by Daniel Parker, RDPFS Contributor:
On July 27, 2024, David Goodwin, founder of AppleVis, announced that the site would be closing by August 31st. Founded in 2010, AppleVis is an independent, third-party resource where people with vision loss who use Apple products share tips and best practices to make the most of their devices. The site also contains a directory of accessible apps submitted by users, and the editorial team has released monthly lists of standout apps curated from this directory. In his blog post about the impending closure, Goodwin cited the personal costs incurred by running the site nearly single-handedly; the non viability of the all-volunteer model; and an increasingly volatile environment in the forums as reasons for this decision. “Maintaining AppleVis has essentially been a full-time responsibility for me since I founded it in 2010 — a commitment I’ve undertaken entirely on a voluntary and unpaid basis,” he wrote. “This level of dedication has demanded countless hours of work encompassing nearly every aspect of AppleVis’ operations…While I’ve been largely happy to make this commitment, driven by our mission and the positive impact we’ve had on the community, it has come at significant personal cost.” He acknowledged that being the only point person for technical issues meant that the team had no viable succession options if he were to step down. The decision is a shock to many users. As exemplified by this episode of the podcast Double Tap and this open letter, many in the community and on social media are trying to find ways to rescue AppleVis, but there is no official plan as of this writing. Goodwin suggests taking the time now to save what you need from the 14 years of archives before the site, currently in a read-only mode, goes offline permanently. Note, however, that archives of AppleVis are available in perpetuity at the Wayback Machine, which archives websites at different times and provides a way to access those that have been taken down. More information can be found in the links above.
