Apple to Redesign iTunes for the Blind

Apple has agreed to redesign iTunes to make the popular music app easier to use for the blind, at the behest of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, according to AppScout.

The request began when the National Federation of the Blind asked Coakley to assist in the endeavor. Coakley then told Apple that its inaccessibility to the blind found the company in violation of both the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Massachusetts Equal Rights Act, according to the article.

The next version of iTunes will be compatible with several screen readers that are often used by the blind to translate on-screen text into audio soundbites. First up is the iTunes U service, which will be ready by the end of the year, followed by iTunes itself by mid-2009, the report said. Apple will also donate $250k to the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind.

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Tim Devane (bitly), and SocialTimes' writer Devon Glenn.   Register now.