Welcome to Enable Ireland’s latest AT Ezine, which focuses on switch access to mobile devices such as Tablets and iPads.

Although it is one of the most recent platforms upon which Assistive Technology is being delivered, in the last 5 years we have seen exponential growth in the number and range of solutions available on mobile devices. With the right selection of apps a tablet or smart phone can be the perfect technology to assist people in all kinds of tasks. Pretty much any AT that is available on a desktop or laptop computer is also available on a Mobile Operating System (OS) and because mobile devices also contain various sensors that can give information on location and context, they can be even more useful as AT.

The first step in providing an AT solution to somebody on any platform is of course ensuring they have easy and efficient access to that platform. In this issue of our eZine we will look at access options and supports that are available to people who use a switch for access. This can be either software or hardware (usually both). As we will see in the case of Apple iOS, which is found on the iPhone, iPod and iPad, much of the software is actually built into the OS and available to any user of the device. The other main mobile OS that we will be looking at is Android. There is a significantly different approach to accessibility in this OS, with most alternative access solutions being provided by third party developers. Once a user can access their mobile device they can use it to access services, control their environment, organise and increase productivity, personal security and communication.  We will also look at creative ways of enabling switch access for Windows 8 RT.

We hope you find this edition of our Ezine useful, and if you’d like to know more, why not visit our blog: www.atandme.com

Enjoy the summer!