The same VoiceOver screen reader made popular on the Mac is now a
standard feature on the iPhone 3G S. It's the world's first
gesture-based screen reader,
enabling you to enjoy the fun and simplicity of the iPhone even
if you can't see the screen.
What makes VoiceOver on iPhone truly remarkable is that you
control it using simple gestures that let you physically interact
with items on screen. It's
easy to learn and fun to use. Instead of memorizing hundreds of
keyboard commands, or endlessly pressing tiny arrow keys to find
what you're looking for,
with VoiceOver, you simply touch the screen to hear a description
of the item under your finger, then gesture with a double-tap,
drag, or flick to control
the phone.
VoiceOver delivers an experience unlike any screen reader you've
ever used before. Traditional screen readers describe individual
elements on the screen,
but struggle to communicate where each element is located or
provide information about adjoining objects. This contextual
information is very important
but typically filtered out by other screen readers. For example,
"off-screen" models used by traditional screen readers to
represent applications and web
pages intentionally strip away contextual information and
describe web pages as a list or menu of items. But with
VoiceOver on iPhone 3G S, you'll experience
something entirely new.
Because VoiceOver works with iPhone's touchscreen, you interact
directly with objects on the screen and can naturally understand
their location and context.
So, when you touch the upper-left corner of the screen, you'll
hear what's in the upper left corner of a web page, and as you
drag your finger around the
screen, you'll learn what's nearby, providing an amazing new
sense of context and relationship between the items you hear.
For many, VoiceOver on iPhone
will provide, perhaps for the first time, a true sense of how
things appear on screen, not just descriptions of what they are.
You'll hear descriptions of every item on the screen, including
status information such as battery level, Wi-Fi and cellular
network signal levels, the
cellular network provider, and time of day. It even lets you
know when the display changes to landscape or portrait
orientation, and when the screen is
locked or unlocked.
The speaking rate is adjustable so you can set it to a speed that
best suits your listening ability. VoiceOver uses distinctive
sound effects to alert you
when an application opens, when the screen is updated, when a
message dialog appears, and more. And, when Voiceover is
talking, the volume of background
sounds and music are automatically lowered, "ducking" under the
voice, so you can clearly hear what VoiceOver is telling you.
It speaks your language
VoiceOver includes built-in voices that speak 21 languages
including Chinese (Cantonese), Chinese (China), Chinese (Taiwan),
Dutch, English (US), English
(UK), Finnish, French (Canada), French (France), German, Italian,
Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil),
Portuguese (Portugal), Russian,
Spanish (Mexico), Spanish (Spain), and Swedish.
Getting started
VoiceOver is built right into the iPhone 3G S. There's nothing
extra to purchase or install. All you need is the iPhone 3G S,
iTunes 8.2 or later, and a
Mac or PC. You can activate your iPhone and enable VoiceOver
without sighted assistance using iTunes with a compatible screen
reader like VoiceOver included
in Mac OS X and GW-Micro Window-Eyes(r) for Windows XP and
Windows Vista (sold separately). When you activate iPhone using
iTunes, you can enable VoiceOver
on the iPhone to start using it right away. Sighted users can
also enable VoiceOver for you directly on iPhone using the
Accessibility menu in the Settings
application.
How it works
With VoiceOver enabled, you'll use a different, but simple set of
gestures to control the iPhone. For example, instead of tapping
to click a button or select
an item, you tap to hear a description of the item you touch and
double-tap to click or select it.
When an item on the screen is selected, a black rectangle called
the VoiceOver cursor appears around it. The VoiceOver cursor is
displayed for the benefit
of sighted users with whom you may be sharing your phone. When
you prefer privacy, VoiceOver includes a screen curtain that
turns off the display so no
one can read it without your knowledge.
In addition to touching and dragging around the screen, you can
also flick left and right to move the VoiceOver cursor precisely
to the next or previous
item on the screen-no matter how big or small it is. By
flicking, you have precise control of what you hear even when it
might otherwise be difficult to
place your finger on it.
Entering Text
When you're typing text, such as an email message or a note,
VoiceOver echoes each character on the keyboard as you touch it,
and again to confirm when
you enter it. You can also have VoiceOver speak each completed
word instead of and in addition to individual characters as you
type them. A flick up or
down while typing moves the insertion point cursor left and right
within the text so you can edit a word just as easily and
precisely as typing a new word.
To help you type more quickly and accurately, iPhone features
word prediction and suggests the correct spelling when you type a
word incorrectly. With Speak
Auto-text enabled, you'll hear a sound effect and the suggested
word spoken automatically. You can just keep typing to ignore
it, or press the space key
to have iPhone type it for you.
The Rotor
Two fingers touching a Multi-Touch trackpad and a
counter-clockwise arrow indicating how to enter a rotate gesture.
VoiceOver features an innovate new virtual control called a
"rotor." Turning the rotor- by rotating two fingers on the screen
as if you were turning an
actual dial - changes the way VoiceOver moves through a document
based on a setting you choose. For example, a flick up or down
might move through text
word by word. But when you choose the "character" setting, each
time you flick up or down VoiceOver will move through the text
character by character -
perfect when you're proofreading or editing text.
You can also use the rotor to navigate web pages. When you're on
a web page, the rotor contains the names of common items, such as
headers, links, tables,
images, and more. You select a setting, then flick up and down
to move to the previous or next occurrence of that item on the
page, skipping over items
in between.
Applications
VoiceOver works with all of the built-in applications that come
with iPhone 3G S, such as Phone, iPod, iTunes, Mail, Safari, and
Maps. So, you can place
and receive calls, surf the web, text and email your friends,
check your stocks and the weather, and much, much more. Apple is
also working with iPhone
software developers so they can make their applications VoiceOver
compatible.
Voice Control
In addition to gestures, you can use your voice to play music and
make a phone call. Just press and hold the home button, listen
for the audio prompt, and
speak the name of the artist, album, or playlist you want to
hear. You can pause, play, change tracks, even shuffle your
music.
When you want to make a call, speak the name or telephone number
of the person you want to call. iPhone 3G S understands 21
different languages.
Zoom
Two iPhones. The iPhone in the background is displaying the
weather application. The iPhone in the foreground shows the
weather application zoomed 200%
While many iPhone applications let you zoom in and out specific
elements such as images in Mail, or webpage columns in Safari,
Zoom lets you magnify the
entire screen of any application you're using to help you see
what's on the display. Zoom can be enabled on iPhone 3G S using
iTunes when you're setting
up the iPhone, for yourself or someone else, or later, using the
Accessibility menu in the Settings application on the iPhone.
Zoom works everywhere, including the Home, Unlock, and Spotlight
screens-even with applications you purchase from the App store.