Introducing CoBrowse AI Beta on AppleVis and Inviting Community Participation and Feedback

We are excited to introduce a new beta feature on the AppleVis website and would like community feedback to shape its direction and potential implementation.

Many in the AppleVis community may already be familiar with InnoSearch, an online shopping platform designed with a focus on accessibility. InnoSearch's latest offering, CoBrowse AI, seeks to harness the power of conversational voice commands and artificial intelligence to help blind and low vision users more easily navigate websites. We have recently been testing this technology on AppleVis with a small number of users in our community, and we are today launching a public beta as we continue to evaluate a potential CoBrowse AI implementation on AppleVis.

While we believe that the AppleVis website offers both a good and accessible experience, navigating our and any other website with a screen reader does require a certain level of technological proficiency--meaning that AppleVis' resources and community are out of reach for a subset of people who, potentially, could stand to benefit most from what we offer. We also want to evaluate whether CoBrowse AI could make our website easier to use for people who rely on voice-based technologies (like Voice Control, Siri, or Dictation) for some or all of their device interactions.

What is CoBrowse AI?

Developed by the team at InnoSearch, CoBrowse AI is a multilingual, navigational AI assistant that was created to help blind and low vision users more easily use websites on which it is implemented. Through voice or text input, CoBrowse AI users can perform a variety of tasks on the AppleVis website; such as reading the latest posts, writing posts and comments, searching for apps or information, and any other things one may wish to do. CoBrowse AI supports multiple languages, and we are very interested in feedback from users whose heart language is something other than English.

Unlike mainstream AI agents which open sessions as a virtual machine, CoBrowse AI works right in a user's browser and only on the websites on which it is implemented. CoBrowse AI is implemented through a lightweight java script that developers install on websites, meaning that it does not and cannot control your computer or device outside of the browser window and website on which it is being used.

We believe that CoBrowse AI may have particular value for people who rely on voice-based technologies for some or all of their smartphone/computer use, as well as for those who are newly blind or who have limited screen reader/technological proficiency. We also believe CoBrowse AI may have value for people who are interested in shaping the future of AI agents and similar technologies.

It is important to note that this public beta program is specifically for CoBrowse AI on AppleVis. AppleVis does not and will not have information about InnoSearch's plans for CoBrowse AI outside of our platform. Also, please be aware that CoBrowse AI is not a conversational AI assistant like ChatGPT or Gemini; its purpose is to help users navigate and interact with websites using only their voice, and, hopefully, make the web more accessible to more people.

Below are some examples of possible commands that could be used with CoBrowse AI on AppleVis:

• “Open the main menu, and tell me what's there.”
• “Go to the homepage, then go to the ‘Latest Apple Posts and Updates’ heading and read what's below that.”
• “Scroll down until I reach the comments section.”
• “Press the Search button, and search for ‘Seeing AI’ and read me the results.”
• “Take me to the Blog and tell me the title of the latest post.”
• “Open the menu, click on the 'More' button, then click on the ‘Guides & Tutorials' link.”
• “Navigate to the 'Add New Comment' heading and take me to the 'Subject' field.”
• “Take me to the comment field so I can dictate a comment.”
• “Reread the comment in its entirety.”
• “Press the 'Post' Button.”

CoBrowse AI and Privacy

User privacy is a fundamental priority at AppleVis. AppleVis and InnoSearch do not collect any personally identifiable information from users of CoBrowse AI. CoBrowse AI voice chats are anonymized and transcribed into text by InnoSearch, and these anonymous text transcripts are used by InnoSearch to improve the CoBrowse AI product. InnoSearch does not store any voice recordings. AppleVis does not and will not have access to transcripts of your chats with CoBrowse AI, nor do we wish to do so. InnoSearch will provide AppleVis with anonymized and aggregated usage information, which will help inform us on uptake and efficacy of CoBrowse AI and help us determine whether to move forward with a pilot program for all AppleVis users in the future.

About the CoBrowse AI on AppleVis Public Beta

For this public beta, we are looking for AppleVis community members who either (1) Use voice-based technologies (Siri, Voice Control, etc.) for some or all of their device interactions; or (2) have a strong interest in interactive AI-based technologies and how these technologies can be used to empower and make the web more accessible for people who are blind, DeafBlind, or who have low vision. We are also very interested in feedback from assistive technology trainers or others in the blindness field, as we believe CoBrowse AI may have significant value for new users who are not connected with our or similar resources. Finally, if you speak a language other than English and are interested in helping us test this technology, we would greatly appreciate your efforts.

Testers will be asked to use CoBrowse AI in their daily interactions with the AppleVis website and to provide open feedback on their experience. Feedback will be anonymized and sent to InnoSearch for review and product improvement. Our experience has been that the team at InnoSearch is incredibly responsive to user-submitted feedback. As CoBrowse AI evolves, users will be asked to test and provide input on the changes being made.

Important Notes

By participating in the CoBrowse AI beta, you acknowledge that you understand the following:

• Participation in the CoBrowse beta is voluntary, and users should expect to receive no financial recompense for their involvement.
• As with all AI-based technologies, it is possible that some outputs the system generates may be unexpected, inaccurate, disturbing, and/or offensive. In the unlikely event that the system generates disturbing or offensive content, users are asked to immediately report the occurrence to the AppleVis Team.
• CoBrowse AI on AppleVis is in beta, and the outcome of this expanded round of community testing/feedback, along with anonymized usage information, will influence whether or not we move forward with a pilot program for all website users. The existence of CoBrowse AI in beta on AppleVis should not be taken as a guarantee that the feature will be made publicly available.
• CoBrowse AI is implemented on a per-website basis, and this beta program is only for CoBrowse AI on AppleVis. AppleVis does not and will not have information about InnoSearch's implementation of CoBrowse AI outside of our platform.
• AppleVis reserves the right to discontinue the CoBrowse AI Beta Program for any reason, with or without notice.

How to Participate

If you would like to participate in the CoBrowse AI on AppleVis public beta, please complete the form below. Please note that you will need to be logged-in to the AppleVis website to access and complete the form. Additionally, please ensure that the email address on your AppleVis account is up-to-date, as this is how we will contact you. All account-related options (including logging in and account management) are available by opening the Main Menu at the top of the page and navigating to the 'Account' button. Upon receiving your information, we will be in touch at the email address on file with next steps in the coming days.

We look forward to this expanded round of beta testing of CoBrowse AI on AppleVis and appreciate all those who participate.