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{"id":9960,"date":"2022-07-15T14:47:30","date_gmt":"2022-07-15T14:47:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/07\/15\/tech-journalisms-accessibility-problem\/"},"modified":"2022-07-15T14:47:31","modified_gmt":"2022-07-15T14:47:31","slug":"tech-journalisms-accessibility-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/07\/15\/tech-journalisms-accessibility-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech journalism\u2019s accessibility problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/23205223\/tech-journalism-accessibility-assistive-coverage<\/a>
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Six years ago, Apple introduced the touch bar<\/a>, a thin touchscreen strip that replaced the usual row of function buttons on its MacBook Pros. To say it has been controversial would be an understatement. <\/p>\n

Among tech media\u2019s elite, it\u2019s one of the most widely and consistently bemoaned gadget features in recent memory. \u201cIn several years it\u2019ll just be a useless appendage, like the last protohuman with a tail,\u201d Engadget<\/em> wrote<\/a> in its review of the most recent MacBook Pro. \u201cApple\u2019s Touch Bar was an expensive gimmick, and I hated it as much as the disastrous butterfly keyboard,\u201d CNET <\/em>wrote<\/a> in a column last year. Different Verge <\/em>reviewers have referred to the little touchscreen strip as \u201chopelessly confused\u201d, \u201cbaffling\u201d, \u201cdreaded,\u201d \u201caggravating\u201d, and \u201cinfinitely worse than a hard button\u201d at various points in its life. To a bystander, it would appear that everyone in the market for a MacBook finds the thing wholly useless. <\/p>\n

Everyone, that is, except accessibility-minded writers like Steven Aquino. Aquino, who is disabled, finds laptop keyboards difficult to use, due both to the fine motor skills required to perform the shortcuts and to the cognitive load required to remember them. The touch bar allows him to access in one tap features that would otherwise require multiple \u2014 everything from sending emails to selecting emojis. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat the company packed so much functionality for disabled people in that thin strip of screen is nothing short of remarkable,\u201d Aquino, a freelance journalist who covers accessibility, wrote in a column for Forbes<\/em><\/a>. <\/p>\n

As the touch bar has persisted through several cycles of MacBook Pro, with laptop reviewers unanimously complaining every step of the way, Aquino has been pleading with the public (and with his fellow tech writers) to understand how much the touch bar has benefitted him. Being its champion hasn\u2019t been easy \u2014 at times, he\u2019s felt like \u201ca lone ranger.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I talk about it, people say to me how stupid I am,\u201d Aquino tells me, voice cracking with emotion as he relayed the story over the phone. \u201cThat strip of tech has some really helpful accessibility to it. And nobody talked about it. They all just hated on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aquino\u2019s frustration is hardly an uncommon one among journalists who are currently covering this rapidly evolving beat. Over 25 percent<\/a> of US adults have a disability, but rigorous and centralized accessibility information is still hard to find for even the biggest tech releases. I asked accessibility-focused writers across the tech and gaming space how the media industry can better cover assistive technology, and the answer, it turns out, is that it\u2019s a bit too early to be asking that question. The biggest outlets aren\u2019t consistently covering it, many of the writers felt. They should start doing so.<\/p>\n

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