[Electronics-talk] RiVO for iPhone VoiceOver is now available in 20 languages

[Antonio Guimaraes]

I have used this keyboard, ad have some first-hand impressions.

This keyboard’s main feature to me is its size. It is the actual size of a credid card, except a little thicker.

The keyboard has only 20 buttons, arranged into four roes, and five columns. 

The left and right-most columns are what they call function keys. They are l-1, l-2, l-3, and l-4 on the left side, and r-1, r-2, r-3, and r-4 on the right. 

L is for left, and r is for right in this case.

The middle keys that are left over are arranged like the keys on a phone. The 5 key is indented slightly for easier identification.

You use only nine keys to type text. Each key activates 3 letters, similar to how letters are assigned to number keys on touch tone phones.

Users will most likely climb a steap learning curve in learning to use this keyboard, since the letter arrangement is unique to this device. So, don’t expect a, b, and c, to be assigned to number 2 on the dial pad.

I saw a live presentation on the device by the person responsible for developing it.

The reassignments of letters has been done so that the most commonly used letters are on the first level press, and the least commonly used letters in the last level of presses.

Think vorack keyboard goes mobile with an accessibility touch.

The new letter arrangement assigns the letter a to the number position 4 on the first press. Other commonly used letters are assigned to other numbers, and are activated when you press that number.

Technically it is a little more than that, but one would learn the operation of the keyboard when reading the documentation. Yes, there is documentation for you, as opposed to practices of certain large search and cloud solution providers out there like Google.

This keyboard is not for the faint of heart. Users must learn most all functions of the keyboard to get anything done. You need to switch between modes, learn the keyboard layout, how to access punctuation, and more to send as much as a properly formatted text message.

What makes this keyboard special for blind users is that it is designed to work well with VoiceOver.

I appreciate that the developers have spent so much time working on this device, and I would encourage members to try the thing out to give their honest, and informed opinions.

This is a challenging device to learn. It should aid, not replace your full-size qwerty keyboard.

Antonio

On Aug 25, 2014, at 2:18 PM, Jim Barbour via Electronics-talk <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> All bluetooth keyboards can interact with Apple messaging, including text messaging.
> 
> What I can't really tell is what make the RIVO keyboard different than
> other bluetooth keyboards, and what it means to be a bluetooth
> keyboard designed for the blind?  What special needs do we have around
> BT keyboards?
> 
> Anybody know?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Jim
> 
> On Mon, Aug 25, 2014 at 10:13:53AM -0800, Poppa Bear via Electronics-talk wrote:
>> Can this blue tooth keyboard interact with I phone text messaging? In the
>> past Apple did not allow their texting program to be accessed via Blue Tooth
>> from what I understand. Perhaps I am wrong, and you can correct me.
>> Thanks
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Electronics-talk [mailto:electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of David Andrews via Electronics-talk
>> Sent: Monday, August 25, 2014 9:59 AM
>> To: promotion-technology at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [Electronics-talk] Fwd: RiVO for iPhone VoiceOver is now available
>> in 20 languages
>> 
>> 
>>> 
>>> Hi,
>>> 
>>> Sorry for the inconvenience, we are trying to reach as many visually 
>>> challenged people as possible who might have never heard of RiVO for 
>>> iPhone VoiceOver, which is currently available in 20 language versions.
>>> 
>>> Briefly, RiVO is a portable Bluetooth keyboard about the size of a 
>>> credit card. Being designed for blind or visually impaired users of 
>>> iPhone, it supports VoiceOver, text typing and editing, music and audio 
>>> control. RiVO is a smart keyboard to use iPhone easily quickly and 
>>> precisely to make the most out of it.
>>> 
>>> Smartphone is an important tool for everyone alike. We wish whoever has 
>>> difficulty with touchscreen also become good at using smartphone and 
>>> great apps to find greater possibilities in their lives.
>>> 
>>> If you're interested, try listening to an introductory audio podcast 
>>> about RiVO English version thanks to one of our customers in Australia 
>>> at <http://goo.gl/IGAM3q>http://goo.gl/IGAM3q For more information 
>>> about RiVO, please visit RiVO homepage at 
>>> <http://mobience.com/rivo>http://mobience.com/rivo
>>> 
>>> Thanks. Best wishes, RiVO Team at Mobience
>> 
>>         David Andrews and long white cane Harry.
>> E-Mail:  dandrews at visi.com or david.andrews at nfbnet.org
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