The iAccessibility Report

Changes and New Beginnings.

Michael Doise — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:46:36 +0000

Hello everyone,

I apologize for not writing any new articles on the iAccessibility Report, but a lot is going on, and I think that everyone will like to hear what is coming up.

Future of this blog.

The iAccessibility Report has always been hosted here at iAccessibility.net, but in the future, users will have to go to report.iaccessibility.net or our readers can click the blog icon on the newly redesigned iAccessibility home page.

New iAccessibility Home Page

The new iAccessibility home page will be a place for ou users to come to learn more about our products and services offered by iAccessibility. We have a lot of things planned for this site, so we hope you enjoy the page when it is finished.

Conclusion

Not much will change here at the iAccessibility report, except for the location on the web, and also the frequency in which stories are posted. We promise to post more app reviews more frequently, and I’d also like to see a few new authors and some people comenting on these stories.

The iPad Mini

Michael Doise — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 08:30:30 +0000

Apple last week just announced the newest lineup of iPads, one of which is a smaller, thinner, and lighter iPad called the iPad Mini. The iPad mini is the newest in the line of iOS tablets, and comes with the same features as the iPad 2, and starts at $329.00.

Why would the iPad Mini be good for blind users?

While the iPad (4th generation) is a great device, it still costs as much as any of the previous iPads, and really does not add anything new for blind users at this point. The iPad Mini is a smaller device that runs the same apps as the larger iPad, and is $170 cheaper than the bigger variant. The Mini also allows for a user to find things on the screen easier since there is not as big of an area so the user does not have to search everywhere to find something small.

Why the iPad Mini instead of the iPad 2?

Apple is still selling the iPad 2, but it still has the same screen size as the 4th generation iPad without the same features. The iPad 2 also does not have Siri, which does run on the iPad Mini. This makes the Mini a great device for users wanting SIRI without paying the extra for the 4th generation iPad.

Conclusion

The iPad Mini allows blind user the ability to afford an iPad without paying the full amount that users have had to pay with previous iPads. The device still runs VoiceOver, and also has Siri built in. This device starts at $329.00, and will give the user the flexibility of the iPad 2 and iPad 3rd generation.

iBlink Radio from Serotek

Michael Doise — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 07:54:17 +0000

Serotek has built several cloud solutions for the blind and visually impaired that allows users to use their computers to watch descriptive movies. One of the things from Serotek is an app for iOS called iBlink Radio. iBlink Radio allows users to listen to many different podcasts and reader services that are produced by the blind. You can also listen to all of the podcasts from Serotek in this app. With the latest update, users can now connect their System Access Mobile Network, or SAMNet account to iBlink Radio, and enjoy all of the great content that is offered on that service.

How does the app work

iBlink Radio consists of a man menu, which is a table that loads results from the web. From this menu, the user can tap on the most recent shows from Serotek, or they can select a category to browse. This will bring up a new menu of choices. Once the user selects the show they want to listen to, a player with the usual music player controls will appear at the bottom to control the audio.

How to sign in to SAMNet

It is very easy to sign in to SAMNet in iBlink Radio. First, go to SAMNet Sampler, and select login to SAMNet. Once you enter your username and password the page will change, and you will get access to all of your SAMNet content.

Problems with the app.

Even though this update is great, it is not without its flaws. The major flaw that has been found is the player. If the user does anything to manipulate the current position of audio playback the app will start the audio over or crash. This even happens when pausing or resuming audio. It is nice to have an app that can deliver this content, but without a stable player, it makes listening tedious and frustrating to the end user. I also determined that this happens while using the remote control functions from the headphones and the app chooser of iOS.

Conclusion

While iBlink radio is a great app, the unreliability of the player makes this app frustrating and tedious. I would really like to see Serotek fix this problem as I really like using this app. I also would like to pause and resume my audio as well, so for now, I am having to use the Apple podcasts app to listen to the Serotek Podcast Network.

iAccessibility On Facebook!

Michael Doise — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 00:29:07 +0000

We now have a new Facebook page! If you want to learn more about us, or if you want to leave us comments, then feel free to do so at facebook.com/iaccessibility

Fleksy – Does Fleksy change the way the blind uses the iPhone?

Michael Doise — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 03:44:37 +0000

So now that Fleksy has been released for a few weeks now, I would like to look at the app, and see if it measures up to the hype that surrounded it at #NFB12?

How does Fleksy work?

Fleksy is a new keyboarding app for iOS that allows blind or visually impaired users to type on any iPhone or iPod touch. Once the user loads the app, Fleksy loads the speech engine and then brings up a text box and the on scren keyboard. Once loaded, a user can then tap on the screen where they think the character they need would be, and then the the user swipes right to complete the word they just typed. Once the user swipes right the app tries to guess what word they typed and puts it on the screen. swiping down will go to the next suggestion, and swiping left will delete the word. swiping right again will add punctuation.

thoughts

So how well does it work? Fleksy has proven to be a very accurate app. I believe it has up to 90% accuracy The speech is good, and it is very responsive. Several users have said they do not like the price of the app, but for the licensing and technology needed to build this app I can see why this is needed. There are still some things I do not like though. First, I think we should have an iPad version of this. This app will work on the iPad, but the app will still need to be doubled to be used in full screen on the iPad, which lowers accuracy. I urge the makers of Fleksy to please make an iPad app. I would also like to see some saving abilities. Local and iCloud saving would be an excellent thing to add. I would love to see the load times fixed to be a bit quicker, but I do understand why this happens.

Conclusion

Fleksy is a great new app to help the blind and visually impaired type quickly. Even though this is the best audience, I do think that this app could be used in other applications. I think that if the makers wanted a more broad audience, then they would market this app as a fully eyes-free capable app for sighted users who need to keep their eyes on the road or who need to watch where they are going while walking. Even though the app has a lot of new features and is very useful, I think it would be very worth the price if it has some of the features mentioned above. Despite the price, I recommend everyone get this app and support these guys. I also would recomend any iOS developers check out their APIs for their own apps.

#NFB2012 – Welcome!

Michael Doise — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 17:22:41 +0000

If you have heard abut this site from this year’s NFB convention in Dallas, I strongly urge you to subscribe to this site, so you can receive updates on new products, reviews and general iOS news. I hope everyone enjoys the site, and their time at the convention. It only comes around once a year! I hope to see everyone again around the Anatole.

Fleksy – A new way of using a keyboard on mobile devices!

Michael Doise — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 17:51:08 +0000

Yesterday, I was able to get a look at the new keyboarding technology from Fleksy. Fleksy is going to be a new app for iOS that lets the user type text without having to use exact placement fingers on the screen. All you have to do is tap where you think letters should be and type a full word, and the app will predict which word you are trying to type. After trying this system, I believe that this app/technology is at least 90% accurate.

How does it work?

Fleksy is a simple and intuitive new technology that lets you type without having to find keyboard keys. To start, you start trying to type a word. Once you are done, swipe right and the app will predict what you typed. If that word is not correct, swipe down or up to get more suggestions. The swipe right also puts a space, and there is also commands to add punctuation as well. Swipe left will also delete the word you just typed.

Conclusion

Fleksy is an incredible new technology that will be making its way to the iOS app store very shortly. The developers have also said they would like to create APIs for other developers to use their technology in other apps. I plan to add Fleksy technology to all future app releases I come out with, and would love to see other developers do the same. If you are here at the 2012 National Federation of the Blind convention, try and find one of their representatives and they will give you a demonstration.

NFB Convention 2012

Michael Doise — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 19:11:38 +0000

If you are at the National Federation of the Blind convention this year in Dallas, you can find me around the hotel this week with information on the best Braille apps for your iOS device. If you would also like help with getting used to your device, try and find me. My name is Michael Doise, and I will be around the Hilton Anatole this week. You can also pick up information from the NFB of Texas suite or from the convention information table.

I hope to see you this week, and I hope everyone enjoys the convention!

Diet Coda

Michael Doise — Wed, 30 May 2012 11:21:32 +0000

I have always felt that the iPad would be a perfect device for Web Design, but I have not yet found the perfect web editor to accomplish this. I have tried Markup, Gusto and others to accomplish this but none of these completely made a great experience as some editors on the Mac or PC could. On Mac OS X, Panic Software wrote a wonderful piece of software called Coda that has been around for many years. Now, Panic has brought Coda to the iPad and has called it Diet Coda. Diet Coda lets a web developer write code and upload that code directly to a web server. This app also lets a user login to their web server through SSH for server administration needs. So how well does this app work for VoiceOver users?

Diet Coda as good as it is, does not allow for much VoiceOver support. The app is very graphical in nature, but Panic Software did not label all of its buttons to work well with VoiceOver. This is very obvious from the beginning. Once a user sets up a site, It is impossible for a user to pick which site they want to work with, because Diet Coda does not have text labels or accessibility hints to help the user figure out which site they are selecting.

Other than that the app is lacking a few features I think would make this app Stellar. One of these include the ability to have offline site storage like Coda for Mac OS X. I also think that iCloud or Dropbox support would also go a long way to make users happy.

Conclusion

While Diet Coda is a great app, I cannot recommend it for very low vision or blind users, because of the lack of VoiceOver support. Otherwise, this is a very good app except for the essential need for Internet support. If your iPad does not have internet, then this app will be useless to you. This is why I feel this app needs to have offline support. Otherwise the feature set provided by Diet Coda is a great benefit to any on the go web developer.

AppBraille

Michael Doise — Thu, 10 May 2012 01:49:22 +0000

One limitation of any application that uses custom fonts is that that font cannot be copied or used in any other app on an iOS device. Due to some research, this limitation can be overcome. Now, Braille can be copied between apps on all iOS devices.

Look for the AppBraille technology In all future releases of VisualBraille, VisualBraille Lite, PocketBraille Reference, and PocketBraille Lite. Plus some new AppBraille specific apps that include AppBraille Explorerer, and AppBraille editor.