# AppleVis Extra 117: Blind Developer Showcase: Rocco Fiorentino of FloType

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/applevis-podcast-165328/applevis-extra-117-blind-developer-showcase-rocco-fiorentino-of-flotype
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/applevis-podcast-165328/applevis-extra-117-blind-developer-showcase-rocco-fiorentino-of-flotype.md
Podcast: [AppleVis Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/applevis-podcast-165328)
Published: 2026-08-22T15:16:41+00:00
Episode link: https://www.applevis.com/podcasts/applevis-extra-117-blind-developer-showcase-rocco-fiorentino-flotype
Audio file: https://www.applevis.com/sites/default/files/podcasts/AppleVisPodcast1714.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/applevis-podcast-165328/episodes/applevis-extra-117-blind-developer-showcase-rocco-fiorentino-of-flotype

## Resource

In this episode of the AppleVis Extra, David Nason speaks with Rocco Fiorentino, developer of FloType , an upcoming VoiceOver-first keyboard for blind and low-vision users. If you remember the speed and simplicity offered by Fleksy and later FlickType, FloType will feel immediately familiar. Rocco explains how his background as an audio engineer and producer gradually led him into development, first through scripting tools designed to make Pro Tools more efficient with VoiceOver, and eventually to building a keyboard intended to solve one of the persistent frustrations of touchscreen devices: typing quickly without needing to hit every virtual key precisely. FloType takes a very different approach from Apple's conventional onscreen keyboard. Rather than requiring you to locate individual letters accurately, you tap approximately where you believe the letters would be on a QWERTY keyboard. FloType analyzes the pattern of those taps and predicts the word you intended. Swipe right to accept the suggestion, swipe up or down to move through alternatives, and continue typing without having to find a spacebar. In the episode, Rocco gives a hands-on demonstration showing just how quickly this can work, including entering words, correcting an incorrect prediction, adding punctuation and emoji, deleting text, and switching to manual character entry when a word isn't in FloType's dictionary. There is considerably more going on than word prediction. FloType can be used system-wide through an iOS keyboard extension, while gestures provide access to editing commands that would otherwise require finding controls on the screen. Rocco discusses cursor navigation, manual entry, customizable sounds and haptics, key size and contrast options for low-vision users, and plans for a self-voic…

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## Transcript

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