[Nfbktad] FW: accessibility review on ios7

[I. C. Bray]

In mid process of posting the update now.

As far as I can recall, the people using the App Switcher are saying you 
have to swipe up the left or right sides of the screen...  not the middle


HTH
Ian

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Glisson" <jglisson at independenceplaceky.org>
To: "'NFB of Kentucky, Technology Assistance Division'" <nfbktad at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, September 20, 2013 11:16 AM
Subject: Re: [Nfbktad] FW: accessibility review on ios7


: Thanks, Mr. President.  I always love new versions ... nothing functions 
as it once did!!!  Smiles.  The first change I noticed is the functioning of 
the Ap Switcher ... I now don't know how to turn off running apps ...
:
: I know. Voice Over says swipe up with 3 fingers to close, however ... I 
can still single finger double tap and hold to edit apps but haven't a clue 
after that!
:
: All of the material Tonia provided is awesome and appreciated!  John g.
:
: John Glisson, Newsline & Peer Services Consultant
: Independence Place, Inc.
: 1093 S. Broadway, STE 1218
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: -----Original Message-----
: From: Nfbktad [mailto:nfbktad-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Todd E. 
Stephens
: Sent: Friday, September 20, 2013 9:26 AM
: To: 'NFB of Kentucky, Technology Assistance Division'
: Subject: [Nfbktad] FW: accessibility review on ios7
:
: Greetings All,
: Please see the below review on the new ios 7 as communicated by Tonia. 
There's a lot of good info here on the enhancements to the current operating 
system.
:
: Cheers,
:
: Todd
:
: -----Original Message-----
: From: Gatton, Tonia (OFB-LV) [mailto:Tonia.Gatton at ky.gov]
: Sent: Friday, September 20, 2013 7:51 AM
: Subject: accessibility review on ios7
:
:
: hi friends this is a review on ios7....As is our custom, we are going to 
highlight some of the changes to VoiceOver and accessibility in iOS
: 7 here. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of the differences 
between versions 6 and 7, but rather a rundown of the most interesting 
things to expect in this update.
:
: We assume, for the purposes of this look at iOS 7, that you are familiar 
with VoiceOver and how it works and behaves in previous versions of the 
operating system.
:
: Overview
:
: As was the case last year as well, most of the significant changes to iOS 
7 for VoiceOver users will not be to VoiceOver or accessibility, but those 
found in the operating system and available to all users. This is as it 
should be. Much of the OS has been rethought, redesigned, and reorganized 
with this update, which Apple has called the most significant update to iOS 
since its introduction in 2007.
:
: Since the general changes to iOS have been, and will continue to be, 
widely documented on mainstream tech sites, we will primarily be focussing 
on VoiceOver and accessibility here. However, there are a few general 
changes worth noting in the iOS 7 update.
:
: list of 5 items
: ▪ Many of the layouts and basic functionality of the stock apps included 
with iOS have changed…some more than others. Some controls or other onscreen 
elements have moved, and so you may need to become accustom to their new 
locations.
: ▪ Many default audio cues, such as the iOS charging sound, 
incoming/outgoing message indicators, default text sound, etc, have changed. 
In general, I feel these adjustments are for the better. They tend toward 
the classier, more modern, and more subtle. Users with hearing impairments 
may find some harder to hear than the previous sounds, however.
: ▪ One of the most radically redesigned apps for iOS is the Calendar.
: On the iPhone, this app is a tremendous improvement over the previous 
design. The iPad interface does not always behave as expected with 
VoiceOver, but works well in general.
: ▪ If you’re a music lover, iTunes Radio is a gem of a service. I’m not 
sure if it is because I am an iTunes Match subscriber or not, but iTunes 
Radio has, thus far, been far better at playing songs I like than Pandora 
ever was.
: ▪ The new layout for folders means that, while inside a folder, you have 
only three apps per row, but since a folder can now contain multiple pages 
of folders, this is not much of a problem. Folders behave exactly as the 
Home screens do, so VoiceOver users should feel right at home.
: list end
:
: Accessibility Gets More Accessible
:
: The Accessibility settings have been moved to a location of greater 
prominence in the Settings app. Previously, it was buried near the very 
bottom of the General screen. It is now located near the top of General, and 
the screen need not be scrolled to reach it on most devices. This is a very 
welcome change, and it is nice to see Apple shining a greater spotlight on 
their accessibility features.
:
: VoiceOver Changes
: The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard
:
: With the popularity of apps like Fleksy and MBraille, it is clear that 
some users find text entry on the software keyboard cumbersome or difficult, 
especially in certain situations. I must confess, I do not use either of 
these apps, as I have found my speed on the onscreen keyboard to be 
satisfactory, and use dictation when typing is inconvenient.
:
: That being said, Apple has provided a new feature to VoiceOver users that 
is a pretty impressive alternative to typing your text entry.
: Tucked away, hidden
: at the bottom of the option rotor settings in VoiceOver’s settings, is an 
option simply called “Handwriting”.
:
: When entering text, you can select “Handwriting” from the rotor, and then 
use the screen as a canvas to literally draw printed characters.
: By default it
: starts in the category of lower case letters, but also includes 
recognition for uppercase letters, numbers, and punctuation.
:
: Simply draw a letter as it appears in printed form, and it is entered into 
the text field. Three-finger swipes up and down will change the category of 
character type you are entering. A two-finger swipe right will input a 
space, and a two-finger swipe left will backspace.
:
: If you know the shapes of printed characters, a little practice will find 
you entering letters at a pretty good clip in this mode. Having already 
mastered a pretty speedy technique with keyboard entry on my iOS devices, it 
has not yet overtaken my typing speed, but I can see where it might 
eventually, and certainly could for others who have trouble with keyboard 
entry. There are also occasions when typing is not optimal, such as in noisy 
surroundings, and this would definitely be handy in those situations.
:
: The great thing about doing text entry in this way, is that it limits the 
learning curve for those who are already familiar with the shapes of printed 
letters to almost zero. For those who are not, this is a great excuse to 
learn.
:
: You can also enter your pass code, if you keep one on your device, using 
the handwriting feature, and it will even default to numbers for this 
purpose.
:
: The Handwriting feature has other uses and modes, too. If turned on while 
you’re on the home screen, you can start writing letters on the screen, and 
a list of apps beginning with those letters appears. Apps in this list can 
be anywhere on your device, and are not limited to those on the current 
screen or in the current folder. Use a two-finger swipe up or down to move 
through the list, and double-tap, as usual, to activate the app you want. 
Those who are familiar with the Item Chooser on Mac will find this 
functionality very familiar.
:
: When in web content, such as in Safari, Handwriting mode has yet another 
use. Write a letter corresponding to a rotor option, and VoiceOver switches 
to that form of navigation. For example, writing “H” switches to Headings, 
and two-finger swipes up and down will move you through the headings on the 
page.
: Draw an “L”, and now you are navigating links. This will be particularly 
nice for users who keep a lot of items in their rotor and want a faster way 
to move through various HTML element types.
:
: The accuracy of the recognition of this mode is superb, and with just a 
little practice, many users are likely to find they enjoy this form of text 
entry.
: Hats off to Apple for incorporating this in such a fluid and intuitive 
way.
:
: Center on the Centers
:
: In addition to the Notification Center, iOS 7 now includes a Control 
Center feature, which provides quick access to commonly accessed settings 
and features of your iOS device. From the Control Center, you can quickly 
turn on or off Airplane mode, wifi, or BlueTooth, as well as adjust 
brightness, control media playback, access timers and alarms, and more.
:
: With VoiceOver, as before, the Notification Center is accessed by 
performing a three-finger swipe down while focus is on the status bar at the 
top of the screen. THe Control Center can be accessed in the same way, 
except by performing a three-finger swipe up instead. These gestures are, 
however, very cumbersome, and it has long been a frustration that you could 
not easily access the Notification Center when using the iOS device 
one-handed.
:
: To solve this problem, Apple has provided a fantastic new VoiceOver 
feature. If you touch the top center of your device’s screen, you will hear 
a sound similar to the pass-through gesture sound begin playing. If you then 
swipe straight down from that position, you will pull down the Notification 
Center, much as a non-VoiceOver user would. For this to work reliably, your 
finger should begin half on and half off the screen. On an iPhone, it may 
help at first to use the speaker cut in the glass as a landmark, and touch 
immediately below it.
:
: Similarly, you can pull the Control Center up onto the screen from the 
bottom. In this case, your finger should rest immediately above the home 
button, and when you hear the sound, swipe up.
:
: These gestures may take a few minutes of practice to master, but once you 
have them down, you’ll find them to be a much easier and more convenient way 
to access the Notification and Control Centers.
:
: Consistency
:
: Some iPad conventions, which would work just as well on iPhones or iPod 
touch devices, have been absent from the smaller iOS products until now. In 
iOS 7, VoiceOver is more consistent across all your iOS devices.
: “Containers” can now be navigated between on iPhones and iPods, if you 
wish, using the rotor, and the VoiceOver audio cue indicating when the user 
moves from one logical section of the screen into another works as well.
:
: Shhh…
:
: One of the simplest changes to VoiceOver in iOS 7 has had the most 
profound impact on my usage. In the past, flipping the mute switch on your 
device to the On position would mute the auditory cues that VoiceOver users 
for focus change, control activation, view scrolling, and so on. If you were 
like myself and relied on these cues for the operation and navigation of 
your device, this was a problem when you wanted to use your device normally, 
but simply silence the ringer so as not to disturb your sleeping spouse, for 
instance.
: Fortunately, the mute switch no longer stops the VoiceOver sounds, and the 
ability to stop them is now located in VoiceOver settings. Turning VoiceOver 
sounds off in Settings prevents them from playing entirely, whether the iOS 
device is muted or not.
:
: An optional rotor item can be used to turn the sounds on and off on the 
fly, if that’s something you find yourself needing or wanting to do 
frequently.
:
: Talk to Me, Siri
:
: The way VoiceOver interacts with Siri has also been tweaked in ways that 
dramatically improves the user experience. First, Siri’s voice output is now 
independent of VoiceOver, allowing for the use of Siri’s new, highly 
expressive voices.
:
: Speaking of which, the Nuance voices now being used for Siri, particularly 
the American female voice, are very expressive. Apple has clearly gone to 
some lengths to give Siri a distinctive personality, and the new voices fit 
in nicely with it.
:
: Even better, when using VoiceOver, Siri no longer repeats your own words 
back to you, but simply responds to them. This cuts down on the chatter and 
makes for more fluid conversations. I, for one, will not miss hearing, “You 
said…”, nineteen times a day.
:
: As of this writing, Apple’s Siri server’s seem to be responding more 
quickly and accurately to requests from iOS 7 as well. I have yet to have 
Siri hang with an infinite rendition of the dreaded VoiceOver ticking sound 
letting you know that it’s waiting for a response from Siri’s servers.
:
: Parlez-Vous Francais
:
: The way in which VoiceOver allows the user to customize the language rotor 
has seen a facelift, and it is much simpler to use. You will find the new 
settings in the “Languages and Dialects” section of the VoiceOver settings.
: Additionally, VoiceOver’s default language is no longer dependent upon the 
system default language setting. This is especially useful, if like me, you’re 
an American who prefers to listen to the Australian voice.
:
: For each individual voice you use, you can control whether or not the high 
quality voice is used, are told how much space the high quality voice is 
taking up on your device, and you can even control the speech rate for each 
voice independent of one another.
:
: Help Me! Help Me!
:
: A four-finger double-tap gesture now activates a VoiceOver help mode, 
similar to Keyboard and Trackpad help in OS X. In this mode, you can 
practice VoiceOver gestures without having to first navigate to the 
VoiceOver settings screen and selecting the corresponding item. To exit this 
mode, simply perform the scrub gesture.
:
: App Switching
:
: App switching has changed visually in iOS 7, and Apple has taken the 
opportunity to improve how this works for VoiceOver users as well.
: Double clicking
: the home button brings up the new app switching interface. In the center 
of the screen is a miniaturized representation of a given app in the state 
in which you left it. This takes up most of the space on the screen, though 
if you touch to its left or right, near the edges of the screen, you will 
hear the apps that are previous or next in the switcher.
:
: Touching the central app, you have several options. Flicking right/left 
will move you forward/backward through the apps in the switcher, scrolling 
as needed.
: Apps which are running in the background are noted as “running”.
: Double-tap an app to activate it. If you flick up or down, you will be 
presented with the options from the Actions rotor option, including a choice 
to close the app. Additionally, you can close an app by performing a 
three-finger swipe up gesture on it.
:
: All in all, this greatly improves the experience of using the app switcher 
functionality with VoiceOver over previous versions of iOS.
:
: Web Browsing
:
: Web content has seen some accessibility improvements. Much like VoiceOver 
on the Mac, iOS can now recognize and announce various Aria roles for page 
elements.
:
: Safari has seen a significant overhaul to its interface in iOS 7, but 
these changes are not specific to VoiceOver users, though VoiceOver users 
will certainly see many of the same benefits as sighted users from these 
changes.
:
: It’s the Little Things
:
: Much of the interface, as it is presented by VoiceOver has been subtly 
polished and improved. Some apps, for instance, state what the numbers on 
their badges refer to. Mail may say that you have “5 unread messages”, or 
Reminders may tell you that you have “2 Tasks Due Today”.
:
: In Safari, the share button is now labeled “Share”, as one would expect, 
rather than the confusing “Utilities” label it previously sported.
:
: The Actions menu in the rotor has been improved and expanded, often using 
more contextually relevant wording and additional options. In Mail it 
contains a “Trash” option and a “More Options” one, and if performed on a 
thread, it will announce the number of messages which will be effected by 
the action.
: In the app switcher, it can be used to activate or close apps.
:
: Unfortunately, you can no longer slide to unlock your iOS device with 
VoiceOver active. The Unlock control simply acts as a button now, and if you 
have the muscle memory to slide to unlock ingrained as a habit, you’re going 
to find this frustrating at best, and a real annoyance at worst.
: You can use double-tap-and-hold
: to activate the pass-through gesture and slide to unlock if you wish, but 
of course this takes longer than the old method, or than simply 
double-tapping the button as it is now.
:
: As has been noted by tech pundits around the web during the beta cycle, 
apps take longer to open in iOS 7, allowing for the system to play its fancy 
new animation for app launches. The added time, in my opinion, is 
negligible, and I have not truly been inconvenienced by it, but it is 
something you will notice and it will surely frustrate some contingent of 
users.
:
: Other Accessibility Notes
:
: A number of new features to general accessibility have been added in iOS 
7, and can be found, as usual, in
: Settings->General->Accessibility. Among these
: are a new Switch Control feature for users with motor impairments, 
controls for finer adjustment over text size and visual elements, features 
for users with hearing impairments, and more. The scope of the accessibility 
features on iOS, and the number of users they work to assist, continues to 
grow at an impressive rate.
:
: In the End
:
: If you have a device capable of running iOS 7, I can highly recommend this 
upgrade. While not all features will be available on older devices, most of 
the features covered here should work on iOS devices released in the last 
two years.
:
: With each release of iOS, we see further refinements and new capabilities 
to Apple’s suite of accessibility features. The level of dedication to users 
with disabilities continues to be unmatched by any other company, and I’m 
excited to see what is in store for iOS 8 and beyond.
:
:
:
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