The iPad Speaks for Itself

“A magical and revolutionary product at an unbelievable price.” That is how Apple describes its latest must have, the iPad. There is a lot more to this statement than meets the eye.

Apple’s magical revolution delivers, yet again, on Universal Access, and it just keeps getting better and better. Not only does the iPad make reading easy for people with seriously impaired vision, or no vision at all --- it makes reading easier for everyone!

You can make it your own with Zoom magnifying font to 40 pt., then turn the 10 inch screen to landscape and it gets even bigger. You can reverse the screen contrast to white-on-black, making it easy on the eyes. Or, just relax and listen with Voice Over.

If you do not see well, the iPad is equipped with all the features you want in an eBook reader. We need wait no longer for Amazon to deal with the shortcomings of its Kindle, although I’m sure they are scurrying to get it done now. That’s okay, that’s actually also good for everyone.

The fact that it looks like a big iPhone is a plus because I already know how to use it. On the bigger screen I can view (close up) many things I cannot see at all on my iPhone; photographs, movies, and TV. Email looks quite easy too, the key pad is jumbo.

And yes, the price is unbelievable, because it’s the same price for everyone. This is as it should be. Perhaps the days of obscenely priced, mediocre products in the assistive tech industry are coming to an end as well. Let the scurrying begin!

Add iPad to iPod, iPhone, Mac, and we are looking at a paradigm shift. Apple has reset the bar on accessibility and they are way ahead of the curve, addressing the needs of a huge demographic – the aging population.

Go to the nearest Apple store and see for yourself. I bet it makes you giddy!