This week we’re talking about the ways we use technology and how people without the full use of their body or senses might have trouble with some things we take for granted. One of the things I use everyday that I think could easily be made more usable for those with special needs is the iPod. It’s primed for some assistive tech upgrades already, and Apple has shown at least a passing interest in such things.

Let’s start with hearing. Obviously, someone without the ability to hear wouldn’t need an iPod for music, but at the moment, they wouldn’t be able to use it for video, either, as there is no support for closed-captioning on the iPod, even with iTunes-purchased video. Although it’s possible to rip DVDs with captions on, that’s technically illegal under the DMCA, making it impossible to get captioned videos on an iPod. Offering captioning on iTunes video purchases seems trivial - there’s already a way to queue chapters in a video, so it would seem like some enterprising hacker could figure out a way to display text on the bottom of the screen timed to what’s going on in the video, and clearly Apple themselves could provide an elegant solution. This would also be great for noisy environments, or when using your headphones isn’t desirable.

Making easily readable text on the small screen might be an issue, which is perhaps why Apple has not introduced captions yet. Surely as they begin to sell foreign films on iTunes, some sort of solution will have to be available, and we can only hope that they will offer it for all content. This is a major concern with the shift to consuming most of our video on the internet - virtually none of it is captioned, either for use without sound or for other languages.

Next, let’s look at sight: at the moment, a blind person would not be able to use an iPod, because referencing the screen when navigating is necessary. The simple solution, and one which many sighted people would use, too, would be to have the iPod speak the menu items as you scroll. Perhaps it could just speak the letters when scrolling through long lists quickly, or only speak when you slow down, just as we do when scanning visually. Although the screen-less iPod shuffle would pose less of a problem, iTunes would still be a hurdle, though that encompasses all of the many issues involved with all computer use.

Finally, there’s the issue of control without full use of one’s hands. The answer to this is obvious, as it’s been available for cell phones for years now: voice control. Apple has actually filed a patent for voice navigation of the iPod, so we know that it is technically feasible to index and query the entire database with voice commands. Once again, this is a feature that many people who can use their hands would find useful as well - surely someone at Apple has tried to use a scroll wheel with gloves on?

There you have it: closed captioning for video and audible feedback with voice commands for navigation would not only make the iPod useable for a wider audience, but also make it a more flexible tool for its current users.