Can Accessibility become a Casualty of War as the battle between Apple and Samsung rages on?
 |
| Smartphones: Can you tell the difference? |
The new tech war between Apple and Samsung entered a
new sphere of operations recently when a German Court Judge ordered the
suspension of an injunction that
argued that Apple's VoiceOver screen-access facility infringed one of Samsung’s
patents.
In looking more closely at the background to this
case, it is clear that Samsung and Apple appear happy to rage through
international courts to score points against each other. Over the past
two years industry observers have been witness to the
intensifying competition between two of the world’s two largest SmartPhone
manufacturers that has now seen them go head to head incourts across the
world over patents and
copyright infringements.
It appears now, that both tech giants are happy to go
head to head without particular attention to or consideration for users of
their respective phones. This may have always been the case, as gaining a
market share by any means possible appears to appeal to those in the Boardrooms
of large corporations if not to the general ordinary user.
Previous rulings have resulted in an Australian court
temporarily banning the sale of Samsung's iPad alternative the Galaxy Tab
agreeing that the Korean product infringes an Apple patent.
Apple has also managed to win similar injunctions
against some Samsung products in Germany and the Netherlands, and continues to
seek ways of blocking sales of Samsung models in the United States.
Although Apple appear to be winning the current
battles, it would appear
that this war is not over yet.
A comprehensive detailing of the ongoing issues have
been well documented online, but until now most of us in the Assistive
Technology industry probably only paid scant attention.
The latest in their disagreements has however, brought
it home to us how we have come to depend on these so called Tech Giants to
ensure accessibility for consumers with disabilities.
Access to mainstream technology has long been the
desire of the majority of us working in the domain of Assistive Technology,
encouraging manufacturers to incorporate accessible solutions and to design
products with Universality in mind can and does provide equity of access for
many consumers with a disability.
People with a Disability have been at the forefront of
promoting the additional accessibility and or functionality offered to them on
new Smartphones. Many of the tech-reviews and related blogs have
heralded one new accessibility measure after another and have created a healthy
debate about the relative merits of the Apple OS and Android OS in terms of
what they offer users with different abilities.
In particular, operating system additions such as
VoiceOver on iPhone suddenly made some of the most desirable technology on the
market accessible for people who have vision impairments.
We at Mada have observed a massive take up in
Smartphones by the Blind and Visually Impaired Community in Qatar following the
release of Voice Over in Arabic. This has to be a good thing not just for
People with Vision Impairments but also for Smartphone manufacturers. The
massive increase in uptake of these devices must surely include first time
smartphone purchasers who have disabilities.
The last thing that People with a Disability need
right now is their faith in technology manufacturers to be eroded further
living in fear that the technology that makes Smartphones usable might be taken
away.
The latest dispute between Apple and Samsung has been
over arguments about patents that relate directly to Mobile Device
Accessibility. In the proceedings recently heard by a German court,
Samsung argues that the VoiceOver screen access technology directly violated
one of its patents pertaining to screen data.
To summarize a very complex set or legal arguments,
it appears that Samsung are in possession of a patent that allows mobile
devices to read text aloud to their users with the press of a button. The
company further asserted that Apple’s VoiceOver solution designed to make the
Apple iOS accessible for people with vision impairment infringed their patent.
In the past companies have argued about financial
compensation in such cases, what made this particular spat so worrying was that
Samsung appear to have sought a ruling that would effectively have prevented
Apple from providing the VoiceOver functionality on their phones, thereby
making the phones inaccessible for blind or visually impaired users and also
making it more difficult for dyslexic users.
For those intrigues by the details of this case,
patent consultant Florian Muller presents a detailed overview on his blog.
It has to be a worrying development that companies
are ready to deny access to not only competitor technology, but by extension
access to the information or knowledge society in an effort to score points and
potentially gain a short term increase in market share.
Let us hope that the judiciary and courts across the
world continue, as in this recent case, to see sense and to ensure that people
with a disability do not become casualties in a Smartphone war that appears to
care little about consumers.
For more on this case click on this link,: http://allthingsd.com/20130222/samsungs-ill-conceived-apple-voiceover-suit-stayed-in-germany/#sthash.eeeOMWJz.dpuf
No comments:
Post a Comment