At Apple’s autumn conference in September 2017, Zhu Zi from China unexpectedly appeared in the promotional video.

In the picture, Zhu Zi and her runner are running past the landmark buildings in Shanghai.

Zhu Zi’s full name is Zhu Peihua. He was born in 1989 and lives in Shanghai. Congenital genetics caused vision impairment, but this did not hinder his love for technological products. For example, when he is running for fitness, he will use Apple Watch for navigation, healthy heart rate and pace. Apple also took the initiative to contact him for this reason to shoot a promotional video.

When the video of the Apple press conference on September 12th just started, he was still switching live broadcast sources everywhere. Later, his phone kept vibrating, and his friends were more excited than him: "You are at the Apple press conference, hurry up." Look! ”

Zhu Zi cannot see, and he usually operates electronic products by hearing and touch. There are very few people in the visually impaired circle who pay attention to Apple's launch event like him. In the process of demonstrating daily App operations to Jiemian News reporters, he often said, "It's too slow, too slow."

When visually impaired people use mobile phones, they do not have any special version, but rely on screen reading software to read the information on the App. It can be said that screen reading software is their "eyes" - text content, operation buttons, and picture styles are all content that can be read.

There is a built-in screen reading function called Voice Over in iOS, which is called Talk Back in Android. There are also professional commercial screen reading software on the PC side, such as Zhengdu, etc.

The screen reading software relies entirely on the various labels on the App. If the app forgets to add tags during development, or the tags added are not compatible with the screen reading software, the read result will be "no tags added".

You can try it to see how difficult it is to read the screen.

Commonly used operating gestures are as follows: single click to read the screen content, double click to activate the item. Taking iOS as an example, open Settings/General/Accessibility/Voice Over, you can close your eyes and try it, and a new world begins.

The interface news reporter just wanted to find WeChat and open a chat window, so he tried for at least 5 minutes: he found the wrong WeChat tab countless times, it was not selected, it was not activated normally when it was selected, and he could not find the right person. , I accidentally opened a file system and started frantically reading the file contents, but I couldn't find where to return it. Finally, I had to pause VoiceOver through Siri and switch back to normal mode.

All this that makes us ordinary people unbearable is the normal life of the visually impaired. According to statistics from the China Disabled Persons' Federation, the number of visually impaired people in China is currently around 13 million, accounting for approximately 1% of the Chinese population.

On April 7, 2016, according to a "Basic Situation Report on Visually Impaired Internet Users in China" released by the Secretariat of the China Information Accessibility Products Alliance, 63% of visually impaired people believe that the Internet is of great value. Internet products have changed their lifestyles to a certain extent.

Technology has given them new eyes. But we can do better.

1. Life changed by the Internet

Zhuzi’s life was saved by Internet products.

When traveling, navigation maps are of great help. Don’t underestimate how simple it is to go out, it is a huge difficulty for many visually impaired people.

In the early days, Zhu Zi didn’t know many places and didn’t particularly dare to go. Not even knowing the basic directions, let alone the dangers on the road. Today's map navigation can at least provide a general direction; Didi can pick up Zhuzi at the door of the house; WeChat and Alipay solve the trouble of identifying banknotes.

Since using Dopod Windows Smart Phone in high school in 2007, Zhuzi’s growth has been accompanied by the rapid iterative updates of smart products. The mobile phone slowly changed from Android to Apple. When being interviewed by Jiemian reporter, Zhu Zi held the latest iPhone X.

In the iOS system, the screen-reading VoiceOver is the underlying service. Zhuzi can complete the entire process of a new iPhone from activation, configuration to normal use by himself. But on the Android system, because it needs to be equipped with third-party commercial screen reading software, you have to rely on friends to help install and activate it. Open the software before you can use it.

The bigger problem is that Android commercial screen reading software requires Root permissions.

In the past two years, as Android versions have become higher and higher, it has become more and more difficult to obtain Root permissions. No matter how many programs crash or freeze in the middle. Without saying a word, Zhu Zi's world returned to darkness.

The situation of various software companies is not much better. Nowadays, many apps still focus more on the beautiful interface. Many buttons and controls are drawn through graphics. It looks good, but it is not user-friendly and difficult to read for the visually impaired. For example, some OK and Cancel buttons are completely impossible to click.

Among them, e-commerce apps are even worse. E-commerce products attract users with large promotional information and colorful advertisements, and have poor compatibility with screen reading software. The experience is particularly bad for the visually impaired.

During the International Day of the Blind in October 2017, Cai Cong, a visually impaired person who became popular because of "Qi Pa Shuo Shuo", specially recorded a video to spread the concept of information accessibility. He deliberately mocked in the video, "I feel sorry for you. I only know that you have to watch so many ads after using an e-commerce app."

What made Zhuzi collapse the most was the verification code.

Verification code is a commonly used function of various website apps when registering and paying, in order to distinguish malicious interference from machines. But security and ease of use are inherently incompatible.

Image recognition verification codes are okay. Zhuzi can solve it by asking a friend to look at them, but when it comes to verification codes where the slider is dragged to any place, Zhuzi is really at a loss. It would be the greatest kindness to Zhuzi if the website was designed with the awareness of information accessibility and adding voice verification next to it.

At this point, the image verification of 12306 is the most complained about by users. Users with normal vision also have a high chance of making the wrong choice.

During the Spring Festival in January 2016, Chen Bin, a visually impaired person, was unable to purchase a train ticket back home through the 12306 website due to the obstruction of the graphic verification code. A complaint was filed against the Railway Corporation and three other units to Haidian, Beijing. The District People's Court requested the court to order the defendant unit to commit to transforming the website for information accessibility.

Hundreds of visually impaired people wrote a joint letter to the Railway Corporation, requesting information disclosure and optimizing the image verification model, but they have not received a reply.

Zhu Zi now has no choice but to use third-party ticket purchasing products, such as Ctrip, Fliggy, and Qunar, but there are often information delays and ticket issuance fails after payment is made; if you go to the train station to buy , you have to pay more time cost than others.

Mr. Tie is not the first case where the visually impaired people are unbearable and sue the company. Since 2013, visually impaired people have reported to NetEase Cloud Music through various channels that the product’s information accessibility is difficult to use. There was no response.

In 2015, with the outbreak of Apple’s XcodeGhost incident, the visually impaired once again posted on Weibo hoping that cloud music would be accessible. The person in charge of NetEase Cloud Music at the time, the person in charge on Weibo named "Shimu" finally appeared and gave a strong reply as follows:

Yun Music's arrogance and evasive attitude temporarily caused a war of words on Weibo. This lack of attention is evident from this.

2. Technology companies in action

Like NetEase Cloud Music’s reaction, many people have misunderstandings about the concept of “information accessibility” and believe that this group of people is small and unworthy Enterprises spend a lot of manpower and material resources, and the price-performance ratio is low.

What’s even more difficult is that most developers are not disabled and do not understand the needs of disabled people; in addition, accessibility is not considered a necessary process in the development and testing process, which leads to the inaccessibility of many apps. The obstacle situation cannot remain stable over time.

The term "information accessibility" is translated from "Accessibility", which means that anyone can obtain and use information equally, conveniently and without barriers under any circumstances. It is only in recent years that China has gradually begun to accept the concept of information accessibility.

Zhang Kun, chief expert of the Information Accessibility Research Association, told Jiemian News that around 2002, there were corresponding organizations in my country developing auxiliary tools for Chinese people with disabilities to use information technology; around 2006, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology organized Development targets website technical standards.

To date, there are 7 related standards including changes, and they are still being developed. Around 2008, information accessibility refers to assistive technologies, methods, and tools for people with disabilities to use computers and the Internet.

One of the most common misconceptions is that information accessibility is not just for the visually impaired.

Seniors, color-blind people, and anyone can benefit from information accessibility. It is a factor that should be taken into consideration from the beginning of product design, and is related to the concept and awareness of the product manager.

Gu Linglei, a visually impaired engineer, mentioned in a comment that if a product does not support the use of a certain group of people from the beginning, it is a huge bug in itself.

“This is more about the concept. If the manufacturer sees it as an improvement in the usability of a product, it will not only be for the visually impaired, but also reflect the value of a product.” Information None Liu Biao, technical director of the Obstacle Research Association, told Jiemian News.

According to a sample survey of persons with disabilities conducted by the China Disabled Persons' Federation in 2015, there are currently more than 16.91 million people with visual impairments in my country. Due to the relatively low threshold for using mobile devices and their good ease of use, currently using iPhone and other devices to access the Internet has become a major source of information for the visually impaired.

Compared with ordinary users, visually impaired users are more dependent on such devices and apps on the devices, and have higher loyalty.

DingTalk product engineer Xu Mo believes that product information accessibility is not that complicated. It's not a "blind version" developed from scratch. Instead, the product is optimized and labeled with a label that is easy to recognize by screen reading software.

DingTalk’s support for screen reading was not good at first. When the Shenzhen Information Accessibility Research Association found DingTalk and raised a bug, the DingTalk team realized that modifications were needed.

For about a month, the DingTalk product team spent a lot of spare time to go through the entire process. The version of DingTalk is updated quickly, usually every three weeks. The Shenzhen Information Accessibility Research Association will send out test results every few months, and the DingTalk team will regularly fix bugs and update continuously.

But starting from the first accessibility version and ending from 0 to 1, product managers will naturally consider the need for information accessibility in each version update.

On November 7, Smartisan Technology held an autumn new product launch conference in Chengdu and released the latest system Smartisan OS 4.1, which brought 131 new features and 63 optimizations. One of them is the Accessibility Mode 1.0beta version specially designed for people with disabilities. Smartisan Technology has also introduced the concept of "information accessibility" to ordinary users for the first time.

Zhu Xiaomu, product director of Smartisan, told Jiemian News that in addition to the standard screen reading functions of ordinary mobile phones, Smartisan mobile phones have three designs specifically for the visually impaired:

Zhu Zi told Interface journalists, open a picture. Although the current VoiceOver cannot read out particularly specific information, it can tell a general picture, including the shooting time, model, and general screen information. For example: poodle, text at the top, full-width slash 95, center of the screen, etc. Similar descriptions. There is no way to give a particularly precise description.

“When our engineers hear that this product is for the visually impaired, they will cooperate very actively and even work overtime. They have a strong sense of team identity and think this is a great cause. This was something we had not expected before. Working overtime is also a spontaneous act with a good attitude, which helps our company's team cohesion," said Zhu Xiaomu.

However, the current situation of most domestic mobile phone manufacturers is that when Google itself made Android, it integrated accessibility features, but many customized versions of the system in China removed these features, so many manufacturers initially , this part is missing.

There are still only a few companies like Hammer and DingTalk that can communicate smoothly with the Information Accessibility Research Association and make accessibility improvements. Zhang Kun, chief expert of the research association, told Jiemian News, “Many products have not integrated information accessibility into the necessary processes of product development and maintenance, and it is difficult for accessibility to maintain a sustained and stable state.”

3. To live, not just survive

Now Zhuzi works in an experience center called "Dialogue in the Dark" as an experience guide. Pay attention to the progress of information accessibility. There are professional light-proofing measures in the experience hall.

Interface News reporter once experienced eating in a completely dark environment. When you feel fear in the dark, you need to mobilize all your body's sensory abilities to identify what kind of food it is and where it is. That kind of concentration and feeling is something we never experience when we are holding our mobile phones and eating carelessly.

Zhu Zi hopes that through the experience of darkness, users can cherish the opportunity of light more.

Once, when Zhuzi went to the supermarket to buy something, he encountered a salesperson who abruptly asked him: "Can I get a massage cheaper at your place?" In the minds of ordinary people, "massage for the blind" is a term for many visually impaired people. main employment opportunities for the population.

This job of guide was obtained by Zhu Zi after more than two years of internship and various interviews and trainings. Now, with the popularization of information accessibility, more and more visually impaired groups have more choices and employment opportunities.

Cai Yongbin is the testing director of Shenzhen Information Accessibility Research Association. Visually impaired people need more study time than ordinary people to engage in professional testing work. At the craziest time, Cai Yongbin started learning code from 6-7 am every day until 6-7 pm. After memorizing 300 lines of code, "I have been thinking about this in my dreams."

In early 2014, Cai Yongbin "saw" on the Internet that the Information Accessibility Research Association was recruiting visually impaired engineers nationwide. After the resume interview, I successfully entered the industry. In 2014, the concept of information accessibility in China was not yet popular, and the products at that time, including Taobao and Alipay, were difficult to use. There are also very few products tested through cooperation.

Up to now, there are at least 30-40 products related to Shenzhen Information Accessibility Research Association. But discovering bugs, finding bugs, asking questions about the product, and optimizing the user experience for the visually impaired are endless tasks. In essence, it is no different from the continuous improvement of the user experience of any product.

The early interaction method was very simple and crude. Maybe just one or two moves. Nowadays, the operation method is very different by long pressing, pulling sideways, and using two fingers. In Cai Yongbin’s vision, the user experience for visually impaired people in the future will be closer and closer to that of able-bodied people. In the future, wearable devices will be added to make up for more sensory deficiencies.

Due to the high learning costs and technical threshold, the employment of visually impaired engineers still accounts for a very small proportion. Among the employment training provided by the Disabled Persons' Federation, massage is still the main focus, and some people may also be engaged in jobs similar to piano tuners. Test engineers open up new employment channels for them, but this is not enough.

“I have too few choices. If my eyesight is good, I can choose painting and photography. But now, it is still too narrow. Among such few choices, IT is my favorite ." Cai Yongbin said helplessly.

According to Zhu Zi, Apple occasionally recruits visually impaired employees, and Tencent sometimes recruits visually impaired test groups when developing apps. However, many tests do not recruit full-time employees, but only part-time testing before the product is launched.

According to Zhang Kun, chief expert of the Information Accessibility Research Association, in developed countries such as Europe and the United States, there are mandatory legal requirements, and information accessibility has become a norm that Internet companies must consider.

In terms of basic law, there is the Disability Discrimination Act, which requires the government to achieve barrier-free access in industries and fields such as communications, information technology, transportation, education, etc. Section 508 was also introduced to provide the greatest support and policy encouragement for government procurement of accessible services and products. At the same time, various industry authorities will also issue relevant regulations to provide guidance and support for accessibility. For example, in the communications industry, there is the "21st Century Communications and Video Technology Accessibility Act", which provides accessibility guidance and policy support directions.

Information accessibility should be a right, not a favor. These mandatory and policy-encouraging regulations are a booster for the development of information accessibility. However, the country has not yet formed complete policies and industry regulations, and there is even a lack of professional talents.

For each of us: No matter how healthy we are, there will be times when we grow old, when we have difficulty receiving information, and when family and friends need help. Therefore, the significance of information accessibility is not only to allow people with disabilities to have equal opportunities to integrate into society, but also to you and me.