impairments, is usually a one-directional process, where the describer explains and the listener consumes. But a pair of podcasters wanted to make the process more dynamic, giving the AD consumer a way to ask questions about what the describer sees. I'm talking with the host...

What does it mean to have a productivity system? For many, Getting Things Done provides structure and a method. Your host is a stranger in this land of systems, having used her own methods and digital tools to manage time and projects, but never taken up a system. On this episode, two guests explain how a systematic approach has improved their lives and work

From the technology impacts of COVID-19 to the ways Apple succeeded and didn't, here's Parallel's sendoff of 2020.

In the second installment of my review of the new iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, I take some new accessibility features for a spin, including people detection, screen recognition, image description and text recognition.

In a crossover episode with the Maccessibility Roundtable, we take a look at Apple's "One More Thing" event, mere moments after it ended. Hear about the M1 chip and three new Macs based upon it.

How do Apple's iPhone 12 and 12 Pro stack up from an accessibility perspective? In part 1 of my review, I tackle some hardware basics. Do their size, weight, grippability, displays and camera features make them compelling options for people with disabilities? This generation of phones also extend the accessibility features of iOS, using machine-learning and, in the 12 Pro, the LIDAR scanner. [Tran...

In this solo show, I talk about how I've set up and problem-solved for daily video calls and video podcasts. It's a lot! I've included helpful personal experiences and tips that apply whether you're using Zoom, Google Meet, Skype or Teams. It's about looking good on video if video is hard for you to see.

We talk about the many ways to implement home automation with or without a plan. Today's guests agree on a favorite platform, and they're here to tell you why.

In what has become at least an annual tradition, I talk Android with two people who know it well, from both the mainstream and accessibility perspective. What's new in Android 11 and what accessibility features have joined the ranks, even before Google's phones got the new OS?

The filmed version of "Hamilton" as presented on Disney+ has an audio description track. Some who have used it find the track lacking. Someone decided to do something about it. Find out how it happened, how it was done, and how one AD user reacted.

What's coming for accessibility on Apple's platforms later this year? My guests are Sarah Herrlinger, Apple's Director of Global Accessibility Policy and Initiatives, and Dean Hudson, an engineer on the Apple accessibility team. We talk VoiceOver/Screen Recognition, accessibility improvements for XCode, Magnifier updates, new Braille features for iOS, Big Sur's impact on low-vision accessibility,...

There are accessible video games, but it's not a given. The long-awaited The Last of Us 2 has taken lots of knocks from reviewers, but it's probably the most accessible game ever.

WWDC 2020 is like no previous iteration of Apple's annual developer event. We talk about what's new from Apple, including accessibility updates for various platforms. We also dig in on tech conferences, both virtual and real. What do we want from them and what are the barriers to making them great experiences.

Here's where you learn about developing inclusive apps – not why it's a good thing, but how developers can get started doing it. We talk about addressing a variety of disabilities, and the ways and means of user testing to achieve apps that are accessible in more than name only

Video just keeps growing as a way to tell stories about technology. Both of my guests have made video a mainstay of their creative output. I wanted these two experts to school my audio-centric self. We also talk a whole lot about accessibility advocacy through the video medium.

Here's the Parallel take on two new bits of Apple gear. What will each mean for users, and for Apple itself. We talk iPhone SE the sequel, iPad's new Magic Keyboard, how WWDC could come off this year, and what Apple stories we hoped we would be talking about in 2020 – before the pandemic.

How do product reviewers work? Do the people who evaluate gadgets for your favorite sites do rigorous testing, or rely on their gut to form an opinion? And who are they writing for? We talk with two people who review tech products about what it takes to write an authoritative post that people looking to buy will actually want to read.

What's it like to work at home when you usually go to an office? My guests, a Microsoft program manager and a radio reporter, will fill you in.

I'm BACK, with a solo episode that amounts to 'what I did on my unintended podcast vacation.' With Apple products. I finally own an Apple Watch, and the latest edition of my book about iOS accessibility is out the door.

There's a new operating system in town, and it's delicious. It's Android 10. Join us for a look at what's new.

In the final episode featuring bonus content from "36 Seconds that Changed Everything: How the iPhone Learned to Talk" I chat with someone who had very good reasons for being skeptical of Apple, but who eventually embraced iOS, once it proved itself.

When Apple brought accessibility to the Mac, and later, the iPhone, Jonathan Mosen was a skeptic. But unlike a lot of them, Jonathan could back up his point of view. He's spent his career working in assistive technology, both as an advocate and product reviewer, and as an employee of companies that make it. He has many fans, and is a lightning rod for plenty of others in the blindness community. W...

Research for my documentary, "36 Seconds that Changed Everything: How the iPhone Learned to Talk" included interviews with two longtime iOS developers, each of whom took an early interest in accessibility. We talked about the process of developing accessible apps, why they do it and how users respond to what they build.

From the moment Steve Jobs announced it in 2007, anticipation for the first iPhone was off the charts. And when it shipped? Customers lined up around their local Apple stores; some arriving days before the phones could be bought. But the hype and hysteria left one group of cell phone users out – if you had a disability, the new hotness was just a cold, unresponsive rectangle of plastic and glass....

Apple's Director of Global Accessibility Policy and Initiatives, Sarah Herrlinger talks about new and updated accessibility features on the company's platforms, as well as a bit of iOS access history.