[Blindtlk] New iPhone Model Now Accessible to the Blind

Tue Jun 9 04:56:17 UTC 2009

This will be an interesting phone.
I've seen the IPhone and it's so sensitive to the slightest touch.
Even though the Apple phone will talk out of the box and is probably much
cheaper than a phone with Mobile Speak or Talks, I don't think I'd make the
plunge.
Yay to Apple for making a phone accessible! Hopefully others will follow.
I wonder if the tech team at the National Center will review the phone?
Next we should have talking TV menus!
-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of David Andrews
Sent: Monday, June 08, 2009 9:58 PM
To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Blindtlk] New iPhone Model Now Accessible to the Blind

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

iPhone 3G S displaying VoiceOver settings. The VoiceOver and Sp

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-EyesR
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.
Two iPhones. The iPhone in the background shows the home screen

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.
Two images side by side. The first shows a text-suggestion bubb

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 iPhone display and a counter-clockwise a

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. 
<http://www.apple.com/accessibility/iphone//iphone/iphone-3g-s/>Learn more
Two iPhones. The iPhone in the foreground is displaying the Voi

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. 
<http://www.apple.com/accessibility/iphone//iphone/iphone-3g-s/voice-control
.html>Learn
more

Zoom

Two iPhones. The iPhone in the background is displaying the wea

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.
Two iPhones. The iPhone in the background is displaying the Acc

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. 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, iPhone 3G S provides an option
to change the display to White On Black. This reverse video affect works in
all applications including the Home, Unlock, and Spotlight screens and can
be used with Zoom and VoiceOver.

Speak Auto-text

When typing, iPhone 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 zoomed, for
example, the suggestion might not be visible on screen, 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.
Callouts indicate the name and location of the physical buttons

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.

Giant Fonts For Mail Messages

For improved email readability, you can increase the default font size of
email text from Medium (the default) to Large, Extra-large, or Giant.
iPhone earbuds with clickable microphone built into the cable

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 built-in
remote control button.

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 <http://www.tecear.com/Music_Link.htm>TecEar,
wireless remote headset from <http://oticon.com/>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. You
can activate alerts for phone calls, text messages, incoming and sent mail,
and calendar events. iPhone also offers an audio option confirming keyboard
clicks. You can even set incoming calls to display a full-screen image or
photo of the caller.

In silent mode, iPhone vibrates instead of playing a tone. To ensure that
you never miss a notification, you can also have iPhone vibrate and play an
audio alert.

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).
A visual representation of a ringtone sound wave as it might ap

User Guide In Accessible HTML

The iPhone User Guide is provided online in HTML format designed with
accessibility in mind. You can read the guide using your favorite screen
reader and web browser on your Mac and PC, and using Safari on the iPhone
with VoiceOver.
<http://www.apple.com/accessibility/iphone//accessibility/iphone/hearing.htm
l>Hearing 

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