. For example, it added gesture support to Echo Shows, allowing users to dismiss timers by waving or holding up an open palm, so those who don’t want to or can’t use their voice to silence alarms can do so without touching the device. It also added support for audio streaming for hearing aids to its Fire TV platform, andAmazon also teamed up with a selection of organizations to bring its products to communities that could benefit from them.
In October, the company released a new campaign that included videos featuring an Amazon employee and people with disabilities using accessibility features across Alexa, Fire TV and more. It also redesigned its accessibility home page to make its tools easier to discover. And, as we’ve mentioned in previous editions of this report, the company’s venture capital arm — the Alexa Fund — invests in startups, some of which work on products to improve accessibility.
At the same time, the company unveiled Apple Watch Mirroring, which lets people with motor and physical disabilities control their smartwatch using the iPhone’s assistive features. These include Voice Control, Switch Control, head tracking, sound actions and external Made For iPhone inputs. Apple also brought Live Captions to iPhone, iPad and Mac, which would transcribe all content playing through the device, as well as the speech of people in the real world. Those using Live Captions for calls on Mac can also type a response and have that spoken aloud to their callers. It also added 20 new languages to its VoiceOver screen reader, as well as voices and locales.