People with disabilities can now find special equipment to suit their needs under the newly launched "Accessibility" section in Apple's online store.
Products found under this new category include accessories for Mac, iPad and iPhone devices specially designed to cater to the needs of people with vision, physical or learning impairments.
Rumors about Apple possibly selling such specialty items began circulating as early as the latter part of 2015. However, many of these speculations focused on the tech company offering the products through its retail outlets only.
Having the new accessories available through the online store is a welcomed development that would help make shopping for such products much easier and convenient for consumers with disabilities.
Apple is also providing a Personal Pickup option for the new specialty items for customers who live within the vicinity of an Apple Store.
Some of the products featured under the Accessibility category include the HumanWare Brailliant BI 32 Braille Display. This accessory allows people with vision impairments to navigate through OS X or iOS using a lightweight braille keyboard that connects to Apple devices through Bluetooth.
Another new product is the Skoog 2.0 Tactile Musical Interface for the iPad, which features multi-purpose buttons arranged on a five-sided cube. This accessory is designed to promote "expressive music making" through the help of responsive sounds made by tapping, twisting or squeezing the Skoog cube.
Apple's decision to focus on people with disabilities is expected to allow the company to expand its reach to a wider segment of consumers. So far, the Apple online store only has a limited selection of specialty items, but it is likely that the company will add more products to support the needs of customers with impairments.
This new campaign from one of the biggest tech companies in the world reinforces the idea that technology is an important tool that helps disabled consumers as well as those with special needs.