[nfbcs] Mobile Accessibility is Now Available for Purchase

Mike Freeman k7uij at panix.com
Fri Apr 1 04:05:15 UTC 2011 

Humberto:

Fairness has very little to do with the cost of things for the blind.  We
are a *very* small minority and, all our protests to the contrary
notwithstanding, we are a very small market.  So for the most part, it's a
pipe-dream to expect access technologies to in general be low enough in
price to render the devices comparable in price to what the sighted pay.
It's just one of the nuisances of blindness.

You are correct in praising Apple for making the iPhone, the Mac and iPad
accessible out-of-the-box.  I suspect, however, that part of the reason
Apple went the extra mile was that it wants to sell to schools and
organizations such as NFB may ultimately make such sales difficult without
some attention to access technologies.

Mike


-----Original Message-----
From: nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of humberto
Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2011 8:47 PM
To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Mobile Accessibility is Now Available for Purchase

Yes, It looks like, to me, apple Vs.  other technology companies 
are making the move to accessibility.  Looks like apple is doing 
a great job.
Comparing the options and cost for devices that are available, 
the iPhone would be a better choice among other devices while 
purchasing a phone from a store.  This is because the iPhone has 
a built-in screen reader which is voiceover, and that means you 
don't have to install any other third party applications that 
will cost you more than the data plan and the phone itself, plus 
it seems kind of funny but at the same time ridiculous, when you 
have to pay for very expensive technology, especially technology 
for the blind.  Which also means if I would like to purchase an 
android or a symbian phone, I would have to either be rich enough 
to purchase a license for the screen reader I want, or be 
receptive at the fact that I will need sighted assistance to use 
the phone.
Lastly, Let's hope that the other companies that make software, 
like Microsoft, google, nokia, motorola, and other to just step 
up and make their products as accessible as apple have done it.  
It will enable us to:
1.  Obtain accessibility out of the box so that we can 
immediately start competing with our sighted peers using the 
technology, which makes sure that we are not left behind simply 
because we're blind.
2.  Our pockets will not be hurting as much, and our economy as 
blind people will improve very much.  While it seems like buying 
Talks, for example, may seem worth the price, some of us don't 
have the resources or economic evidence and can not afford such 
product, which also, in my opinion, is not as fair as to whereas 
sighted people start using their mobile device right when it 
comes out of the foaming materials, without having to pay any 
price!

these are all my opinions, to share a few.  Any thoughts?












> ----- Original Message -----
>From: Ryan Mann <rmann0581 at gmail.com
>To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List <nfbcs at nfbnet.org
>Date sent: Thu, 31 Mar 2011 23:08:47 -0400
>Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Mobile Accessibility is Now Available for 
Purchase

>OK, this is a start, but it appears that sighted assistance is 
needed to install this program onto the phone.  On the other 
hand, VoiceOver for the IPhone can be set up without sighted 
assistance and comes free with the IPhone.
>I just wanted to point that out so people can compare the two 
options.

>On Mar 31, 2011, at 11:59 AM, Code Factory News (no reply) (by 
way of David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>) wrote:


>> Logo Code Factory


>> Caroline Ragot - Marketing
>> <mailto:marketing at codefactory.es>marketing at codefactory.es

>> Mobile Accessibility On Sale


>> Mobile Accessibility is Now Available for Purchase




>> Making Android Phones Accessible to the Blind


>> Terrassa (Barcelona), Spain, March 30th, 2011

>> Mobile Accessibility, our screen-access application that allows 
people who are blind or have low vision to use an Android phone 
in an intuitive, easy and simple way, is now on sale.  Mobile 
Accessibility is the first accessible Android application that 
permits intuitive touchscreen navigation of Android phones, 
featuring text readback via natural sounding voices powered by 
Nuance's VocalizerR text-to-speech technology.

>> You can purchase the application directly from the Market 
application of your Android phone, or from the web page:
>>   * US English: 
<https://market.android.com/details?id=es.codefactory.android.app
.ma.vocalizerenu&feature=search_result>https://market.android.com
/details?id=es.codefactory.android.app.ma.vocalizerenu&feature=se
arch_result
>>   * UK English: 
<https://market.android.com/details?id=es.codefactory.android.app
.ma.vocalizereng&feature=search_result>https://market.android.com
/details?id=es.codefactory.android.app.ma.vocalizereng&feature=se
arch_result

>> For more information on how to purchase your copy of Mobile 
Accessibility please go to 
<http://www.codefactory.es/en/products.asp?id=415#getit>http://ww
w.codefactory.es/en/products.asp?id=415#getit

>> If you still have not tried it, you should do it now.  Our 
30-day demos are available here:
>>   * Mobile Accessibility Demo US: 
<https://market.android.com/details?id=es.codefactory.android.app
.ma.vocalizerenudemo&feature=search_result>https://market.android
.com/details?id=es.codefactory.android.app.ma.vocalizerenudemo&fe
ature=search_result
>>   * Mobile Accessibility Demo UK: 
<https://market.android.com/details?id=es.codefactory.android.app
.ma.vocalizerengdemo&feature=search_result>https://market.android
.com/details?id=es.codefactory.android.app.ma.vocalizerengdemo&fe
ature=search_result

>> Mobile Accessibility is only available in English at the moment.  
Languages to follow soon are:  Spanish, Italian, German, French 
and Portuguese.

>> Mobile Accessibility doesn't support multiple languages at one 
time.  If you buy the English version of Mobile Accessibility you 
will not be able to use it in another language like French or 
Spanish.  There will be a specific version of Mobile 
Accessibility for each language and each version will have to be 
purchased separately.  US and UK English are 2 different 
languages.


>> Mobile Accessibility is two products in one:

>>   * A suite of 10 accessible applications (Phone, Contacts, SMS, 
Alarm, Calendar, Email, Web, Where am I, Apps and Settings) that 
have been specially designed for the blind and visually impaired.  
They all have a simplified interface whose textual information is 
spoken using Nuance VocalizerR voice synthesis.
>>   * A screen reader that allows users to get out of the suite 
and navigate the standard interface of their phone.


>> The major features of Mobile Accessibility are the following:

>>   * Touch navigation: You can use Mobile Accessibility not only 
with the trackball or the physical keyboard of your phone, but 
also with its touchscreen! Simply move your finger around the 
screen and the voice synthesis will read the text located under 
your finger.  Or if you prefer, you can also swipe 
up/down/right/left and tap on the screen to navigate through the 
interface.  And if you wish you can enable sound and vibration 
feedback.
>>   * Easy to input text: In or outside the Mobile Accessibility 
suite you can use the touch QWERTY keyboard as well as speech 
recognition to write text quickly and easily.  Imagine writing an 
SMS or an Email using your voice only.
>>   * Voice synthesis: Code Factory has been making mobile phones 
accessible to the blind and visually impaired for many years now, 
and they know that the voice matters...  and a lot! For Mobile 
Accessibility, Code Factory has partnered with NuanceR to 
leverage its trusted Vocalizer text-to-speech technology, 
providing consumers with natural sounding voice readback.


>> Inside the Mobile Accessibility suite of accessible applications 
you can do the following

>>   * Phone: Make calls, answer calls, hear the caller ID and 
manage your call log.
>>   * Contacts: Manage your contacts, even those from social 
networks such as Facebook.
>>   * SMS: Compose and read short messages.  Manage conversations.
>>   * Alarms: Set your alarms.
>>   * Web: Full web browser experience, similar to what you can 
find on your PC.  Jump by the control of your choice (links, 
paragraphs, headings, forms, etc.) to navigate faster to the 
information of your interest.  Bookmark your favourite webpages.
>>   * Calendar: Create, edit and delete a calendar entry.  View 
all events per day, week or month.
>>   * Email: Full access to your Gmail account
>>   * Where am I? : GPS application that gives you updates on your 
current location.
>>   * Settings: Change ringtone.  Configure feedback and 
notifications (vibration or audio).  Configure keyboard echo, 
punctuation verbosity, speech pitch and rate, etc.
>>   * Quick access to date and time, phone status information such 
as battery level and network coverage, number of missed calls and 
unread messages, etc.

>> To hear Mobile Accessibility in action listen to videos and 
audio demos at 
<http://www.codefactory.es/en/products.asp?id=415#video>http://ww
w.codefactory.es/en/products.asp?id=415#video

>> Mobile Accessibility supports all Android phones from version 
2.1 and above.  Please note that voice recognition is only 
supported with version 2.2 and above.  Note also that if you want 
to use the screen reader functionality of Mobile Accessibility 
you will need a phone with physical navigational controls such as 
a trackball or trackpad.  You can find more information about 
Android phones at 
<http://www.google.com/phone/#manufacturer=all&category=all&carri
er=all&country=all&reset_filters=1>http://www.google.com/phone/#m
anufacturer=all&category=all&carrier=all&country=all&reset_filter
s=1

>> To learn how to use Mobile Accessibility for Android, please 
consult the user guide at 
<http://www.codefactory.es/MA/en/ma_1_0_manual.html>http://www.co
defactory.es/MA/en/ma_1_0_manual.html.  For technical assistance, 
please submit a ticket through Code Factory's Help Desk at 
<http://www.codefactory.cat/helpdesk/>http://www.codefactory.cat/
helpdesk/

>> For more information, feel free to contact Code Factory S.L.:


>> Code Factory, S.L., Rambla d'Egara 148 2-2, 08221 Terrassa 
(Barcelona)
>> <http://www.codefactory.cat/helpdesk/>HelpDesk, 
www.codefactory.es
>> Code Factory, S.L.  - 2011
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>Ryan Mann
>rmann0581 at gmail.com
>Follow me on Facebook.
>http://m.facebook.com/profile.php?r170f8385&refid=7


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