[vicsireland] Apple at it again | The New Accessible iPod Touch
- From: "Ciaran Ferry" <research@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:51:02 +0100
Apple have just re-vamped their product offering again, this time making the
new iPod Touch accessible to the vision impaired.
The new device is available in 3 models; 8GB, 32GB and 64GB, retailing for
€189, €279 and €369 respectively.
In short, the unit is pretty much an iPhone with out the phone.
More details on the accessibility features are below.
Note: Apple also announced an upgrade to their iTunes software; the new version
9. Be warned though - this doesn't work well with Jaws, and jTunes will not
help. I would recommend that you stick with iTunes version 8.1 for the best
overall experience.
http://www.apple.com/accessibility/itunes/ipodtouch.html
iPod touch includes a 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 and the iPhone is now
a standard feature on iPod touch (3rd generation). It’s the world’s first
gesture-based screen reader, enabling you to enjoy the fun and simplicity of
iPod touch even if you can’t see the screen.
What makes VoiceOver on iPod touch remarkable is that you control it using
simple gestures that let you physically interact with items on the 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.
VoiceOver delivers an experience unlike any screen reader you’ve 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 iPod touch, you’ll experience
something entirely new.
Because VoiceOver works with the touchscreen, you interact directly with
objects on the screen and can 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
relationships between the items you hear. For many, VoiceOver on iPod touch
will provide, perhaps for the first time, a true sense of not only how things
appear on the screen, but also descriptions of what they are. You’ll hear
descriptions of every item, including status information such as battery level,
Wi-Fi signal levels, and time of day. iPod touch even lets you know when the
display changes to landscape or portrait, 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 over 21 languages including
Bahasa Indonesian, Chinese (Cantonese), Chinese (China), Chinese (Taiwan),
Dutch, English (U.S.), English (UK), English (Australian), Finnish, French
(Canada), French (France), German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian,
Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Slovak,
Spanish (Mexico), Spanish (Spain), Swedish, Thai, and Turkish.
Getting Started
VoiceOver is built into iPod touch (3rd generation). There’s nothing extra to
purchase or install. All you need is iPod touch, iTunes 9 or later, and a Mac
or PC. You can activate your iPod touch and enable VoiceOver without sighted
assistance using iTunes with a compatible screen reader like VoiceOver
(included in Mac OS X) or GW-Micro Window-Eyes for Windows XP and Windows Vista
(sold separately). When you activate iPod touch using iTunes, you can enable
VoiceOver to start using it right away. Or a sighted user can enable VoiceOver
for you directly on iPod touch 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 iPod touch. 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 iPod touch. 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.
Practice Gestures
With the Practice Gestures setting on iPod touch, you can hone your technique
and learn new gestures. Or use Practice Gestures just to find out what each
gesture does. You can access Practice Gestures from the VoiceOver preferences
in Settings.
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, iPod touch 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 iPod touch type it for you.
The Rotor
VoiceOver features an innovative 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, 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.
Cut, Copy & Paste
Cut, copy, and paste comes to iPod touch. To bring up cut, copy, and paste
options, use the rotor and choose Edit. Flick up or down to choose between the
Select and Select All functions, then double tap. If you choose Select, the
word closest to the insertion point is selected when you double tap. Pinch to
increase or decrease the selection. If you choose Select All, the entire text
is selected. When text is selected, cut, copy, and paste options appear on the
screen. If you want to undo something, just give iPod touch a shake. You can
also flick left or right to choose the undo action, then double tap.
Applications
VoiceOver works with all of the built-in applications that come with iPod
touch, such as iPod, iTunes, Mail, Safari, and Maps. So you can surf the web,
text and email your friends, check your stocks and the weather, and much, much
more. Learn more
Voice Control
In addition to gestures, you can use your voice to play music. 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, and even shuffle your music. Learn more
Zoom
While many iPod touch applications let you zoom in and out on 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. Zoom can be enabled on iPod touch using iTunes when you’re setting up
iPod touch, for yourself or someone else, or later, using the Accessibility
menu in the Settings application on iPod touch.
Zoom works everywhere, including the Home, Unlock, 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 adjust the magnification between 100%
and 500%. Even when the screen is zoomed, you can continue using all of the
familiar flick, pinch, tap, and other iPod touch gestures to run your favorite
applications. Zoom can also be used with White on Black (reverse video) and
Speak Auto-text.
White on Black
For those who need or prefer higher contrast, iPod touch provides an option to
change the display to White on Black. This reverse video effect works in all
applications, including the Home, Unlock, and Spotlight screens, and can be
used with Zoom and VoiceOver.
Triple-Click Home
Listeners can use the triple-click home key and set it to toggle VoiceOver or
White on Black, or ask you which one.
Speak Auto-text
When you’re typing, iPod touch suggests a word before you finish typing it or a
correction when a word is misspelled. Speak Auto-text speaks these suggestions
so you can hear them when they’re presented. When the screen is zoomed, for
example, the suggestion might not be visible, but you can hear and accept it
without seeing it. If you’re using VoiceOver, you won’t have to interrupt your
typing and touch the suggestion to hear it. Speak Auto-text can be enabled even
when you’re not using VoiceOver or Zoom.
Tactile Buttons
iPod touch includes a few, easily discernible physical buttons used to control
it: the Sleep/Wake button, located on the top edge; the volume control buttons,
located on the upper-left edge; and the Home button, centered below the display.
Giant Fonts for Mail Messages
For improved email readability, you can increase the font size of email text
from Medium (the default) to Large, Extra Large, or Giant.
iPod touch Earphones
The new 32GB and 64GB iPod touch models come 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 by
clicking the remote button.
Accessibility Add-ons for iPod touch
Several add-on products are also available for iPod touch that can help those
with hearing disabilities, including a hearing aid-compatible induction ear
loop from TecEar, wireless remote headset from Oticon, and others.
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