Profile highlights blind Apple engineer working on accessibility tech

Posted:
in General Discussion
A profile published on Sunday details the experiences and work of Jordyn Castor, a blind Apple engineer now developing technologies like VoiceOver with company's accessibility design and quality team.




Castor has been blind since birth, but growing up, was encouraged by adults to experiment with gadgets like computers in spite of the steeper learning curve, according to Mashhable. She received an iPad for her 17th birthday, and says she was impressed by the fact she could use it out of the box, unlike other electronics which can sometimes require expensive add-ons or software for people with disabilities.

She eventually went to Michigan State University, and was hired as an intern at Apple following a 2015 job fair in Minneapolis. That internship turned into her current full-time position.

Castor notes that she programs using a combination of alphabetic and Nemeth (mathematical) Braille, and actually prefers Braille when reading meeting agendas as well, since she can "see" the grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Nevertheless she uses VoiceOver alone to navigate devices.

Some of her more recent work includes adding accessibility support for Swift Playgrounds, Apple's iPad-based code learning app.

Apple is planning to further improve accessibility features in OS updates due this fall. watchOS 3, for example, will be able to tell time through vibrations on an Apple Watch, and the arrival of Siri in macOS Sierra should expand Mac voice commands.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    The best user experience is generated by functionality that allows growth and possibilities without boundaries.
    Big congrats to Ms Castor for her work and to Apple for hiring the best person for the job.
    lolliverleviairbubbleMacProjbdragonloquiturpbrstreetg
  • Reply 2 of 13
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Apple apparently has a fairly large accessibility team.    I believe it was the 2015 WWDC that had two engineers from the team go up on stage and do a presentation.   Pretty impressive and did real well when you consider that there was no visual clues to work with. 

    Frankly this his is an example of why I can't really support the LGBT community and their constant ranting about rights.   The fact is there are plenty of people that are born with more extensive birth defects that get through life just find.   Maybe it isn't a popular opinion right now but I really think the LGBT community needs to gain a little perspective.  The struggles they have are no where near what some people are saddled with.  
    fotoformatjbdragon
  • Reply 3 of 13
    wizard69 said:
    Apple apparently has a fairly large accessibility team.    I believe it was the 2015 WWDC that had two engineers from the team go up on stage and do a presentation.   Pretty impressive and did real well when you consider that there was no visual clues to work with. 

    Frankly this his is an example of why I can't really support the LGBT community and their constant ranting about rights.   The fact is there are plenty of people that are born with more extensive birth defects that get through life just find.   Maybe it isn't a popular opinion right now but I really think the LGBT community needs to gain a little perspective.  The struggles they have are no where near what some people are saddled with.  
    Although I value opinions, yours is awful you're stating that being part of the LGBT community is a birth defect? What. The. Fuck.
    edited July 2016 MacProP-DogNCpalominepbrstreetg
  • Reply 4 of 13
    zimmermannzimmermann Posts: 324member
    wizard69 said:
    Apple apparently has a fairly large accessibility team.    I believe it was the 2015 WWDC that had two engineers from the team go up on stage and do a presentation.   Pretty impressive and did real well when you consider that there was no visual clues to work with. 

    Frankly this his is an example of why I can't really support the LGBT community and their constant ranting about rights.   The fact is there are plenty of people that are born with more extensive birth defects that get through life just find.   Maybe it isn't a popular opinion right now but I really think the LGBT community needs to gain a little perspective.  The struggles they have are no where near what some people are saddled with.  
    Unnecessary remark. 
    P-DogNCpalominepbrstreetgjony0
  • Reply 5 of 13
    Not only unnecessary, but an incorrect analogy. A truer analogy would be if Apple had a blanket policy not to hire anyone who is blind or has another disability.
    P-DogNC
  • Reply 6 of 13
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    LGBTuser said:
    wizard69 said:
    Apple apparently has a fairly large accessibility team.    I believe it was the 2015 WWDC that had two engineers from the team go up on stage and do a presentation.   Pretty impressive and did real well when you consider that there was no visual clues to work with. 

    Frankly this his is an example of why I can't really support the LGBT community and their constant ranting about rights.   The fact is there are plenty of people that are born with more extensive birth defects that get through life just find.   Maybe it isn't a popular opinion right now but I really think the LGBT community needs to gain a little perspective.  The struggles they have are no where near what some people are saddled with.  
    Although I value opinions, yours is awful you're stating that being part of the LGBT community is a birth defect? What. The. Fuck.
    I agree with you but you have to admit that was a totally predictable response from certain people on AI.
    edited July 2016 nolamacguy
  • Reply 7 of 13
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    wizard69 said:
    Apple apparently has a fairly large accessibility team.    I believe it was the 2015 WWDC that had two engineers from the team go up on stage and do a presentation.   Pretty impressive and did real well when you consider that there was no visual clues to work with. 

    Frankly this his is an example of why I can't really support the LGBT community and their constant ranting about rights.   The fact is there are plenty of people that are born with more extensive birth defects that get through life just find.   Maybe it isn't a popular opinion right now but I really think the LGBT community needs to gain a little perspective.  The struggles they have are no where near what some people are saddled with.  
    more dispicable horseshit from this one, a known bigot who on another AI thread said gays deserved the violence they received at the hands of others. 

    if if you were denied the right to marry, hospital visitation rights, property transference at death, etc, you'd be screaming bloody murder. typical hypocrite. 
    palominesingularity
  • Reply 8 of 13
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member

    LGBTuser said:
    Although I value opinions, yours is awful you're stating that being part of the LGBT community is a birth defect? What. The. Fuck.
    I agree with you but you have to admit that was a totally predictable response from certain people on AI.
    yep. it's one of the ugly sides of AI -- many of the vocal regulars are disgusting human beings, despite their admiration for Apple, a company whose ideas and ideals are contrary to their own shortcomings. it's rather unfortunate. 
    singularity
  • Reply 9 of 13
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    this same article on MR created a very different sort of ugliness -- the trolls and haters which populate that site jumped all over Apple and claimed all sorts of foolishness, that it was a puff piece, that Apple doesn't really care about accessibility, that this woman was just a PR prop, etc... ugly, ignorant stuff. 
  • Reply 10 of 13
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    this same article on MR created a very different sort of ugliness -- the trolls and haters which populate that site jumped all over Apple and claimed all sorts of foolishness, that it was a puff piece, that Apple doesn't really care about accessibility, that this woman was just a PR prop, etc... ugly, ignorant stuff. 
    Hardly surprising. MacRumors is where disenchanted Android users hang out. It's not ugly, it's desperate.
    edited July 2016
  • Reply 11 of 13
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member

    wizard69 said:
    Apple apparently has a fairly large accessibility team.    I believe it was the 2015 WWDC that had two engineers from the team go up on stage and do a presentation.   Pretty impressive and did real well when you consider that there was no visual clues to work with. 

    Frankly this his is an example of why I can't really support the LGBT community and their constant ranting about rights.   The fact is there are plenty of people that are born with more extensive birth defects that get through life just find.   Maybe it isn't a popular opinion right now but I really think the LGBT community needs to gain a little perspective.  The struggles they have are no where near what some people are saddled with.  
     
    What you seemed to have missed is that the disabled have been campaigning as long as as hard for their own rights: equality in the work place, equality in urban planning, equality in accessibility to public transport, the right not to be abused when they leave their homes. Thinking about the last point, their struggles are not that different from those of the LGBT community, and in many cases I suspect they're struggling against people like you.
    pbrstreetgnolamacguy
  • Reply 12 of 13
    pbrstreetgpbrstreetg Posts: 184member
    wizard69 said:
    Apple apparently has a fairly large accessibility team.    I believe it was the 2015 WWDC that had two engineers from the team go up on stage and do a presentation.   Pretty impressive and did real well when you consider that there was no visual clues to work with. 

    Frankly this his is an example of why I can't really support the LGBT community and their constant ranting about rights.   The fact is there are plenty of people that are born with more extensive birth defects that get through life just find.   Maybe it isn't a popular opinion right now but I really think the LGBT community needs to gain a little perspective.  The struggles they have are no where near what some people are saddled with.  
    People with birth defects don't go through life just fine; do you even know people that are deaf and blind? It is hard for them at times navigating in a world that poorly accommodates them, and working with the crap we call 508 compliant.
    nolamacguy
  • Reply 13 of 13
    xbitxbit Posts: 390member
    this same article on MR created a very different sort of ugliness -- the trolls and haters which populate that site jumped all over Apple and claimed all sorts of foolishness, that it was a puff piece, that Apple doesn't really care about accessibility, that this woman was just a PR prop, etc... ugly, ignorant stuff. 
    Adding accessibility to iOS apps is so fucking easy. From the feedback I've received from app I've been involved with, people with disabilities generally think that Apple are way ahead of the curve.
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