[access-uk] Up close with iOS 5: Accessibility features | Mobile | Macworld
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- Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2011 09:15:23 +0100
http://www.macworld.com/article/163058/2011/10/up_close_with_ios_5_accessibility_features.html
Up close with iOS 5: Accessibility features
by Christopher Breen, Macworld.com Oct 15, 2011 12:16 am
iOS 5 introduces a wealth of new features that can be used to aid people with
visual, aural, and mobility impairments. You’ll find these options on the
Accessibility setting screen under Settings -> General -> Accessibility.
VoiceOver
VoiceOver is a system that allows people with visual impairments to navigate
the touchscreen of an iOS device. Switch it on and your iOS device speaks to
you, telling you what’s under your fingers as you touch areas of the device. As
before, VoiceOver requires that you use gestures in a different way than you
would with the feature switched off. For example, to activate an item, you
double-tap it. To scroll a page, you flick with three fingers.
The VoiceOver pane can help people with visual impairments navigate their iOS
devices.
The VoiceOver screen includes multiple functions. The first, Speak Hints, is an
On/Off option. When on, VoiceOver will provide some additional detail on how to
use a button or feature you’ve selected. The slider below the Speak Hints entry
allows you to adjust the speaking rate of the VoiceOver voice.
The next area includes feedback options. The Typing Feedback screen, which you
access by tapping the Typing Feedback button on the VoiceOver screen, is where
you determine how the device indicates what you’ve typed. You can choose to
have the typed characters, words, or words and characters spoken to you when
you’re using either or both a software and hardware keyboard. Below this item
are three On/Off options—Use Phonetics, Use Pitch Change, and Use Compact Voice
(the last of which is new with iOS 5). Each determines the character of the
spoken voice.
The Braille command includes a new option. In addition to support for
Contracted Braille and the Status Cell option, there’s now support for
eight-dot Braille devices.
The Rotor command (called Web Rotor in the previous version of iOS) includes a
greater number of functions that you can control with the Rotor gesture. For
example, you can now adjust speech rate, volume, hints, and vertical
navigation. New spoken languages are now available from within the Language
Rotor list—Irish English and South African English, for example. You can also
now choose different feedback when navigating images with VoiceOver—Always,
With Descriptions, and Never. Finally—also new with iOS 5—is the option to
speak notifications as they’re received.
Zoom
The Zoom feature is unchanged from the previous version of iOS. Enable it and
you can zoom the screen by double-tapping with three fingers. To zoom out, use
this same gesture. To move around a zoomed screen, drag three fingers.
Large Text
This is another unchanged feature. From the Large Text screen, you can choose a
larger text size for Calendar, Contacts, Mail, Messages, and Notes ranging from
20-point to 56-point text.
If you find your iOS device’s text too small, you can enlarge it with the Large
Text option.
White on Black
Similar to OS X’s White On Black feature within the Universal Access system
preference, you use the White On Black option to invert the iOS device’s screen
colors, making it easier for someone with visual impairments to see.
Speak Selection
Within the Accessibility section you’ll find a new Speak Selection option,
which you can switch on or off. When switched on, you can select on-screen text
via the usual method and then tap a Speak button to hear the text spoken.
Speak Auto-Text
Another previously available feature, Speak Auto-Text speaks any autocorrected
and autocapitalized text when it’s switched on. This is helpful not only to
people who have visual impairments, but also to those who don’t pay strict
enough attention to a device’s desire to substitute words when it detects
alleged mistakes.
Hearing Aid Mode
Another new feature with iOS 5—at least if you have an iPhone 4 or 4S—Hearing
Aid Mode makes iOS devices more compatible with hearing aids.
Custom Vibrations
Create a custom vibration so you can more easily tell who’s calling without
glancing at the phone.
If you can’t read your iPhone’s screen, it’s very difficult to use caller ID on
a muted phone. The new Custom Vibration feature—which, like Hearing Aid Mode,
is only available on the iPhone 4 and 4S—allows you to assign a unique
vibration pattern to a contact. This way, when your iPhone vibrates in a
pattern similar to the opening bars of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony (termed the
Symphony pattern), you know it’s Ludwig calling.
In addition to the five included vibration patterns, you can create your own.
Just choose to edit a contact within the Phone app and then tap the Vibration
entry. In the Vibration screen that appears, select Create New Vibration. In
the New Vibration screen, tap out the rhythm to “Shave and a Haircut” or
“Jingle Bells” or “Louie Louie,” if you like. Tap Play to check your work, tap
Save, and then name the pattern. Select it in the Custom area of the Vibration
window, and tap Done in the top left corner to attach it to your contact. You
can also change the device’s default vibration to a custom vibration.
LED Flash for Alerts
Switch this iPhone 4– and 4S–only option on, and your phone’s camera flash will
blink when you receive an alert for an incoming text message, push
notification, or call.
Mono Audio
Stereo is a problem for people who have difficulty hearing equally from both
ears. This option alters a stereo signal through the headphone port so that
both sides of the stereo stream are broadcast through each earpiece.
Balance Controls
Along these same lines, if the hearing in one of your ears is better than in
the other, you can use the new Balance Control slider to make one channel of
the stereo signal louder.
AssistiveTouch
If you have difficulty touching the device’s screen, AssistiveTouch is for you.
Switch it on, and a target-like icon appears on screen. Tap it, and a gray
overlay window appears from which you can select Gestures, Device, Home, and
Favorites icons.
With the new AssistiveTouch window, you can easily invoke commands that
normally rely on the tap of a button.
Tap Gestures and you can choose to control your device with two to five
fingers—helpful when you have little finger dexterity. Tap Device, and such
common button commands as Mute, Rotate Screen, Lock Screen, Volume Up, Volume
Down, and Shake appear on screen. Tap the command you want to invoke. Tap the
virtual Home button to be taken to the home screen. Tap the Favorites icon to
access gestures you’ve created.
You create these gestures by enabling AssistiveTouch and then tapping the
Create New Gesture entry at the bottom of the screen. In the screen that
appears, use up to five fingers to swipe or tap out a gesture. You can then
activate one of these gestures from AssistiveTouch’s Favorites menu.
Incoming Calls
This iPhone 4– and 4S–only option setting lets you choose how incoming calls
will be routed—Default (via a headset, if one is connected, or the speaker),
Headset, or Speaker.
Triple-Click Home
This setting, aimed at people who will use the device’s accessibility features,
allows you to configure what a triple-click of the Home button does. The
options include Off, Toggle VoiceOver, Toggle White On Black, Toggle Zoom,
Toggle AssistiveTouch, and Ask.
[Christopher Breen is a senior editor for Macworld.]
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