Accessibility Versus Power

My thoughts on Android, iOS, company priorities, and what really matters in technology

Over the past few months, I've used many major operating systems. Linux, Android, Windows, MacOS, iOS; I've used them all. I've become disillusioned with the idea that one operating system can do everything for me. Linux had all the power I could want from a desktop OS, but what about accessibility? What about ease of use? What about plain fun? Sure, I could do the basics, and Emacs, with Emacspeak, made things bearable to a point. But I could never say that Linux was fun, or enjoyable to use.

This post, however, will chiefly focus on iOS versus Android, and the accessibility pros and cons of the two systems from a blindness standpoint. I know that there have been people, time and time again, trying Android, but I thought I'd add my voice to it, for the latest trial.

What is Power?

Power, here, means that the OS lets one do whatever one wants, using whatever apps one wants. Running emulators, running Linux-like systems atop the host OS, editing and running source code on the device, things like that. Power, here, doesn't really consider the hardware power, but more so the software.

Accessibility

Here, accessibility refers mainly to the ability for assistive technology, like screen readers, to get enough information from the OS, and display it in a good enough way, that a user can be productive with the device. As "productive" is a subjective term in most cases, we'll just go with the better option available.

Getting Started

Let's say you just walked into a store to buy a phone. Being blind, you're looking for something that talks, and that's easy to use. You have no other computing devices, and know nothing about screen readers. This is improbable, but not so unlikely to be unheard of.

Apple

You pick up an iPhone at the store. With an Apple Store employee's help, you turn it on. In a burst of good fortune, your chosen employee knows about VoiceOver, enables it, and teaches you basic gestures. You go home with an Apple ID, a new phone, and a magical voice assistant which you can summon to call people, along with this weird voice thing that just kinda talks a lot, which you can do some things with. But how do you delete old text messages? Shouldn't there be an easier way to answer and end phone calls than just finding the answer button? What about braille?

Android

You walk into a Best Buy, and purchase a new Samsung phone. You get one with a fingerprint sensor, and after some searching, the Best-buy employee tiredly shows you how to turn off that TalkBack thing. You go through the tutorial, and learn how it works.

But using Youtube is painfully slow. Using Facebook takes even more swiping to get around. You can read and delete your email, but it's slower and makes you want to use your phone less, not more. You find the two, three, and four finger gestures unreliable, which lowers your confidence in your phone.

Reading

Reading is one of the most primary functions one will do on a device. When you set up a device, you'll be reading screens, following prompts, selecting items, and following links. You'll be typing too, but that's later on.

iOS

Your device has just been turned on, and VoiceOver is on. You've been given a primer on the basic navigation commands, so you start swiping.