[il-talk] Fwd: article: What’s New in iOS 7 Accessibility for Individuals who are Blind, Deaf-blind, or who have Low Vision

[Denise Avant]

Denise Avant
dravant at ameritech.net

P.S.  Please give to the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois Annual
Appeal by sending your tax deductible donation to NFBI c/o Glenn Moore III,
Treasurer P.O. Box 1065 Elgin, IL 60121.

Begin forwarded message:

> From: denise avant <denise.avant at gmail.com>
> Subject: Fwd: article: What’s New in iOS 7 Accessibility for Individuals who are Blind, Deaf-blind, or who have Low Vision
> Date: September 18, 2013 9:05:08 PM CDT
> To: denise avant <dravant at ameritech.net>
> 
> 
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
>> From: Scott Davert <scottslistmail at gmail.com>
>> Subject: article: What’s New in iOS 7 Accessibility for Individuals who are Blind, Deaf-blind, or who have Low Vision
>> Date: September 18, 2013 12:31:10 PM CDT
>> To: viphone <viphone at googlegroups.com>, dbtechies <dbtechies at googlegroups.com>, mac4theblind <mac4theblind at freelists.org>, macvisionaries <macvisionaries at googlegroups.com>
>> Reply-To: viphone at googlegroups.com
>> 
>> http://applevis.com/blog/apple/what%E2%80%99s-new-ios-7-accessibility-individuals-who-are-blind-deaf-blind-or-who-have-low
>> 
>> 
>> Introduction:
>> 
>> Just like the last several Autumn seasons, this one comes with another
>> new iOS release. And just like other releases, this release brings a
>> lot of new features and functions to supported iDevices. Major changes
>> include enhancements to Siri, a new Control Center available from
>> anywhere within the OS giving you instant access to several essential
>> controls, a revamped Notifications Center, and much more. Many blogs
>> and Apple themselves will be highlighting these new enhancements to
>> iOS, so I will not discuss them in great detail. This article, as the
>> title implies, deals with enhancements pertaining to accessibility:
>> specifically, those changes which impact individuals who are blind or
>> deaf-blind.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> One of the joys and curses of getting a new release from Apple is that
>> they do not actively document the changes in accessibility with their
>> products. This is good for me, because it gives me the chance to share
>> new features with my readers, but it is also a challenge. While I have
>> taken care to work extensively with the new version of iOS since the
>> first Beta release in June, there will be things that I have missed.
>> I'm confident this will also be the case with other people attempting
>> to do the same thing. This is also part of the fun. Whenever I
>> discover a new feature that was not previously written about, it's
>> almost like solving a puzzle or getting an early Birthday present.
>> With that said, here are the changes Detective Davert found while
>> investigating accessibility with the new iOS.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> General changes:
>> 
>> As anyone who has tried to enable VoiceOver on an iDevice can tell
>> you, Triple Click Home, while designed to quickly enable selected
>> accessibility features, by default will do nothing unless configured
>> or unless it is during the initial set up of the device. With iOS 7,
>> you can press and hold the home key and tell Siri to enable some
>> accessibility options such as VoiceOver, inverted colors, assistive
>> touch, and guided access. Simply say: “turn off VoiceOver”. Or “turn
>> on assistive touch”. Sadly, this does not appear to work with other
>> accessibility features such as Zoom, Hearing aid mode, etc. I would
>> hope that Apple would consider making this an option for other
>> accessibility features in the future, so that more users could quickly
>> toggle on and off settings as needed. Note that to use Siri, you must
>> have either a data connection to a cellular network or wifi. One can
>> still use the Triple Click Home function, once it's configured, but
>> this is just another way to quickly toggle some accessibility features
>> on and off. You can also tell Siri to go in to the Accessibility
>> Settings menu by saying “open accessibility settings”.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> One mainstream feature that some may be concerned about is the
>> automatic updating of apps. By default, this is set to on. As anyone
>> who runs apps can probably tell you, developers sometimes
>> unintentionally break accessibility when updating various parts of
>> their apps. As such, many users may wish to disable this feature. To
>> do so, go in to Settings\iTunes & App Store and under the SHOW ALL
>> heading, you’ll find Updates. Double tap to toggle this setting on and
>> off, or tap once if not using VoiceOver.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> VoiceOver changes:
>> 
>> The list of gestures with VoiceOver continues to grow with each major
>> release of iOS. This time around, one addition is the 4 finger
>> double-tap. This enables VoiceOver help from anywhere. So instead of
>> having to go in to Settings\General\accessibility\VoiceOver\VoiceOver
>> practice, you can now do this gesture from anywhere and then do
>> gestures and keyboard commands to find out their functions. This of
>> course, is already accomplished through VO plus K on the keyboard and
>> space with K with braille displays.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Another new gesture that was added is the quadruple 3 finger tap. This
>> will copy the last spoken text to the clipboard. This is a handy
>> feature, which will save a lot of time since you will no longer need
>> to go to the rotor to find Edit and then copy the selected text to the
>> clipboard. This also eliminates some need for selecting text via
>> gestures, as these seem to be confusing to many of the clients I work
>> with that choose to utilize only the touch screen.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> A 3rd new gesture comes out of a new feature. To access the Control
>> Center, which gives you quick access to many popular toggle settings
>> within the iDevice, you must first tap the status bar, then swipe up
>> with 3 fingers. You will now be in the Control Center. Double tapping
>> any of the options (single tapping without VoiceOver) will toggle
>> settings on and off. To exit the Control Center, do a 2 finger scrub
>> on the home screen, or the equivalent keyboard command to activate the
>> back button on your external device.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Old gestures, new function:
>> 
>> Previously, the slide to unlock button was located directly above the
>> home button on iDevices. This is no longer the case. To unlock the
>> screen with a gesture, press the Home button, tap anywhere on the
>> screen, and then swipe 3 fingers from left to right across the screen.
>> You’ll still find the “slide to unlock” button now simply called
>> “unlock” slightly above and to the left of the Home Button.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Ever since iOS 4, the double tap with 2 fingers gesture has started
>> and stopped audio, answer phone calls, started and stopped the timer,
>> etc. Now, it has a new function. When in an edit field, double tapping
>> with 2 fingers will allow the user to start dictating in that edit
>> field. This is a much faster way of quickly dictating instead of
>> finding the dictate button in the lower left corner of the screen.
>> Double tap with 2 fingers again when you have finished speaking to
>> send the audio to Apple's servers for decoding. Since the Notification
>> Center was unveiled in iOS 5, one of the ways to access this feature
>> with VoiceOver gestures was to tap on the status bar, and then swipe
>> down with 3 fingers. This is still also the case. However, swiping
>> down from anywhere else on the home screen will launch Spotlight
>> Search. This was previously accessed by pressing the Home button when
>> already on the Home Screen, but now you can only access spotlight
>> search by using the page up gesture, or equivalent on your external
>> device.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> New Rotor settings:
>> 
>> The Action rotor option has been expanded in Mail. In apps such as
>> Messages and Notes, you can flick up when on a note or message thread,
>> and double tap to delete. This functionality is still present, but it
>> has been expanded in mail to launch a “More” menu which allows you to
>> reply, forward, flag, mark as read (or unread if already read), move
>> to junk, or move message. Also quickly accessible through this feature
>> are the Delete or Archive options. Which of these will appear depends
>> on whether you have inbox archiving enabled in the Advanced Settings
>> for the particular email account.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Containers are a new rotor setting found on the iPhone and iPod. These
>> mean the same thing as what you find on the iPad. As an example of how
>> this is useful, when you open an email message, moving to the first
>> container jumps you to the header information of the message. Going to
>> the next container will land you in the body of the message, and going
>> to the 3rd container will land you on message options like reply,
>> archive, etc.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Hand Writing is another rotor setting, which those who hate using the
>> touch screen to type may enjoy. It's also something an individual who
>> has issues with touch typing on the screen and who knows the print
>> alphabet may find useful. Turn the rotor to hand writing when in a
>> text field, and then begin writing the text using 1 finger. Note that
>> all VoiceOver gestures are disabled other than the rotor option
>> (turning clockwise or counterclockwise with 2 fingers at a diagonal on
>> the touch screen) when hand writing is enabled. When in hand writing
>> mode, to produce a space, swipe right with 2 fingers on the touch
>> screen, to produce a new line, swipe right with 3 fingers, and to
>> delete a character, swipe left with 2 fingers. You can also write in
>> upper case, add punctuation, and add numbers. Cycle through these
>> settings by swiping up with 3 fingers while in this mode. When on the
>> Home screen and Hand Writing mode is activated, writing letters will
>> start generating a list of apps which have the same title as what
>> you’re writing. When done using the hand writing feature, turn the
>> rotor to a different setting and all gestures will function as
>> expected.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Another new function found in the rotor is sound effects. With this
>> feature, you can now enable and disable the VoiceOver specific sound
>> effects that you get when navigating through iOS. With iOS 5, muting
>> speech would disable these effects, in iOS 6, they could only be muted
>> by muting all sounds, but the VoiceOver sound effects now have their
>> own toggle. This is particularly helpful for iPod users who utilize
>> braille displays with speech muted. It is also great for iPad and
>> iPhone users who want to hear system sounds but not the clicks and
>> beeps of VoiceOver. This setting can also be turned off and on in
>> Settings\General\Accessibility\VoiceOver.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Other Changes with VoiceOver:
>> 
>> For those users who require more than one language on their iDevice,
>> it is now possible to install more than one high quality speech
>> synthesizer. To do this, go in to Settings\General\Accessibility\Speak
>> Selection. Then, activate the Voices button, followed by the language
>> you wish to add. Choose the dialect, if any are available, that you
>> wish to download the higher quality synthesizer for. Finally, move to
>> the right and double tap enhanced quality. After the files are
>> downloaded to your device, you will have them available as options
>> within the Languages and Dialects option in the VoiceOver settings. Be
>> aware that each high quality voice will consume anywhere from 50 MB to
>> 300 MB of space on your device. Phonetic feedback now gives the
>> VoiceOver user the ability to have the letters only pronounced as
>> their phonetic equivalent. E.G. A for alpha, B for bravo, etc.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Dismissing apps from the App Switcher becomes easier. Prior to iOS 7,
>> one had to go in to the App Switcher and then double tap and hold on
>> the apps they wish to dismiss, and then double tap again to close the
>> desired app. now, when in the App Switcher, one can flick up and then
>> begin double tapping the apps they wish to dismiss. This is very great
>> news for braille users who could not previously dismiss apps without
>> interacting with the touch screen. This was annoying when trying to
>> use the phone when it was stored away in a pocket, for example. (More
>> on braille changes later).
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> There is now also an option to make the VoiceOver cursor that is on
>> the screen larger. This is the rectangular box which shows up around
>> the item that VoiceOver focus is set to.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> New in Braille:
>> 
>> As noted before, there is a new control Center. This has a keyboard
>> equivalent on braille displays. The command space with dots 2-5 will
>> launch the Control Center from anywhere within iOS 7. This is actually
>> faster than the touch screen where you have to tap the status bar
>> before doing the 3 finger swipe up gesture. Another added keyboard
>> command is to jump to the Notification Center. This can be achieved by
>> pressing space with dots 4-6. Just like the Control Center, this
>> command seems to work from anywhere. For those who were hoping for a
>> double tap and hold equivalent keyboard command on braille displays,
>> I’m sorry to have to report that I could not find one.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> There is now an option called “automatic braille Translation”. When
>> this is turned on, contracted braille input is translated as it was
>> previously. When turned off, VoiceOver will only translate what you
>> have typed after pressing the space bar, or backspace. I think the
>> backspace auto translation could be a bug, but I’m not sure. I
>> actually typed the word great, contracted as grt, but waited 2 minutes
>> before entering the letter T, and it still translated my keyboard
>> input properly after pressing the spacebar. One still has the option
>> to auto translate just like before, or even to just have one thing
>> auto translated. To auto translate, press space with dots 4 and 5. I’m
>> not quite certain of any practical application for this particular
>> keyboard shortcut, but maybe someone else will find a use for it.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> There is also a new feature where equations are shown in Nemeth Code.
>> While I suspect this may work with iBooks, I don’t have any books
>> which have equations in them to try this feature out, so cannot review
>> it. I’m sure someone in the coming days will do so though, if it has
>> not been done already. There should be the option to always hide or
>> show the Virtual Keyboard. However, this setting does not work as
>> advertized. When in a note in the Notes app, I was unable to get the
>> on screen keyboard to come up. Pressing space with dots 1-4-6 would
>> not change this setting, it would only speak the status of the
>> setting. Further, when in a text message window, the virtual keyboard
>> would come up either way after entering a letter on a Bluetooth
>> keyboard or braille display. This functionality is handy in particular
>> for deaf-blind iDevice users who could open up a note in the Notes app
>> and use the on screen keyboard once VoiceOver was set to touch typing
>> to communicate with the hearing sighted population. Before, it was
>> often necessary to press space with dots 1-4-6 to turn the Virtual
>> Keyboard back on when attempting to use the iDevice for the above
>> mentioned function. Now, it is just gone.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> There are some bugs to be aware of as Braille users. One of them, and
>> certainly the most significant, is that it is no longer possible to
>> send a text message using a Braille display by choosing a contact in
>> your contacts list. If one goes to compose, adds a contact from their
>> address book, and attempts to flick right (space with dot 4), or left
>> (space with dot 1), they will find that nothing will happen. In order
>> to get VoiceOver to recognize that there are things underneath its
>> cursor, it is necessary to hit the touch screen. There is, however,
>> somewhat of a work around. After activating the compose button, in the
>> “to” field, type the first few letters of the contact. Once this has
>> been done, flick right twice (space with dot 4), and select the
>> contact that way. This works fine.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Finally, the select all keyboard command (space with dots 2-3-5-6) no
>> longer functions. It still works if you go in to the VoiceOver
>> practice area, but will not work anywhere else. When in a text field,
>> it simply inserts an A in to the document instead of performing its
>> designed function.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Low Vision Changes:
>> 
>> Most of the information in this particular section of the article was
>> garnered through talking with low vision users. As I have never had
>> sight, it is impossible for me to evaluate this particular access
>> method personally. I’d like to thank Amy Mason in particular for
>> giving this a thorough look through and providing much of the
>> following information pertaining to low vision.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> One of the biggest new features in iOS 7 is of course the complete
>> re-design of the platform from a visual perspective. Apple is using
>> bright, almost pastel colors, very skinny fonts and translucency
>> effects to refresh iOS from a visual perspective.  Unfortunately many
>> of the design choices made by Apple are likely to make using iOS more
>> difficult for low vision users.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Contrast:
>> 
>> iOS 7 has many issues pertaining to contrast that cannot be
>> consistently made up for by the new and existing visual enhancements.
>> For example, the notification center, Siri, and Control panel pop-up
>> over the home screen with a translucent (frosted glass) effect behind
>> them. This will make everything on these screens much harder to see.
>> The new "improve contrast" feature flattens this translucency to a
>> matte background, which is sometimes beneficial, such as in
>> notification center and Siri where a user will see white text on a
>> black background. This is generally helpful for many low vision users
>> as it has very strong contrast. However, the control center becomes
>> light gray. Some controls are black which has passable contrast, but
>> selected controls are white which is rendered nearly invisible by
>> being overlaid on the light gray background. Furthermore, the Invert
>> Contrast option cannot be used to fix issues of contrast on the
>> device.  Many apps, (notes, Music, the iTunes and App Store, Game
>> Center, Passbook, Calendar and Reminders main screen) are rendered
>> with black text on a white background. The weather app places small
>> white text on top of weather related backgrounds which dynamically
>> change to show the type of weather being experienced in an area, and
>> (as previously stated) Siri, Notifications, and Stocks are designed
>> with white text on a black background.  This general inconsistency of
>> the interface along with the control center's already terrible
>> contrast, means that depending on which applications a low vision user
>> wishes to use, invert colors will invariably help with some, make
>> others far worse, and  will not improve a third class of applications
>> no matter what state the invert colors setting is set to.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Dynamic text size:
>> 
>> Dynamic text size replaces the Large Text option under accessibility
>> in iOS 6 (which in iOS 7 has been moved out of accessibility and under
>> General in settings.  The purpose of both of these settings is to
>> increase the size of dynamic text in iOS. (This behavior is similar to
>> when a low vision user increases the size of text on a website.  If
>> the site was designed to support it, the text will grow larger, but if
>> it was not, the text size will not increase.)  For example, in the
>> Email app and in the Notes app, text of the actual content of email
>> messages and notes was increased, but the lists of messages and Notes,
>> which are important if you plan to access any of them, were not
>> affected. At this time, the number of apps supporting this
>> functionality is low, so it will only be of use with a few apps.
>> Furthermore, system messages and most other text onscreen is not
>> affected.  Large Text is iOS 7 is almost exactly like dynamic text
>> except that dynamic text actually will increase the text size more
>> than Large Text will.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Bold Text:
>> 
>> The text in iOS 7, in general, consists of very thin fonts both within
>> apps and the Home screen icons. This makes it very difficult to read,
>> as even with the new font size set to 100%, letters are very narrow,
>> and consist of very thin lines, which are harder to read.  The letters
>> also appear to be somewhat cramped or run together despite an
>> otherwise cleaner interface. Bold Text has been added to accessibility
>> settings in an attempt to improve the new appearance of iOS 7 for low
>> vision. While offering a bit in the way of making icons and system
>> text stand out, this setting may not be enough for many low vision
>> users. Turning this setting on will require you to restart your
>> device.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Other changes related to vision:
>> 
>> Another new setting, which is designed to assist low vision users with
>> regards to how some backgrounds and wall paper appear to “move”, is
>> reduce motion. However, as a VoiceOver user, I have found that turning
>> this setting on seems to speed up my iDevice slightly, possibly
>> because the graphics processor is not working quite as hard.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Finally, there is a feature called on/off labels. When enabled,
>> instead of icons appearing as different colors to determine whether
>> they are on or off, this now has a numerical value. If an item has a 0
>> next to it, this means it is off, and a 1 would represent that the
>> feature is on. I’m not quite sure what this feature was designed to
>> do, possibly assist the color blind in determining whether an item is
>> on or off.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Hearing:
>> 
>> The only new added functionality for those who are deaf or hard of
>> hearing is support for subtitles and closed captioning. One assumes
>> that this may mean that movies purchased in iTunes will soon support
>> this functionality. Also, this may work with YouTube and Netflix, once
>> these features are implemented in these video services.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Physical and Motor:
>> 
>> One major change that could open up a new world for those with
>> physical disabilities that prevent them from interacting with the
>> touch screen or a keyboard is the added ability to control your
>> iDevice with a switch. Once a switch is connected to another device,
>> along with your iDevice, it can be configured to scan through menus a
>> set number of times. One can also set the pauses between the movement
>> of each item. iOS will also give auditory feedback and there are some
>> minor visual enhancements possible related specifically to switch
>> control. One can even connect multiple switches to accomplish a
>> specific task or tasks if desired. As this is not my area of
>> expertise, I cannot offer much more in the way of input on this
>> section. I also do not have a switch to test this portion of iOS, so I
>> hope there will be other reviews concerning this access method. It
>> did, however, seem worthy of note.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Concluding remarks:
>> 
>> There are many great enhancements to iOS 7 with respect to
>> accessibility changes. Some of the ways in which things have been
>> accomplished using iDevices have changed with this release. This is
>> not only limited to accessibility itself, but also to the general
>> lay-out of the OS. For example, you can now put multiple pages of apps
>> in one folder, but can only fit 9 apps on each page. Also, from a
>> visual standpoint, it would seem that the new operating system could
>> be a significant challenge to those who need a high degree of
>> consistent contrast. As such, I suggest that low vision users in
>> particular take a look at the new oS at an Apple Store or other
>> retailer selling iDevices to see if it will work for them. If you are
>> a speech and/or Braille user, I would advise checking out the bug list
>> on applevis.com to be certain you can handle the bugs before upgrading
>> to the new iOS. iOS 7 is a free upgrade and is available for the
>> iPhone 4 and newer, the iPad 2 and newer, as well as the iPod touch
>> 5th generation. You can find a general list of new features at:
>> http://www.apple.com/ios/whats-new and instructions on updating your
>> iDevice can be found at: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1414
>> 
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