[Accessibility_sig] "intro to VoiceOver on iPhone" video released last week

[Aimee Ronn]

Subject:
"intro to VoiceOver on iPhone" video released last week
From:
"Browning,Becky" <Becky.Browning at dars.state.tx.us>
Date:
Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:46:34 -0500


Two of my visually impaired colleagues have the new iPhone, and are very 
pleased with it. They both have allowed me to try it out and as a 
visually impaired person myself, I found that the iPhone was very 
accessible. I loved it! So well in fact, that I plan to purchase one. I 
will say that because it is a touch screen and does not have tactile 
keys, it does take some practice, especially when texting. However, I 
got the hang of it rather quickly and would probably be able to use it 
more efficiently with a little more time. I was thrilled that I could 
actually text, since I've never really been able to do that before. To 
play devil's advocate, some of my other colleagues do not like it and 
prefer a more tactile interface. We are beginning to see more and more 
accessible cell phone choices out there, but every one of those choices 
have pros and cons. It takes some research on the part of the consumer 
to find the tools that work best for them. Also, I believe there will be 
more companies "stepping up to the plate" and making accessibility more 
mainstream rather than an afterthought. I applaud Apple for being one of 
the companies making an attempt in that direction. Okay, there's my two 
cents worth! I can share more when I actually get an iPhone.

Since we're on the topic of cell phone accessibility, I thought you 
might be interested in the following link to an good article from 
American Foundation for the Blind, which explains various cell phone 
options, both off the shelf cell phones that have some limited 
accessibility and second party software that can be loaded on symbian 
phones to make them accessible. Please note that this article was 
written before the new iPhone came out. I apologize in that most of this 
info is specific to visual impairments.

http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw060206&select=1#1 
<http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw060206&select=1#1>

The following is one of the newest options I know about. This software 
is developed by Humanware for the BlackBerry.

Orator 
<http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/products/blindness/orator_for_blackberry_smartphones/_details/id_131/orator_for_blackberry_smartphones.html> 


If you can't open the above link, copy and paste the following link into 
the address bar of your browser.

http://www.humanware.com/en-usa/products/blindness/orator_for_blackberry_smartphones/_details/id_131/orator_for_blackberry_smartphones.html 



Becky Browning
DARS-Division for Blind Services
Blindness Training & Development Specialist
(512) 377-0653

Every artist dips his brush into his soul, and paints his own nature 
into his pictures.
— Henry Ward Beecher, US Abolitionist & Clergyman (1813 - 1887)

-----Original Message-----
From: accessibility_sig-bounces at knowbility.org 
[mailto:accessibility_sig-bounces at knowbility.org] On Behalf Of James Craig
Sent: Monday, September 14, 2009 5:52 PM
Subject: [Accessibility_sig] "intro to VoiceOver on iPhone" video 
released last week

By the way, since people were recently asking about how VoiceOver on
the iPhone works, I thought I'd mention that an "intro to VoiceOver on
iPhone" video was released last week.

http://www.apple.com/iphone/iphone-3gs/accessibility.html#video

-- 
Aimee Ronn | Knowbility Master | aronn at knowbility.org | 512-305-0310