On May 13, ahead of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD), Apple hosted a Today at Apple event at the Apple Tianhuan Plaza store in Guangzhou, where a special band from Guangzhou, Jazzy Pie, shared their stories with Apple and introduced the use of some Apple products in accessibility and more.
Spotlight the jazzy world of Jazzy Pie and how it was created, and learn how Apple empowers people with accessibility needs. You'll also enjoy a great live show.
Jazzy Pie's Inclusive Orchestra is an integrated jazz orchestra composed of young people with special educational needs such as autism and visual impairment. Jazzy expresses the pursuit of jazz music, and secondly, the yearning for a free and diverse spirit of the earth; Pie is a food with a lot of variety and imagination, and using it as a band name means that the possibilities are endless. Accompanied by professional jazz musicians, Jazzy Pie learned along the way, and his playing style also changed from pop to jazz.
About Apple's accessibility features
At Apple, we believe that products are designed for everyone. We always strive to produce the best products and also strive to make our products meet everyone's needs. From the very beginning of the product design phase, we have taken into account the need for accessibility and built accessibility into the device. With Apple's advanced hardware, software, and machine learning capabilities, people who are blind or mildly visually impaired can use the door detection to guide them through the final steps to their destination with their iPhone or iPad. Accessibility features such as voice control and switch control allow users with physical or motor impairments to fully control their Apple Watch using Apple Watch mirroring on their iPhone; People who are deaf and hard of hearing can watch live captions on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Apple has been strengthening its ties with the local community. This month, we're hosting 350 Today at Apple-related events in retail stores across Greater China, including three weeks of "Tips: Get More Help with iPhone" and accessibility sessions hosted by Apple partners, guest led sessions, and year-round group appointments to focus on product use and training for people with special needs. Through these in-store classes, we help our partners in special groups and customers in need to better understand and use accessibility.
Apple has also been fostering a blended employment environment. Apple's workforce is as diverse as its customers, and we have nearly 80 employees with disabilities in more than 40 retail stores across Greater China. Apple is also working to make the workplace more accessible, both "hardware" and "software": for example, through AppleCare and retail stores, we have trained thousands of employees in sign language in more than 40 cities in Greater China. We are also constantly optimizing the hardware in our office space to facilitate colleagues with reduced mobility.