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

Joe Orozco jsoro620 at gmail.com
Wed Mar 29 15:32:22 UTC 2017


Fair point regarding touch pads versus touch screens. Either way, I
would not have been able to figure out what floor I needed. I'm glad
there was a telephone keypad below the panel, but to me it felt like
only a matter of time before they figured the two controls were
unnecessary.

Joe

On 3/29/17, Jack Heim via nfb-talk <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 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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>
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