Taste the Apples

On 6 January 2011, the British Computer Association of the Blind and Royal National Institute of Blind People hosted an EyeT4All day showing the powerful, easy to use, and free access features of the Apple range of products. The great thing about Apple access is that it is built-in and provided as standard at no extra cost. The day was aimed at blind or partially sighted new and potential users of Apple products.

The January event took place at RNIB's headquarters in London, and was organised following the success of a similar day in Birmingham in July 2010.

Each event consisted of two streams, one trying out the speech features of Voiceover and the other focusing more on magnification.

For the London event, separate rooms were available for short one-to-one sessions on an iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, iMac, or MacBook.

The presenters for each day included an Apple associate, experienced users and BCAB certified trainers.

There was a charge of £50 for participation, to cover the travel costs of the presenters - who gave their time for free - and lunch. Both events sold out quickly, and the feedback gathered was uniformly positive. This has prompted BCAB and RNIB to consider hosting further events at locations around the country.

For information about future events, please contact Dr. Mike Townsend, president@bcab.org.uk or +447967658028, or Steve Griffiths, steve.griffiths@rnib.org.uk.