[nfb-talk] A Double Tap to the Touch Screen Devil's Head

Jack Heim john at johnheim.com
Wed Mar 29 14:19:08 UTC 2017


I think you are both right.  A smart phone is a really awesome tool. 
However, a touch screen, even with a screen reader as nice as voiceover 
for IOS, is not as easy for a blind person to use as a regular cell 
phone key pad.  I use my smart phone so much I often can double click a 
button without listening around for it. When I say "listening around", I 
am drawing an analogy with "feeling around". What I mean is that I can 
just tap a button because I know where it is without having to run my 
finger over the screenlistening to voiceover until it says my finger is 
on the button. So you can get pretty efficient. But first of all, there 
are plenty of apps that are inaccessible because of the way they handle 
the touch screen. And no matter how efficient you get with a touch 
screen, there will always be times when you have to listen around for a 
button.

On the other hand, the benefits of having a smart phone very much out 
weigh the drawbacks of having to deal with a touch screen. In fact, I 
would even say it is irresponsible for a blind person to not have a 
smart phone unless you are almost perfect. I consider myself a fairly 
mobile person but my smart phone has bailed me out many, many times. 
Just having a compass app is a huge benefit. And a GPS app is 
practically essential.  On a typical day, I'll use my smart phone as an 
alarm clock to wake me up in the morning. Then I'll listen to podcasts 
all morning while I am getting ready for work. Then at work I might use 
the email app, the text messaging app, skype, KNFBReader, and tap tap 
see. If I go to the gym after work I might listen to music while I am on 
the tredmill. When I get home I might stream some TV shows or listen to 
a book from BARD. That BARD smart phone app is really terrific, by the way.

So on a typical day, I might be actively using my smart phone for 4 to 6 
hours with 8 or 9 different apps. But I still think touch screens are a 
drawback for blind users.







On 03/28/2017 10:08 PM, Mark Tardif via nfb-talk wrote:
> I had an iphone for about a day, and for various reasons I was just
> disgusted.  First of all, the person who sold it to me at the store
> didn't even realize that Boice Over was a standard feature, and I kept
> coralling my sighted neighbor and getting on the phone with Verizon to
> work through problems, and I finally just disgustedly asked them to help
> me reprogram my old phone.  Never regretted it, either.  Never surrender!!!
>
>
>
> Mark Tardif
> Nuclear arms will not hold you.
> -----Original Message----- From: kaye zimpher via nfb-talk
> Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2017 9:32 PM
> To: NFB Talk Mailing List
> Cc: kaye zimpher
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] A Double Tap to the Touch Screen Devil's Head
>
> Oh, but you shall surrender, and once you do, you will wonder why you never
> did before. lol
> All kidding aside, I was very much against the touch screens when I got my
> first Iphone. I could barely make a call, and in truth, the darn thing sat
> on my desk for almost a year before I really got in to it. Once I did
> though, I could not live without it. That phone does everything!
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Tardif via nfb-talk"
> <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> To: <jsoro620 at gmail.com>; "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: "Mark Tardif" <markspark at roadrunner.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2017 8:11 PM
> Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] A Double Tap to the Touch Screen Devil's Head
>
>
>> I'm still a stuborn probably soon to be lone soldier against the touch
>> screen hordes coming to conquer and spread their tyranny.  Even if I
>> am the last man down, I will never surrender!!!
>>
>>
>>
>> Mark Tardif
>> Nuclear arms will not hold you.
>> -----Original Message----- From: Joe via nfb-talk
>> Sent: Monday, March 27, 2017 8:47 PM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list ;
>> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
>> Cc: Joe
>> Subject: [nfb-talk] A Double Tap to the Touch Screen Devil's Head
>>
>> In the battle between touch screens and tactile buttons, the touch
>> screen is
>> quickly becoming the reigning champion. It's not that I can't see the
>> advantages of touch screens. Less moving parts means less maintenance and
>> all that, but dammit, it used to be I only had to worry about touch
>> screens
>> where warming food was concerned. Slap a tactile dot here, a Braille
>> label
>> there, and I could conquer the basic operations of a microwave.
>>
>> Once while on travel for work I met the enemy at a fancy hotel. I
>> strolled
>> from the hotel registration desk to the bank of elevators as if I was a
>> frequent guest of the swanky resort. I even hit the bank of elevators
>> on my
>> first try like the super blind traveler that I was, but then the elevator
>> doors whispered open. I walked in and reached for the familiar panel of
>> buttons with accompanying Braille numbers. Only, the travel gods felt
>> I had
>> enjoyed enough arrogance for one day, because instead of neat rows of
>> buttons, my fingers skated across a smooth panel.
>>
>> Read and comment on the rest of the article here:
>>
>> http://joeorozco.com/blog_a_double_tap_to_the_touch_screen_devils_head
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Joe
>>
>> --
>> Musings of a Work in Progress:
>> www.JoeOrozco.com/
>>
>> Twitter: @ScribblingJoe
>>
>>
>>
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>
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