[nabs-l] FW: Vision - iPod touch

[Sarah alawami]

iPod touch includes a screen reader and other innovative accessibility
features that make it easier to use for those with impaired vision.

The same VoiceOver screen reader made popular on the Mac and the iPhone is
now a standard feature on iPod touch 32GB and 64GB (Fall 2009). 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.
Dialog bubble graphic containing Japanese characters
 
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 32GB and 64GB (Fall 2009). 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.
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.
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.

 
 
 
Never give up! no matter how big or small the struggle may seem!
Quote by Vicki Moore