[macvoiceover] Re: iPhone and Voiceover.
- From: Bryan Smart <bryansmart@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "macvoiceover@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <macvoiceover@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:14:51 -0500
The IPhone is very impressive for many reasons. I tried it for a few weeks, and
sadly had to return it and go back to my Nokia E71. I'd really like to stick
with it, but I can't switch to it for every day use until some version comes
out that fixes these problems:
Its tough to use touch tones when on a call. If you call some system that needs
you to enter an account code, or even press 1 for sales, you need to fumble
around for the keypad button, then fumble around for the buttons on the touch
keypad. It is easy for phone systems to time out on you while you feel around
the screen. Plus, you must hold the phone away from your head while doing all
of this, or the IPhone will lock the screen. This problem is compounded by...
I like the speech synthesizer, but it isn't loud enough to easily hear when in
noisy environments. Working a phone menu or voicemail on speaker phone while
out in public isn't easy to manage with the quiet speaker.
The battery life is very poor. I understand that you can get extender battery
packs, but I wasn't able to try these. With the stock battery, I was barely
able to get a day and a half of use, and that was with Bluetooth off, wifi off,
3G off, screen at 0 brightness, etc. Having to turn all of this off was a real
downer, as those features are a big reason to own the phone.
All of the really cool blind guy software isn't on the IPhone. No KNFB Reader
or similar OCR solution, and the IPhone camera wouldn't be up to the task,
anyway. No MobileGeo or WayFinder Access, though I did find several GPS apps
that provide some varying levels of accessibility, none that matches the speech
feedback of the blind-guy versions. I'm sure that more of this kind of software
will come in time, though.
Not sure what Apple could do to make the touch tone experience better. Perhaps
some setting could be added to have the keypad always be visible when you're on
a call. It would still be a little cumbersome to use, but this would save a
step. Battery packs might help the power issues. The software situation will
certainly improve over time.
Anyway, the interface is quite a revolutionary approach, and Apple gets huge
points for including VoiceOver as a standard feature. The 3rd-party software
support is also quite a nice selling point. I don't doubt that the IPhone will
improve. I might even keep the next one.
As a little post script here, I can't wait to see what sort of accessible GPS
apps come to be on the IPhone. Having Mobile Geo or WayFinder Access tell you
what's around you is one thing, but it would be so much better if you could run
your finger around the screen and get speech feedback about nearby points of
interest.
Bryan
-----Original Message-----
From: macvoiceover-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:macvoiceover-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Keith Reedy
Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 11:42 AM
To: macvoiceover@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [macvoiceover] iPhone and Voiceover.
Hi folks,
I have had my iPhone from about 3 weeks after it came out, but, I have just now
had the time to learn more about it.
Oh yes I have made calls and did a little internet stuff, but, in the last few
weeks I have really learned the beauty of this little phone.
I have added apps for finding food and motels, finding my location, I have some
of my internet sites bookmarked that I check every day and just this weekend
added Ebay because there were some things I wanted to watch.
I am using facebook, but, I don't use the app, I use Facebook mobile,
m.facebook.com
I use it mostly for reading updates.
Just this weekend I chose to learn to use mail, soI have the list on my iPhone,
what a hoot.
In short, I really like my iPhone.
Keith Reedy
Click the link below to download MP3's of Keith Reedy's music as a gift from
Bibles For The Blind.
http://biblesfortheblind.org/download_music.shtml
God gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him. J Hudson Taylor.
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