[blindkid] iPhone and iPad

Sun Oct 28 23:36:11 UTC 2012

I can give you the extremely basic overview-- you tap the home button 5 times and an iPad will tell you that VoiceOver is activated. After that, it reads aloud most anything you touch, and in many cases it will tell you to double tap to activate things which would normally go with a single touch if VoiceOver were off. You may find it handy to lock screen rotation off. VoiceOver will announce orientation when the screen rotates, but I find it confusing to use with rotation for VoiceOver. 

The cool thing is that VoiceOver is built in to the operating system, so even a demo unit in a store could be explored to see if you find this useful. I am aware of some screen-covering templates available for iPhone to help locate things. There are probably others. I also assume activation is similar on most iDevices.

Additional access can be gained with a variety of Bluetooth accessories. To use iDevices though a bluetooth Braille keyboard, Braille display, etc., you just pair them much like pairing a wireless headset on a phone, and of corse you have voice access through SIRI on most of the newer devices. SIRI is not available on the iPad (orig.) or iPad 2, nor is it available in any pre-4s cell phone. I believe it only works on the very latest of the iPad touch units as well. (All this assuming assuming you're not using jailbreak or some similar unlocking or "cracking" solution which may offer Siri or other features, but voids the warranty and pretty much eliminates Apple's support options for you.)

Since it is so easy to demo the VoiceOver on a friend's phone or iPad, or to try it out at the store, that may be the best place to start. Also, check out YouTube for many posts. Search youtube for "VoiceOver" and "VoiceOver blind". You'll find a bunch of to look at there.

Good luck!

Sent from my iPad

On Oct 28, 2012, at 3:18 PM, "Thea Eaton" <thea at doodledoo.com> wrote:

> Could someone tell us how users who usually use a screen reader, access apps
> and websites on the iPad and iPhone? Are there any videos that are
> accessible, and if so, how is the user experience with those? We are about
> to engage in a video project that will run on the iPad and iPhone, and needs
> to be accessible. Any user experiences are appreciated!
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> Thea Eaton
> DoodleDoo
> www.doodledoo.com   
> Where early birds learn.
> 1-888-42 DOODLE
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindkid [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Richard
> Holloway
> Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2012 10:35 PM
> To: SUSAN POLANSKY; Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind children)
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] iPhone and iPad
> 
> An option that can help with WiFi-only solutions is that some cell phones
> can now "tether" to allow a wifi hot spot which an iPad or iPod touch can
> access when near the tethered phone, or my personal favorite option, a Clear
> wireless device which is a 4G wireless hotspot. Other carriers also offer
> similar devices, including Sprint, which (at least in Atlanta) is actually
> the same network as Clear Wireless. I think one company owns a big chunk of
> the other...
> 
> My hot spot has a faster-than-dsl connection all over most major cities and
> drives data to multiple computers, cell phones, iPads, etc., all over town
> in the car, on vacations, etc. (It keeps the whole family on-line every year
> at the national convention!) It is also a dandy home backup web service in
> case your cable, DSL, etc., goes down. In other words, it offers a lot of
> bandwidth and flexible options for less than most cell plans if your child
> isn't in need of a cell phone yet.
> 
> Oh, and as a big bonus for Apex users? (or anyone using a wifi capable
> Braille notetaker) you can, of corse, use this to use the web on family
> outings in the car, or when traveling on a bus, etc.
> 
> SOOOOOO many cool new gadgets.... So much bandwidth.... But alas, so little
> time and money
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
> On Oct 25, 2012, at 10:50 PM, SUSAN POLANSKY <sepolansky at verizon.net> wrote:
> 
>> We were not ready to buy an iPone and data plan so we got Jason the iPod
> touch, it does need to connect to a wireless network to work. The iPod Touch
> is basicly the iPhone without the phone. He has apps that tell him the color
> of his clothes, identifies money, tells him if he has left the lights on,
> etc. He also has lots of fun apps. He does email and faecbook on it and
> searches the web. 
>> Braille Press has a book on apps, this is how he found some of the ones he
> uses.
>> 
>> Susan T. Polansky
>> 
> 
> 
> 
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