AppleVis Goes… Corporate?
If you are not blind, you may have never heard of AppleVis. AppleVis is a website dedicated to meeting the needs of blind technology users, offering user guides, tutorials on the latest accessibility features, updates on bugs and workarounds, as well as blog posts and a forum where users can share their experiences with digital environments.
After fourteen years of dedicated service, AppleVis has concluded its journey, or has it?" What began as a vibrant and vital resource for technology users with disabilities has now reached an unexpected transition. On July 27, David Goodwin froze the site, announcing that it would remain in "read-only" mode through August 30, when it would be shut down permanently. Citing the ever-growing responsibilities of maintaining the site, which ultimately clashed with his personal life and well-being, Mr. Goodwin had been hand-coding and self-hosting the website instead of using a more sustainable option like WordPress, while never preparing anyone else to take the helm. This made him indispensable and left the site in a precarious position.
In his closing remarks, Mr. Goodwin praised Apple’s accessibility team while acknowledging the increasing criticisms on AppleVis, citing them as a significant factor in the site’s closure." It's true that not all posts on AppleVis were constructive. "Where there is trauma, there will be drama." Some comments, like the one stating, “Anyone who has the Vision Pro, if you try it once and find any use in it, I'll give my dead grandmother CPR to come back to life,” were less about problem-solving and more about expressing frustration. Yet, the vast majority of interactions were aimed at supporting those who struggle. It's worth noting that negative and unconstructive comments are not unique to the disability community; such comments are common on platforms like Yelp, yet those sites do not face similar shutdowns.
Just a few weeks earlier, on June 4th, AppleVis made the significant and bold decision to expand its forums to include non-Apple topics—a move that was widely applauded by the community. However, this expansion left many users questioning the timing: Why broaden the scope only to shut down the site shortly afterward? It remains unclear whether the closure was a reactive decision driven by immediate pressures or if it was the first step in a broader plan.
Public forums like AppleVis often provide the visibility necessary for addressing digital environment accessibility. The community, feeling like a "conquered people huddled around the tree of souls," quickly migrated to other spaces, including the Our Blind Reddit group. In a post titled “AppleVis Shuts Down: Where Do We Go From Here?” users expressed gratitude for AppleVis’s service but also criticized its fragility, acknowledging the challenges of maintaining a site that depended so heavily on one person. They pointed out the presence of toxic trolls but also felt that moderation efforts were sometimes "too soft."
As the initial praise waned, discussions turned to frustration over the handling of the shutdown. Many were upset that the site had been put into read-only mode so abruptly, preventing the community from saying proper goodbyes. Editorial team members explained their exhaustion and reiterated that content removal could only be requested by its author. Offers from community members to take on the responsibilities in managing the site where rebuffed and underscored the lingering sense of loss, summarized in one user’s poignant reflection:
Just to be clear, I'm not trying to downplay all the effort and sacrifices that David and the rest of the AppleVis team made over the last 14 years, and I can understand why David just doesn't want to continue with it anymore, but from my point of view, this is just the latest example of the blind community being shafted in the end. The worst part of this is that it could be avoided. It isn't like David had a sudden fatal accident, the server got destroyed, or anything else happened that would make AppleVis continuing in some form 100% impossible. However, since the stars and planets don't align perfectly, any solution isn't good enough. I guess it really shouldn't surprise me. Maybe that's not fair, but when you consider that we still have to fight for basic accessibility because people don't care unless it benefits them financially or they don't want to be sued, when well-intentioned but ignorant sighted people try to help but they don't have the slightest idea of what they're doing and don't include us in the process so they end up making things worse, or when valuable resources simply vanish because people aren't willing to let go and let someone else run things, I think you might understand where this is coming from.”
In response, someone with the username LegalProfessional86, noted, “There are some amazing resources, and it would be a shame to lose the list of accessible apps. I'm going to create a shared folder over the weekend and start compiling some documents.” Then, almost as if on cue, Mr. Goodwin posted an update at the bottom of his forum announcement, hinting, “Watch this space—exciting news coming soon!”
On August 28, Mr. Goodwin replaced his original post with an announcement that Be My Eyes would be acquiring the site. He stressed that this was not a financial transaction. However, given the numerous volunteers willing to take on responsibilities to keep the site operational, why hand the site over to corporate control? Couldn’t there have been an alternative, such as forming a non-profit to support the editorial team members rather than ceding the community’s hard-built resource?
Only time will reveal whether these changes align with the best interests of blind users, but current actions raise questions about whether that is truly the intended goal. Nonetheless, there is hope that AppleVis, under its new leadership, will continue to uplift and champion the voices of the community it was created to serve.