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Apple Adds Overlay Data to Accessibility Info in Weather App

As far as I know, this is a relatively new development. If someone knows otherwise, feel free to correct.

I was recently greeted by a nice surprise when using the iOS Weather app. I opened the Map and to my surprise heard the temperatures for surrounding cities to my area.

The Apple Maps experience, whether in the default Weather app or other apps where it is used, has communicated items such as cities and streets for several years. However, things such as precipitation, temperature or air quality, which are all choices you can make to add to the map in the Weather app have not been communicated by VoiceOver in the past. Now they are.

The change is both simple and powerful. Now when you move your finger around the map or swipe from object to object on the map, you hear the overlay data. So as I sit here waiting for a forecasted six inches of snow, I can now drag my finger around and hear the precipitation chances for the cities around me.

Interestingly, when you zoom out, you can get a single temperature for a state or even a country.

Again as far as I know, this is a very recent change and one I find a welcome accessibility enhancement.

Published in Accessibility

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