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Apple brings coding education for the blind to UK students

Apple's Everyone Can Code programme will expand in the UK - here students are seen using its software at a blind school in Texas - Apple
Apple's Everyone Can Code programme will expand in the UK - here students are seen using its software at a blind school in Texas - Apple

Coding is not something that has been readily open to people with disabilities, particularly those who have limited sight.

But now, blind and partially sighted students could benefit from a future in coding through iPhones and iPads.

The Royal National Institute of the Blind is launching a new initiative with Apple, bringing the company's coding programme for blind students to schools in the UK.

In a speech today at Bett, the teaching technology trade show, Apple's head of accessibility Sarah Herrlinger will lay out the tech giant's plan to bring more coding tools to blind children in schools.

While smartphones and gadgets could be seen to alienate some blind and deaf people, many tech companies have worked to build in features like screen readers or specialised hearing devices.

Apple's Everyone Can Code scheme introduces students to Swift, the coding language used on iOS for iPhones.

Apple Everyone CAn Code
Everyone Can Code's software helps blind and partially sighted students with voice over software

Its coding education software, Swift Playgrounds, features built-in accessibility voice overs that can talk to blind users during the exercises and games.

Schools will also be provided with braille-based books that include diagrams and instructions on how the levels of the coding program work. The coding software also works with braille displays, that allow blind people to feel information that is being displayed on screens. The software will be available for all schools in the UK that take part in Apple's coding scheme, potentially benefiting thousands of students.

“We’ve looked at how we get more blind students coding and are adding these new resources to the mix.  No one should have a point where someone says no, you can’t do that because of your disability,” Herrlinger said.

Apple's smartphones have included screen reading technology, called Voice Over, since 2009, and iOS devices are used by around 70pc of blind or partially sighted smartphone users.

Apple has also worked with fellow tech giant Microsoft on apps that can help blind users. These include the iPhone app Seeing AI, developed by Microsoft's artificial intelligence team in the UK, which can help narrate the world around a blind user so they can identify scenes or read pieces of text.

An Apple accessibility engineer, Dean Hudson, who is blind, demonstrated how Seeing AI could be used to read out the text from a receipt. Another app was used to help blind users identify different pound and dollar notes.

The Cupertino company expanded its school coding programme to disabled students last year, although this is the first time it will be available for blind students in the UK.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said of the programme last year: “We hope to bring Everyone Can Code to even more schools around the world serving students with disabilities.”