[nfbcs] [IDevices] Your Help Is Needed, Apple Feedback

[Nancy Coffman]

One thing that can help for frequently used services is to create a contact that includes the entire phone number, a coma for pausing if needed and the numbers to complete the call such as the email password. I have used this techildrenique for my work email and it works pretty well. Usually, you don't have to wait for the entire prompt to be spoken before entering the next number. I had put 2 pauses in where I think one would be enough. Although it isn't a full fix, it can save a lot of key presses in the short term.

Nancy Coffman
Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 29, 2013, at 12:27 PM, Kevin Fjelsted <kfjelsted at gmail.com> wrote:

> Steve;
> I am curious about the Voicemail you are using. I don't have to enter any I.D., because there is a VoiceMail tab under the phone app which when activated shows all the messages available.
> At this point selecting the messages immediately plays them with no requirement to log in.
> Regarding the keypad, are you using "touch typing mode?" I find this mode to be much faster because I can slide my finger around the keypad or keyboard until I find the correct character or number and then just lift up. Thus spacial reference on a keypad doesn't need to be spot on just fairly close.
> Regarding muting, the Apple headphones do have a different size plug so standard headphones won't fool the remote or microphone.
> When the call is activated/connected,  one can press the "hide keypad" button the mute as well as other controls are exposed so one can mute the microphone, unhide the keypad and enter numbers if desired.
> -Kevin
> 
> 
> On Aug 29, 2013, at 10:34 AM, Steve Jacobson <steve.jacobson at visi.com> wrote:
> 
>> Kevin,
>> 
>> Interestingly, I played around with this some and found that a bluetooth keyboard can select and push keypad buttons by navigating 
>> to them with the arrow keys.  This is probably still too slow for long strings of numbers but can work more efficiently in some 
>> cases than using the touch keypad.  I also found that the numbers on a bluetooth keyboard can be used to enter a number before 
>> dialing, and even to enter the digits of one's pass code.  As a programmer, I can accept that the keypad that is visible after a 
>> call is complete may be different that that displayed before and during a call even if it looks similarly, but this isn't a 
>> logical assumption for a user to make.  
>> 
>> Another aspect of this that I've seen that can cause difficulty is that some systems are geared to accept numbers or voice input 
>> such as BusLine here in the Twin Cities with which you are likely familiar.  Even if the menu options don't time out as such, slow 
>> entry causes that system to try to interpret background sounds.  Muting the microphone would probably help this situation, some.  
>> I suspect that you are right that the inputting of numbers in those situations from a keyboard is not something that has been 
>> disabled by design.  Where I also agree with Jim is that we sometimes react quickly to a problem without necessarily understanding 
>> the entire problem.  However, I also completely understand the frustration of some, and I think we have to realize that while 
>> Apple has shown us that using a touch device is more than just possible, there are aspects of this that we don't fully understand 
>> yet.  It is my belief, for example, perhaps founded more on observation than real scientific fact, that since we are going to 
>> depend some on our memory of where buttons and controls are to gain efficiency, those of us who are lucky enough to have a good 
>> sense of spacial relationships are going to do better than those who have less of that ability.  For a sighted user, spacial 
>> relationships are not an issue since they are locating buttons visually and touching them.  Therefore, the sighted person who 
>> finds reading maps to be frustrating because they have a poor sense of spacial relationships will not have a problem with using a 
>> touch screen, while a blind person with that same lack of ability will have more trouble navigating a touch screen efficiently.  
>> 
>> I also find that an earphone is an essential tool.  Again, going back to Busline, I depend upon being able to hear what is being 
>> spoken as a cue that my input has been received.  For example, entering a response before the system has finished the menu causes 
>> it to stop reading.  When holding the phone so that buttons are seen visually, one cannot hear responses as easily, but of course, 
>> placing the phone near one's ear disables the touch screen as it has to.  My thought was that the answer is to use an earphone 
>> that does not have a microphone for such purposes.  The iPhone is too smart for that, though, as it seems to know when one uses 
>> regular stereo earphones without a microphone and it leaves its internal microphone enabled, so I still have trouble with slow