Hi Susan
I am very interested in the iPhone too as my Nokia N70 is having the
abdabs
and cutting out so I am looking for another phone.
I went into the Vodafone shop near us and the chap said E5-00 and
E7-00
which both have qwerty keyboards.
Also he said to go into the Apple Shop and ask them to let me feel the
iPhone then it will give me an idea how it works and he would order me
one.
I have just been on the Apple Web Site and below is some information
which I
found which could be helpful to you.
Hope this helps,
Dorothy.
Vision
The revolutionary iPhone also includes an equally revolutionary screen
reader, and other innovative accessibility features that make it
easier to
use for those with impaired vision.
VoiceOver
The same VoiceOver screen reader made popular on the Mac is now a
standard
feature on iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, and iPhone 3GS. It's the world's first
gesture-based screen reader, enabling you to enjoy the fun and
simplicity of
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 4S, iPhone 4, and iPhone 3GS, you'll experience something
entirely
new.
Because VoiceOver works with the iPhone 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 is 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 36 languages: Arabic,
Chinese
(Cantonese), Chinese (China), Chinese (Taiwan), Czech, Danish, Dutch,
English (Australia), English (Britain), English (Irish), English
(South
African), English (United States), Finnish, Flemish (Belgian Dutch),
French
(Canadian), French (France), German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian,
Indonesian,
Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil),
Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish (Mexico),
Spanish
(Spain), Swedish, Thai, Turkish.
Getting started
VoiceOver is built right into iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, and iPhone 3GS.
There's
nothing extra to purchase or install. All you need is the latest
version of
iTunes and a Mac or PC. You can activate your iPhone and enable
VoiceOver
without sighted assistance using Setup Assistant. 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 iPhone. For example, instead of tapping to activate a button,
tap
the button to hear a description of it, double-tap to activate it, and
swipe
up or down to adjust a slider.
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. Watch the VoiceOver video
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 or 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
VoiceOver features an innovative 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,
form
elements, 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 on
iPhone
4S, iPhone 4, and iPhone 3GS, including Safari, Mail, App Store,
iTunes,
Music, Calendar, and Notes. And with the element labeler, you can
create
custom labels for buttons so it's even easier to place and receive
calls,
surf the web, text and email your friends, check your stocks and the
weather, and more. Apple is also working with iPhone software
developers so
they can make their applications VoiceOver compatible. Learn more
Wireless braille displays
You can use a refreshable braille display that uses Bluetooth wireless
technology to read VoiceOver output in braille. In addition, braille
displays with input keys and other controls can be used to control
iPhone
when VoiceOver is turned on. iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, and iPhone 3GS work
with
many of the most popular wireless braille displays. View a list of
supported
braille displays
Siri
Siri on iPhone 4S lets you use your voice to send messages, place
phone
calls, schedule meetings, set reminders, and more. You can ask Siri to
do
things for you just by talking the way you talk. Siri understands what
you
say, knows what you mean, and even talks back. It's the intelligent
assistant that's there to help with the things you do every day.
iPhone 4S
also takes dictation. Instead of typing, tap the microphone button on
the
keyboard, speak your words, numbers, or sentences out loud, and let
iPhone
convert your words into text. It's never been easier to write
messages, take
notes, or search the web. Learn more about Siri
Zoom
While many iPhone applications let you zoom in and out specific
elements
such as images in Mail, or web page 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. You can enable Zoom using iTunes when you're setting up
iPhone,
for yourself or someone else, or later, using the Accessibility menu
in the
Settings application on iPhone.
Zoom works everywhere, including the Home, Lock, and Spotlight
screens -
even with applications you purchase from the App Store.
A simple double-tap with three fingers instantly zooms in and out 200%
and
you can double-tap and drag three fingers to dynamically adjust the
magnification between 100% and 500%. Even when zoomed, you can
continue
using all of the familiar flick, pinch, tap, and other iPhone gestures
to
run your favorite applications.
White on Black
For those who need or prefer higher contrast, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, and
iPhone 3GS provide an option to change the display to white on black.
This
reverse video effect works in all applications as well as the Home,
Lock,
and Spotlight screens and can be used with Zoom and VoiceOver.
Speak Selection
Want to select text from websites, email, messages, and more? Speak
Selection lets you highlight text in any application by double tapping
it.
Even if you don't have VoiceOver enabled, Speak Selection will read
you the
highlighted text and give you formatting options like cut, copy, and
paste.
Turn on Speak Selection in Settings.
Tactile Buttons
iPhone includes a few, easily discernible physical buttons used to
control
the phone: the Sleep/Wake button, located on the top edge; the
Ring/Silent
switch and volume-control buttons, located on the upper-left edge; and
the
Home button, centered below the display.
Large Text
You can increase the font size to see up to 56-point text in alerts,
Calendar, Contacts, Mail, Messages, and Notes.
iPhone Stereo Headset
iPhone comes with a stereo headset with a high-performance microphone
built
into the cable. Plug it into the standard 3.5-mm stereo headphone
jack, and
the headset lets you control music playback and answer and end calls
by
clicking the microphone capsule.
Several add-on products are also available to work with iPhone that
can help
those with hearing disabilities, including a hearing aid-compatible
induction ear loop from TecEar, wireless remote headset from Oticon,
and
others.
Hands-Free Speakerphone
Enjoy hands-free communication using the built-in speakerphone, which
you
can also use to listen to Visual Voicemail, music, podcasts, and
video.
Audible, Visible, and Vibrating Alerts
Turn the ringer on and iPhone delivers both audible and visual alerts
for
phone calls, text messages, new and sent mail, and calendar events.
Choose
to have an LED light flash for incoming calls and alerts. Set incoming
calls
to display a full-screen image of the caller. Or select an audio
option to
confirm keyboard actions.
In silent mode, iPhone vibrates instead of playing a tone. And it's
easy to
know who's calling because you can select from different vibration
patterns
or create your own by tapping out custom patterns. To ensure that you
never
miss a notification, you can have iPhone play an audio alert, too.
Downloadable, Assignable Ringtones
You can assign distinctive ringtones to individuals in your contacts
list,
using the ringtone as an audible caller ID. Visit the iTunes Store to
create, purchase, and download additional ringtones of your favorite
songs
(sold separately).
Accessible iPhone User Guide
The iPhone User Guide has been designed with accessibility in mind.
Read the
iPhone User Guide in HTML format using a web browser with your
favorite
screen reader on a Mac, PC, and iPhone. Or listen to the iPhone User
Guide
in ePub format using VoiceOver in the iBooks app on iPhone (iBooks and
the
user guide can be downloaded at no charge from the App Store and
iBookstore,
respectively). You can read the iPhone User Guide in tagged PDF format
using
the Preview application in OS X and Adobe Acrobat for Mac and Windows.
If
you can read English braille there's also an electronic braille
version in
.brf format. You can order an embossed copy of iPhone User Guide from
Lighthouse for the Blind in San Francisco, California.
Hearing
