Introducing CoBrowse AI Beta in AppleVis and Inviting Community Participation and Input

We’re excited to introduce new beta features on the AppleVis website and want input from the community to determine their 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 newest offering, CoBrowse AI, seeks to harness the power of conversational voice commands and artificial intelligence to help blind and visually impaired users more easily navigate websites. We recently tested this technology in AppleVis with a small number of users in our community, and today we launched a public beta while continuing to evaluate the potential implementation of AI CoBrowse in AppleVis.

While we believe that the AppleVis website offers a good and accessible experience, navigating our website and other websites with a screen reader does require a certain level of technological proficiency–meaning the AppleVis community and resources are beyond the reach of the group of people who, potentially, could benefit most from what we have to offer. We also wanted to evaluate whether CoBrowse AI could make our website easier to use for people who rely on voice-based technologies (such as 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 navigation AI assistant created to help blind and low-vision users more easily navigate the websites on which it is implemented. Through voice or text input, CoBrowse AI users can perform various tasks on the AppleVis website; such as reading the latest posts, writing posts and comments, looking for applications or information, and whatever else you want to do. CoBrowse AI supports multiple languages, and we are particularly interested in feedback from users whose language is other than English.

Unlike mainstream AI agents that open sessions as virtual machines, CoBrowse AI works directly in the user’s browser and only on the website where it is deployed. CoBrowse AI is implemented via a lightweight java script that the developer installs on the website, meaning it does not and cannot control your computer or device outside of the browser window and the website that uses it.

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

It’s 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 note that CoBrowse AI is not a conversational AI assistant like ChatGPT or Gemini; the goal is to help users navigate and interact with websites using only their voice, and, hopefully, make the web more accessible to more people.

Here are some examples of possible commands that can be used with CoBrowse AI in AppleVis:

• “Go to the main menu, and tell me what’s in there.”
• “Go to the homepage, then go to the ‘Latest Apple Posts and Updates’ heading and read what’s under it.”
• “Scroll down until I reach the comments section.”
• “Press the Search button, and search for ‘Seeing AI’ and read the results to me.”
• “Take me to the Blog and tell me the title of the latest post.”
• “Open the menu, click the ‘More’ button, then click the ‘Guides & Tutorials’ link.”
• “Navigate to the ‘Add New Comment’ heading and direct me to the ‘Subject’ field.”
• “Take me to the comments section so I can dictate the comments.”
• “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 CoBrowse AI users. CoBrowse AI voice chat is anonymized and transcribed into text by InnoSearch, and these anonymized text transcripts are used by InnoSearch to improve CoBrowse AI products. 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 want to. InnoSearch will provide AppleVis with anonymized and aggregated usage information, which will help inform us about the use and efficacy of CoBrowse AI and help us determine whether to continue the pilot program for all AppleVis users in the future.

About CoBrowse AI in AppleVis Public Beta

For this public beta, we are looking for members of the AppleVis community who (1) Use voice-based technologies (Siri, Voice Control, etc.) for some or all of their device interactions; or (2) have a strong interest in AI-based interactive technologies and how these technologies can be used to empower and make the web more accessible to people who are blind, DeafBlind, or visually impaired. We are also very interested in input from assistive technology trainers or others in the field of blindness, as we believe CoBrowse AI may have significant value for new users who are not connected to 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 provide open feedback regarding their experience. Feedback will be anonymized and sent to InnoSearch for review and product improvement. In our experience, the team at InnoSearch is very responsive to user-submitted feedback. As CoBrowse AI develops, users will be asked to test and provide feedback on changes made.

Vital Records

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

• Participation in the CoBrowse beta is voluntary, and users will not receive financial rewards for their involvement.
• As with all AI-based technologies, it is possible that some of the output produced by the system may be unexpected, inaccurate, disturbing, and/or offensive. If the system generates disturbing or offensive content, which is unlikely to occur, users are asked to immediately report the incident to the AppleVis Team.
• CoBrowse AI in AppleVis is still in beta, and the results of this testing/expanded community feedback, along with anonymized usage information, will influence whether or not we continue the 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 available to the general public.
• CoBrowse AI is deployed 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 terminate 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 in AppleVis public beta, please complete the form below. Please note that you must be logged in to the AppleVis website to access and complete the form. Additionally, make sure the email address on your AppleVis account is up to date, as this is how we will contact you. All account related options (including login and account management) are available by opening the Main Menu at the top of the page and navigating to the ‘Account’ button. Once we receive your information, we will contact the email address on file with next steps in the coming days.

We look forward to an expanded round of CoBrowse AI beta testing on AppleVis and appreciate all parties participating.