Thoughts on more access spinning off of iPhone 3.0's accessibility

I’ve still not even checked out the iPhone, with its new, whizbang 3.0 OS offering out-of-the-box accessibility, but I’m here to tell you that there is a lot more than buzz going on about this in the blind community. There is thought and reflection on where this can go from here. To wit, I share two recent blog posts.

First, an intelligent thought is offered by T. Reid in his cleverly titled piece
Accessibility, There’s An App For That!

T. begins by looking at the idea of reading Amazon’s Kindle books on the iPhone, using the already available Kindle app with Voice Over, which would beat the Kindle’s own, now-neutered text-to-speech potential. He also looks at other possible apps that might come from innovation. Read his post to see his thoughts.

And, my good friend Marcus Engel has also stepped into the reality of technology and finally claimed some geekiness wherein he proposes the idea of an
App to run NLS books on the iPhone.

Now, that idea Marc is proposing isn’t just an idle thought. He’s already stepped up to the plate and initiated communications that might get something going here. Read his post to see what I mean. Also, make sure to write an email of your own, encouraging the development of this possible app

accessibility@apple.com

Good work, guys!

Apple gives iPhone accessibility for the blind and does it the right way

In case you missed the groundbreaking news this week, the Apple Corporation has pounded the table and slammed its fist down, announcing heretofore unimagined accessibility for blind people to the iPhone and its popular touchscreen display. I’ve ragged on Apple enough in previous postings about not including accessibility for the blind amongst the many features that it offered on this chic and trendy device, so I feel obligated to give my props to the home of the Mighty Mac for doing it right.

Not only does Apple include accessibility to the iPhone with the upgrade to the 3.0 operating system, but they do it for free. It is built-into the software. That means that there is no additional “accessibility charge,” a price blind people have been subjected to in the past to gain access to information that sighted folks get for the original price of a product. This fee has come in the form of screen readers and service maintenance agreements that hit wallets that are very often already strained. So, a tip of the hat to Apple for not only providing accessibility, but just making it part of doing business.

I have heard that somebody questioned whether the Nokia N82, which is the phone I and several of my friends are using, has become obsolete with the advent of an accessible iPhone. I don't buy that. I think the N82 is a greatly accessible phone, in my own experience the most accessible phone I’ve ever had, and its already bought and paid for. There are aspects of it that nothing on the market can touch, at least not yet, so it is not obsolete. However, it is expensive in itself, just under $300 at best pricing, and also requires an expensive, third party screen reader for nearly $300 to be accessible. With a screen reader, at best prices, one will spend close to $600 and up to $900 from vendors to get an N82 with a screen reader on it.

Now, along comes Apple offering an iPhone for $199 with a built in screen reader. What Apple has done here is put pressure on the market to, not only ante up, but to matche their raise.

As they say, only time will tell. Let’s see what happens. It is indeed an interesting time to be a blind person and experience the wonders of advancing technology.

With all that said, below I offer a roundup of some of the writings on the web about the iPhone’s accessibility.

Here’s the official Apple iPhone Accessibility page where they spell out the use of Voice Over:

http://www.apple.com/accessibility/iphone/vision.html

Also, here’s the Apple guide on how to use different features on your iPhone.

http://www.apple.com/iphone/how-to/#basics.introduction

Here’s the Serotek blog where Mike Calvo shares his thoughts on Apple doing it right. Also, make sure to read the first comment on that post

http://blog.serotek.com/2009/06/why-is-it-that-apple-always-seems-to.html

Here’s the Ranger Station’s Post announcing the news. Ranger 1138 is a knowledgeable and experienced “dude in the assistive technology industry” whose insight I truly appreciate and trust.

http://therangerstation.blogspot.com/2009/06/voiceover-comes-to-iphones.html

Here is the Fred’s Head article from the American Printing House for the Blind. It is drawing its information from Apple, but seems to add some personal thoughts as well. The writer of this blog is a savvy writer named Mike McCarty and I personally dig his thoughts on technology and seemingly endless resources of information related to blindness and low vision.

http://www.fredshead.info/2009/06/true-accessibility-for-blind-and.html

And, finally, here’s Darrell Shandrow’s Blind Access Journal post, where he’s collected a few people’s reactions—some in awe and others basically taking a "wait and see" stance, as it sounds like his first couple of commenters are as well.

http://blog.blindaccessjournal.com/2009/06/apple-announces-iphone-accessibility.html

Like I said, only time will tell what evolves from Apple’s investment in accessibility.

Update 06/11/09

Here’s one more post from Mark Taylor’s Candleshore blog. It is not the original work of the blogger, but contains commentary from one person on an email list. However, these are the thoughtful reflections of a person, whom Mark leaves unidentified, but pledges is “one of the most respected names in the field of assistive technology for the visually impaired.” The comments are a good starting point for a discussion of what the pros and cons are of the iPhone versus other tactile smart phones.

http://mark.candleshoreblog.com/2009/06/11/the-accessible-iphone-3g-s-for-the-blind-and-low-vision-a-reality-check

Captioned Phone gives people with hearing impairments an accessible phone to use

I just love it when I hear about assistive technology in the mainstream media, not just on those usual online sites where I go to find this information. I mean, when you go to a web site dedicated to assistive technology and its use by people with disabilities, its not really any big surprise to learn about the latest tech innovation.

So, you can imagine my surprise on Sunday night when I heard an ad for a
Captioned Phone
In an ad on one of the local, Houston-area television stations.

Here’s the
ad that played.

Granted, what is being spoken in the ad isn’t a perfect description of everything that is being displayed on the screen, but even a blind dude like me can get the general message of what is going on during that ad. There was some additional print information from the ad that my wife read to me, but the information provided in the audio was pretty evident on describing the product. It basically uses voice recognition and speech-to-text technology to provide a real-time caption to the conversation the user is having.

Ideal for people with some degree of hearing loss, the Captioned Telephone (CapTel) works like any other telephone with one important addition: It displays every word the caller says throughout the conversation. CapTel phone users can listen to the caller, and can also read the written captions in the CapTel's bright display window.

On the web site, CapTel’s Benefits are described as:

• Calls are made in a natural manner, simply dial the telephone number directly for the person you are calling


• Users enjoy natural telephone conversations, and can check the captions for added clarity


• Everyone can use the CapTel phone simply turn off the captions feature to use it as a traditional telephone


• Captions appear nearly simultaneously with the spoken words


• The CapTel phone includes an amplified handset and tone control for clarity

If you’re interested in learning more about this revolutionary phone, check out this
video,
or read the
FAQ page.

While the ad I caught was sponsored by CapTel Texas and
Relay Texas,
There is also a
Availability page
To see where else this program can be found across the United States.

And, for you Texas residents, here’s a great final note:

Texas residents may qualify to receive a free CapTel telephone through the state’s Special Telecommunications Assistance Program (STAP). Or, Texas residents can purchase a CapTel phone directly.

Google engineer Raman addressing blind accessibility on touch screen phones

I’ve previously railed here about the inaccessibility of the iPhone, due to the whizbang Apple product’s touch screen not having any features that make the much-ballyhooed gadget usable by blind folks. Maybe my approach to touch screen phones was all wrong. Instead of knocking the innovation, I should’ve embraced it.

At least, that’s what
T. V. Raman has done.

From the New York Times article linked above:

Some of Mr. Raman’s innovations may help make electronic gadgets and Web services more user-friendly for everyone. Instead of asking how something should work if a person cannot see, he says he prefers to ask, “How should something work when the user is not looking at the screen?”

With no buttons to guide the fingers on its glassy surface, the touch-screen cellphone may seem a particularly daunting challenge. But Mr. Raman said that with the right tweaks, touch-screen phones — many of which already come equipped with GPS technology and a compass — could help blind people navigate the world.

So then, the question comes to mind, if he can’t see the touch screen, then how does he know where to correctly touch it to make a call?

Since he cannot precisely hit a button on a touch screen, Mr. Raman created a dialer that works based on relative positions. It interprets any place where he first touches the screen as a 5, the center of a regular telephone dial pad. To dial any other number, he simply slides his finger in its direction — up and to the left for 1, down and to the right for 9, and so on. If he makes a mistake, he can erase a digit simply by shaking the phone, which can detect motion.

He and Mr. Chen are testing several other input methods. None of these technologies have been rolled out, but Mr. Raman, who is already using the G1 as his primary cellphone, hopes to make them freely available soon.

(Few screen readers are available for smartphones today, and they can often cost as much as a phone itself.)

This is truly the insight that needs to be applied to touch screen phones, and should have applications that can be carried over to other touch screen devices that are ubiquitous and becoming more and more commonplace around households and businesses everyday.

Those in the blind technology circles might know who T. V. Raman is, but many don’t. For those of you who don’t, let me shed a bit of light. Mr. Raman is a computer scientist and engineer at
Google.
He is also blind due to glaucoma and And is behind several aspects of accessibility at the online search and advertising behemoth. He has a history of creating accessibility in existing products, including pdf documents for Adobe Acrobat.

I’ve read a good bit about Mr. Raman over the past few years, but this is, by far, the most interesting news to me. The reason why is the ondslaught of touch screens coming down the pike in the future of our everyday lives. If they can innovate and make this aspect of daily living more accessible, which I see becoming more and more integrated into our lives, then I’m all for it.

Review of TALKS Premium 3.52 mobile screen reader

Here’s the second half of my review of my Nokia N82, wherein I discuss the use of the Nuance TALKS screen reader. When I purchased this Smart Phone, I did so with the full intention of operating a screen reader on it so that I would get the full benefit of the phone’s functionality.

My previous experience with a text-to-speech (TTS) solution on a mobile phone was running the TALKS screen reader on a Nokia 6620. AT&T has a Center for Customers with Disabilities and at that time, offered to reimburse the cost of TALKS and discount the phone’s high cost if I committed to a two-year contract. Getting assistive technology for free and a 33% discount on a high-end Smart Phone was a no-brainer for me.

That was three or four years ago and I really liked the feedback that TALKS gave me. It allowed me to have unprecedented access to the information displayed on my cell phone. On top of that, it used Eloquence, my preferred speech engine, for TTS. I also bookmarked the TALKS web site for figuring out how to use this nifty technological wonder.

However, finding resources for support soon became difficult. As far as I knew, this was the only screen reader available for mobile phones and once I purchased the unit, I was basically on my own for figuring out how to use it. First, I misplaced the CD that came with the screen reader. AT&T offered nothing to help me out and the web site I had bookmarked soon began giving me that dreadful 404 message, “Web page could not be found.” That experience made me wary about ever using TALKS again.

So, when I was looking at purchasing a new phone a couple of months ago, I wasn’t so sure about getting one with TALKS. I looked at Mobile Speak, TALKS’ primary mobile screen reader competitor, which AT&T now features, offering it for only $89. However, because AT&T no longer sells TALKS nor do they sell the N82, they also do not have a license to support the N82 with the Mobile Speak screen reader. That meant if I wanted to change to Mobile Speak for my TTS solution, I was going to have to pay full retail, about $295, for it.

I spent some time doing some web research and found that I could get a handset license transfer for TALKS, which included an upgrade to
TALKS Premium
For only $99 from
TalkNav,
A U.K. company.

I read over the associated web sites and found that it seems that today’s support for TALKS might be better if I opted to do this. I said, “What the heck, its only $10 more than the AT&T subsidized offer,” and jumped on it. And, I found there were additional reasons that supported sticking with TALKS.

That explains how I got back on the TALKS train. Let me now delve into my thoughts about the latest version of TALKS Premium 3.1.

The Good

Of course, the familiarity of the Eloquence speech engine remained a strong selling point for me. My biggest concern was figuring out the keystroke combinations to perform commands with TALKS. This was resolved by receiving TALKS user’s guides in both audio and MS-Word format. Now, I can easily go in and figure out what to do if I inadvertently change some of the TALKS settings. This user support was what I was missing in my first go-round with TALKS. Primo!

TALKS Premium 3.1 is so much more than what I had the first time around. This package includes the Zooms screen magnifier, which would be a great tool for anybody who is low vision. Being I’m totally blind, it wasn’t anything major to me personally, but this is definitely a good thing to know for discussing this as an access solution for other people.

The ability to label icons is a big thing, though. Just as on most computer programs, mobile phones often rely on visual icons to present information and controls. On my PC, I have the ability to label graphics with JAWS, so it is a good feature to find this included in TALKS. And, this is one feature that their competitor doesn’t have.

In my previous experience with TALKS, just running the program on the phone was a battery killer. My Nokia 6620 couldn’t be turned on for eight hours without dying. And, that wasn’t even using it to talk. Just having it turned on and in standby mode, drained the battery. That’s not the case today, though. Whatever improvements were made with the TALKS program or the phone, it is all for the positive. I’ve gone more than three days without needing to recharge the N82. What a nice change that has been.

Though I am not a Braille user, TALKS does support the use a Bluetooth Braille display with the N82. For some people, I can see where this would be another strength of the TALKS application, particularly in meetings where the user could mute the audio and still access the displayed information.

The Bad

There is only one gripe I have with TALKS. It gets hung up sometimes and repeats what it is saying continuously. It is basically a hiccup, sounding like so many CD players used to be like in the early days, when a smudge on a CD or a slight bump would cause the player to get hung up on a word or note. I am not sure how long TALKS will go on hiccupping, because when it does this, I always press another button to perform some other operation. This works to make it quit repeating. Also, TALKS doesn’t do this all of the time, just sporadically. Still, its buggy in that regard.

Overall Thoughts

Three to four years ago, I got TALKS on the 6620 so that I could have access to the number of incoming calls, feedback on the numbers I was dialing, and the ability to know the battery and signal strength on my phone. These features were things I’d never known on previous phones and were exactly what I was looking for from a mobile screen reader. In that regard, my previous experience gave me what I wanted. Trading that off with the battery drain left me feeling a little lukewarm, but I still like the accessibility that I’d never had on a cell phone. The biggest downside was not having any kind of accessible user’s manual.

All that is history with the latest incarnation of TALKS. I enjoy its robust abilities and receiving the support material in various formats is a definite plus. With TALKS Premium 3.1 operating on the N82, I’m able to do so much more than just those rudimentary tasks I used to do on the 6620. I breeze through the menu-driven Symbian operating system, easily going to the various folders and applications I want. I operate the powerful 5-mega-pixel camera in both image and video modes, looke over the songs and play music with the music player, and I’m looking forward to doing so much more after I get a Bluetooth keyboard.

I have played a bit with the internet on the N82, connecting on open WiFi signals when I’m out and about. It has been encouraging to be able to read the latest news headlines on my default home page. There is so much more potential for me to use this with that Bluetooth keyboard. I personally dislike typing in letters from the keypad, finding it monotonously slow and mentally dulling. So, with the ability to type on a keyboard, I should find some smoking, new horizons on this phone, all made very accessible with TALKS.

Also, when I get the keyboard, I will more easily use and manage my contacts on the N82. This will lead to so much more personalization of the phone for me, as well. I love using the Goldwave audio editor and will assign specific, personalized ringtones to each of my contacts. But, I need to get this where it is a practical task first, meaning I need to get that keyboard soon.

One feature of the N82 that I’ve yet to explore is its built-in GPS application. A friend keeps asking me if I’ve tried it out yet, and when I reply in the negative, he chides that this is one of the best features of the phone. Perhaps, but I’ll use it when I’m interested and feel comfortable that TALKS will provide accessibility to the information just as well as it does in other applications on the phone.

Other aspects of the phone that I’ve not yet attempted are viewing documents in the N82’s included office package. While the phone will display them, I’m not certain if TALKS will read the Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, or PowerPoint presentations. I will take on this task at a later date and possibly provide an update to this product review.

Finally, I am not certain if that hiccupping that TALKS sometimes presents is a unique problem, or it is something other users are experiencing. If it is a common bug, then Nuance should be able to remedy this with an update. If it is an individual problem, though, I can either just live with it or try re-installing the software. Either way, I perceive this as only a minor flaw at this time.

The price for the handset transfer was a great deal for me. However, if somebody is a new user of this mobile screen reader, then the initial cost would be approximately $295, the same as the retail price of Mobile Speak. I've not used Mobile Speak, so I can't offer a comparison between the two. For me, though, TALKS was the right choice.

The Bottom Line

I envision seemingly endless potential ahead for me in this new Nokia. It is such a powerful phone, with many features I find attractive. The key to enjoying these features, though, lies in the accessibility TALKS is providing. I am very glad that I made the decision to try TALKS one more time. Not only was it a very affordable TTS solution, but it also offers the comfort of familiarity and a well-supported user experience.

Code Factory releases DAISY reader for Symbian mobile phones, includes 30-day free demo

Wow! The tech staff at Code Factory never slow down. They've released a DAISY reader for mobile phones such as those from Nokia that are running the Symbian operating system. They promise that a version is on the way for Windows Mobile as well.

This news is a great innovation in several aspects.

1. Allows people with print disabilities the ability to access DAISY documents and books on their mobile phone without needing to purchase some other, free standing hardware device


2. one of the most usable features the product offers students is it allows them to place bookmarks for specific locations, including the ability to include voice annotations to accompany the bookmark


3. Does not require a screen reader to operate, but does work in conjunction with either the Mobile Speaks screen reader or those produced by other companies
4. Includes adjustable font and color configurations, maximizing usability by users who are dyslexic


5. Automatic unpacking of books from Bookshare.org, eliminating the need for a seperate unpacking utility.

Below is the Code Factory press release which I've copied from the email announcement. Or, go to the
Code Factory page
for a version that includes working links.


--
Caroline Ragot - Marketing Director
Tel. +34 93 733 70 66 - marketing@codefactory.es
Mobile DAISY Player V2.0
Mobile DAISY Player V2.0, the only DAISY Book reader for Symbian 9 Phones is available!
Download the free trial
Barcelona (Terrassa), August 8th, 2008
Code Factory, the world's mobile accessibility provider, today announced the release of version 2.0 of Mobile DAISY Player, the only DAISY reader to work with mainstream mobile phones.

This release is just one more way in which Code Factory shows its commitment to enabling reading on a mobile device as an easy and pleasurable experience.

"We at Code Factory have always realized that mobile devices have the potential to give blind and visually impaired users unprecedented access to reading material wherever they are”, explains Eduard Sánchez, Code Factory's CEO. "Mobile DAISY Player has a unique role to play in allowing access to books from many different sources on many different mobile phones. A short time ago, a blind or visually impaired user was at a distinct disadvantage in that he/she had to carry large Braille volumes, many cassette tapes, or a specialized player if he/she wished to read on the go. With Mobile DAISY Player, however, a blind or visually impaired user, with a DAISY book, has an even more portable method of reading than his/her sighted colleagues, since he/she can carry many books on a mobile phone which he/she would be carrying in any case."



Why is Mobile DAISY Player unique?


• Mobile DAISY Player V2.0 is the only accessible application which reads DAISY books on Symbian Mobile Phones. A version compatible with Windows Mobile devices will soon be released.

• Reading books in Mobile DAISY Player V2.0 is very easy: simply create a folder on the memory card, usually known as (E:), called "books", and copy each of the books into a subfolder of that books folder. Book content is generally either downloaded from the web or available on CD, in either case, copy all of the book contents into the destination folder.

• Includes support for DAISY 2.0 and 3.0 formats, allowing access to a wider variety of content and providers.

• Automatic unpacking of Bookshare.org books, making it unnecessary to install and run a separate application just to decompress Bookshare files.

• You can record your own voice annotations as bookmarks within the content. These voice notes will appear in the bookmark list, and the sound recordings will be heard automatically when the book is in normal playback mode.

• Configurable font sizes and screen colors have also been implemented to provide maximum readability of on-screen text, especially for dyslexic persons.

• Mobile DAISY Player can be used with or without Code Factory’s world-leading screen reader, Mobile Speak. When combined with Mobile Speak, Mobile DAISY Player becomes a fully-accessible e-book solution, providing speech feedback of the screen prompts and menus as well as speaking the book contents. For those users who do not need a full-fledged screen reader, Mobile DAISY Player can still take advantage of the Nokia’s built-in text-to-speech support on S60 phones to read text content. In either case, Mobile DAISY Player is an independent product, and is licensed separately from Mobile Speak.

• Two modes of navigation: the normal reading mode and the virtual cursor mode. The normal reading mode is active when the book is in continuous playback mode, and is playing either audio or text content. When playback is paused, the virtual cursor mode is active, allowing you to navigate the text content of the book, if any, using the screen reader.

• Rewind and forward in cassette or digital mode.

• Mobile DAISY Player can be used with other screen readers, although other screen readers may not offer the same level of integration as Mobile Speak, particularly when reading text books. For example, all of the normal screen prompts and menus will be accessible within Mobile DAISY Player. However, other screen readers may not recognize the book text as a special type of content, and may attempt to read it at the same time as Mobile DAISY Player. For this reason, we recommend that users of other screen readers temporarily mute speech while in book reading mode, and then resume speaking when switching to other applications or when using the application menus. Mobile Speak does recognize the book contents and will mute itself automatically during playback.



Apart from all these unique features, Mobile DAISY Player V2.0 also includes:


• Variable playback speed allowing audio content to be reproduced faster or slower than the speed at which it was recorded without changing the sound’s pitch.

• Variable navigation levels (e.g.: by chapter and/or by page).

• Quick and easy navigation to any point in the book.

• Support for text-only, audio-only, or mixed-mode books.

• Ability to set bookmarks to favorite places in the content.

• Auto-bookmark and resume to last point in the book.

• Variable volume level.

• Customizable Text-To-Speech support via Mobile Speak.


Mobile DAISY Player 2.0 supports the following Nokia Symbian 9 phones: 3250, 5320, 5500 Sport, 5700 Xpress Music, 6110 Navigator, 6120 Classic, 6121 Classic, 6124, 6210, 6220, 6290, E50, E51, E60, E61, E61i, E62, E65, E66, E70, E71, E90 Communicator, N71, N73, N75, N76, N77, N78, N80, N81, N82, N91, N92, N93, N93i, N95, N95 8GB, N96.



Visit http://www.codefactory.es/downloads and install Mobile DAISY Player on your mobile phone and it will automatically work free for 30 days. While using a trial license, you cannot change the date or the time of the phone. Changing the date or time will automatically lock the trial license, without any chance to recover it. Please make sure that the time and date are set correctly on the phone before installing the software.


To buy Mobile DAISY Player, contact your closest distributor:
http://www.codefactory.es/en/purchase.asp?id=54


Don’t miss the Reading on the go competition, more than $20000 worth of prizes to be divided among ten winners. To learn more go to http://www.codefactory.es/en/page.asp?id=251. To join the competition, go to
http://www.codefactory.es/en/page.asp?id=251. To join the competition, go to http://www.codefactory.es/contest .
http://www.codefactory.es/contest .



About Code Factory
Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Terrassa/Barcelona, Spain, Code Factory is the global leader committed to the development of products designed to eliminate barriers to the accessibility of mobile technology for the blind and visually impaired. Today, Code Factory is the leading provider of screen readers, screen magnifiers, and Braille interfaces for the widest range of mainstream mobile devices including Symbian-based and Windows Mobile-powered Smartphones as well as Pocket PC phones and PDAs. Its product line is the only one to support phones working on the GSM, CDMA and WCDMA networks. Code Factory's success lies in giving excellent customer support and in responding immediately to the needs of its end users.

Among Code Factory’s customers are well known organizations like ONCE, and carriers such as TMN, Vodafone, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and AT&T. The company also collaborated with leading TTS providers and Braille manufacturers, thus enabling Code Factory to provide excellent text-to-speech technology in many languages for Mobile Speak products, and to incorporate support for over twenty wireless Braille devices into the software.





For more information, feel free to contact Code Factory S.L.:


Code Factory, S.L., Rambla d'Egara 148 2-2, 08221 Terrassa (Barcelona)
Tel. +34 93 733 70 66, info@codefactory.es, www.codefactory.es
Code Factory, S.L. - 2008

Review of the Nokia N82 Mobile phone

I recently purchased a Nokia N82 cell phone and want to share a review of my experience with the phone and also about using it with the TALKS screen reader. In this post, I’ll just discuss the phone. I’ll follow up with another post later about the TALKS experience.

The N82 is the latest in Nokia’s line running the Symbian operating system. That OS is a must if you want to run a screen reader on the phone. The other option is to have a phone from another manufacturer that runs the Windows Mobile OS. What that all means is that you’ll pay a good chunk of change for one of these Smart Phones, no matter the make.

For somebody who is blind and seeking a fulfilling mobile phone experience, you need to ask yourself what is accessibility worth to you. Personally, I want to know what number I’m dialing, who’s calling me, and to have full access to all the features of the phone. I also like to know my battery and signal strength before making a call. For those various reasons, buying a Smart Phone that can run a screen reader is worth the investment to me. If I’m going to have a cell phone, then I want one that can give me information just as well as if I were sighted.

This phone comes loaded with tons of extras that make it useful and desirable to those wanting a high-end phone. One of the big features I like about it is there is both Bluetooth and a built-in WiFi card. With this WiFi card, I don’t need to subscribe to a data plan to access the web on it, and I can do this from anywhere I have an open WiFi connection. It also comes with a GPS system. And, finally, I’ve also read that it is the only phone with a 5 mega pixel camera, which, with the built-in xenon flash, offers some great photographic experiences. One online review I read of the N82 said that it takes great nighttime pictures from short distances.

One of the potential future uses of this phone for me is that, being it is a Smart Phone with a 5 MP camera and flash, it is ideal for running the
KNFB Reader Mobile
OCR software. Right now, I don’t have a real need for this application, but if aspects of my life change, and that need arises, this phone is an ideal machine to run that OCR scanning system. I would need to justify the nearly $1,600 cost of the KNFB program to myself and the only way I could see that happening is taking a job where I’m either needing to read documents regularly or traveling alone a good deal. Still, it’s a real peace of mind to know that I have the right phone to do this.

The Front Face

The N82 is a candy bar style phone, meaning it is open-faced and the keys exposed.
Being that the phone is open-faced, when users who carry it in their pants pocket as I do, there is a strong potential for it to have buttons pressed inadvertently and to make unintended calls, all without the user’s knowledge. The N82 solves this problem by initiating an automatic keypad lock after about 30 seconds of inactivity.

At first, I didn’t like this automated lock as I thought it created an unnecessary extra step for me to unlock the keypad every time I wanted to do something on the phone. Additionally, I wasn’t able to unlock it on my first try. I had to work at it to get the buttons pressed just right. With practice, though, this has diminished and is hardly a problem any longer.

What has also happened is that I have come to appreciate the keypad lock. On several occasions, I’ve been doing something where I accidentally bump the phone inside my pocket and I hear TALKS announce, “Press unlock and then star.” Whenever this has happened, I’ve just been thankful that the keypad was locked.

And, if you’re wondering about answering incoming calls with the keypad locked, that’s not a problem. I’ve taken several calls where the keypad’s been locked. When the phone rings, you simply push the green “Send” button and you take the call just as if it were unlocked. When you hang up, TALKS announces, “Keypad locked,” to remind you that you are back in that mode. That also once again locks the “Send” key to prevent accidental dialing.

This phone has the traditional layout of the Nokia phones. It has a directional “D-pad” in the center, just under the 2.4” diagonal screen, with a soft key on either side of it. My previous phone, a Nokia 6620, had a small joystick instead of the D-pad, but the functions are identical. Just below those keys is the usual phone keypad.

The soft keys and D-pad are easy to discern by touch. The D-pad is a square that has a raised lip on its outer edge. That lip helps blind users know exactly where that D-pad ends and just where to press to get that directional push.

The soft keys are a bit different from those that I was used to on the 6620. These are almost flush and harder to feel, except you know that the D-pad ends and the soft keys begin immediately on either side of it. The left soft key also runs pretty flush into the “Menu” key right below it. It took a bit of playing to figure out that this functions as the TALKS button, used to initiate a keystroke command. The right soft key has an extra button sticking up just under it, which is easy to notice as it projects outward just like the normal keypad does. That is the “Multimedia “ button, which takes you to the folder of that name containing photos, videos, and music.

Perhaps the trickiest key to find on this phone was the "C" key. This key functions as the phone's delete key, which is also the key needed to back up one space when entering a wrong digit. On the 6620, it was easy to find on the right side, just below the “End” key. However, the only keys down the side edges of the N82 like that are the “Send” and “End” keys. (The 6620 had two keys on the right side corner and three on the left.) I had this phone nearly a week and a half before I figured this one out. It is just below the “Multimedia” key and just above the “3” key in the keypad array. Like the soft keys, this “C” key is nearly flush and its presence is difficult to figure out.

The keypad is normal in design and has no special functions assigned to the keys from Nokia. Yes, they do act as the letter representatives for text messaging and filling out forms, but there’s nothing new or big about that. Like the “Multimedia” key, the entire keypad is raised sufficiently to allow for quick tactile reference. The “5” key does have a raised nib on both the right and left sides to quickly inform the user that he is on that home key.

The Sides

Along the sides of the phone are some notable features and keys. On the left side, the jack for the charging cord is near the bottom. Above that is a small plastic panel that is tethered to the phone. It opens to allow access to the 2 GB micro-SD storage card, which is included and already installed when the phone is purchased. The box includes an adaptor that allows the micro-SD card to be inserted and used in computers. Above that slot is the jack for the phone’s micro-USB cord to connect it to a computer.

Along the right side of the phone are the unit’s two external, stereo speakers and some keys, but no jacks or slots. About a half-inch from the bottom of the phone is the right speaker, and the left speaker is in the same position on the top end of this side. The speakers are designed to add stereo sound when viewing videos, allowing you to view them in landscape mode and still getting full stereo sound. The button nearest the bottom is the button used to take photos. Just above that is another key used for photos as well. Just above that key is a rocker button used to raise and lower the external speaker volume.

The Top

On the top of the N82 are only two items to note—the power button and the external headphone jack. The power button is located in the middle of the top surface. This button is recessed just slightly, enough so that it is tactilely discernable. A feature worth noting is that when the phone is off and the user presses it in to turn it on, the button has a slight vibration to indicate that the unit is powering up. The external headphone jack will operate any headphones that use a standard mini-jack and the phone is shipped with a pair of ear buds included.

The Back

On the back of the phone is the camera. There is a sliding lens cover that automatically engages the camera feature when it is slid open. This works even if the keypad is locked, which is a handy timesaver when needing to get that quick shot at just the right moment. To slide that open, there is a raised control that will slide from left to right, when looking at the back of the phone. This is near the top end of the phone. Just below that is the flash and lens. The flash is on the left and the lens to its right, near the center of the phone. The phone is designed to be turned on its side when using the camera, so that the lens is on the bottom. That is why the button to take a picture is on the right side of the phone when looking at its face. Turn the unit into a landscape position with the photo button on top, and slide the shutter open, then click away.

Final notes

One other feature of the N82 is the music and video player. Nokia intends for this to be a multimedia device. The screen image will automatically shift from portrait mode into landscape mode when turned on its side. Remember the speakers’ positioning? Additionally, included with this phone is a second cable. This one is a video cable to attach your phone to a television to allow for sharing your videos. These can be ones you’ve taken with the built-in video camera or ones you’ve downloaded with that nifty WiFi card.

The phone is simple to operate and fairly intuitive. I’m personally not into texting, but the traditional keypad design makes this a real workout. I know, other people do it all the time, but I think a compatible, portable, Bluetooth keyboard will be my next purchase.

All in all, I have to say that this phone is very easy to use for anybody, whether they can see it or not. The downside is the price. If you look on Nokia’s home page, it is suggested to sell for around $650, but can be found for less at various vendors. (I found it for $400 at buy.com, and have since seen that drop another $20 or so.) Still, the N82 is not sold by any of the wireless companies, so there are no discounts available to make it more affordable by signing a two-year contract. In spite of the expensive cost, the N82 still provides one of the richest user experiences I’ve ever had with a cell phone. Using the camera is simple enough for my 6-year-old son to operate. The music player is good enough to let you hear your favorite tunes, even in noisy settings.

And, don’t forget that its still a mobile phone. The sound clarity, signal strength, and overall durability of the N82 all rise to the high level of expectation I’ve grown accustomed to with my previous Nokia phone.

Glove converts sign language into speech

I read a tech article in Barron’s earlier this week in which some folks, recognized for their ability to see current trends and how they might evolve to meet future needs, made a list of their
Top 10 tech trends for the future.

In that list, there seems to be a general acknowledgement that the cell phone will continue to evolve into something much more complex and useful than its current incarnation. However, one possible application of the cell phone that wasn’t mentioned was a potential for it to act as the translator for a
Glove that converts sign language into sound.

The glove will allow somebody who communicates using sign language the ability to communicate with almost anybody and do so without the need for an interpreter. When it is completely developed, somebody who uses sign language will be able to wear this glove and sign as usual. Then, the programmed glove will recognize the fingers and hand positions and will then send the associated word or phrase to the user’s cell phone. The cell phone, running an off-the-shelf text-to-speech program, will then speak out the word or phrase.

The glove, a product of a team of graduate students at Carnegie Mellon University, is still undergoing refinement and is working on the learning curve. It knows only 32 words so far. Additionally, it seems like the team has taken some liberties and created some signs to work through the process, instead of using strictly ASL. However, of the 26 letters of the American Language alphabet, the glove has learned 15 of them.

Granted, it is not perfect, nor is it a completed, working model yet, but that latter outcome certainly seems like a given.

I believe the students’ hearts are definitely in the right place, integrating existing text messaging and text-to-speech applications with their vision. I hope they don’t catch any flak from deaf/hearing impaired purists for inventing a basic primitive language instead of striving to make it work with existing ASL. If they arise, I hope the critics aren’t too harsh, though, as innovation is where great projects begin.

This is just another embodiment of people thinking outside the conventional limitations to imagine what is possible, instead of resigning themselves to what is not.

The iPhone now has some accessibility...sort of

Well, the iPhone is coming along in providing accessibility to customers with disabilities.

Maybe that should actually read that AT&T, the exclusive provider of voice and data plans for the popular Apple product, has finally made a jump to address some specific
accessibility concerns on the iPhone.

While the news article linked above is an umbrella announcement about accessibility, what it offers is more specifically AT&T providing a plan for internet and messaging for iPhone customers who are "deaf, hard of hearing, have a speech disability and/or hearing loss."

This really is great news for this group of customers and I applaud AT&T for doing the right thing. After all, why should customers have to pay for a voice plan that is of limited use or value to them?

The text Accessibility Plan for iPhone
is a $40 a month flat-rate feature and will allow customers who have a qualifying disability to have unlimited access to web browsing, email, and text messaging.

But didn’t AT&T promise a plan like this some time ago, like, um, back in December? I suppose almost six months late is better than never.

It appears that AT&T used that announcement to demonstrate their sincerity in making the iPhone accessible to even more customers with disabilities. That announcement also included information about the use of a mobile magnifier to help people with limited vision see their screens. This would be good news, if true, and another great step forward in providing accessibility.

But, I have to ask what magnifier program that might be? Is this the same Mobile Magnifier by Code Factory that AT&T has been selling for use on phones running the Windows Mobile or Symbian operating systems? Is that same application now Apple compatible?

Finally, the article also said that an option will also be for the Mobile Speak screen reader (also manufactured by Code Factory) to announce the menu options. This one has me scratching my head. Unless there is some voice command aspect, how will a person who can not touch the correct spot on the touch screen make the Mobile Speak software work? Unless there has been some change in the physical build of the iPhone, there are no buttons on it and the sole input is via the touch screen, which, without modification, would make navigation by the blind completely impossible.

And, I have to ask again, can the Mobile Speak program now run on the Apple operating system?

Maybe I just missed the press release announcing Code Factory products now working across the competing Windows and Apple operating systems.
Or maybe not.
Check out the official Code Factory list of supported products.

Good work on getting some accessibility options rolling, AT&T, but I think maybe there’s a hole in that umbrella.

ScanR.com offers potential for free, portable OCR

I’m not certain how well this would work, but there is a web-based application that may provide the same functionality to blind people that the KNFB Reader Mobile provides. And, if it works like it supposed to, portable optical character recognition (OCR) can be had for free!

ScanR.Com
Is an innovative tool that allows a person to take a picture with their cell phone camera, send it to ScanR, and, within seconds, receive an email with an attached pdf document with OCR performed on the image. (ScanR uses the ABBYY OCR software, so if you’re familiar with that OCR engine, then you have an idea on what to expect as far as the quality of the OCR work.)

Because this service employs some of the common tools available on today’s smart phones, which are a requirement to run either of the commercially available mobile screen readers, this seems like an ideal fit for blind people who use these phones. It employs digital photography, email, and the reading of PDF documents.

ScanR.com is a subscription service, but does have a limited free service, allowing a user to submit five images a month at no cost. Free documents are returned with the ScanR logo on them. The logo is removed when subscribing to the subscription program. After all, while the fee costs money, it is still very reasonable-- only $3 per month or $30 a year.

I’m interested to know how well this works for blind people. Perhaps it would be the ideal solution for a restaurant menu, or a handout at a meeting. Being that I don’t have a data plan with my mobile phone service, I’m not in a position to personally try this. If you or somebody you know does and you’re willing to try this, I’d love to know how well the service works. If so, please leave a comment.

If it works as well as it is presented, when compared to the cost of the latest model of the KNFB Reader on a Nokia N95, with its $2000+ price tag, the fee-based ScanR offers a significant value.

Additional reading:
I originally learned about this service through an article in the
New York Times.
There are also a couple of good write-ups from last year in the
Wall Street Journal
And
Newsweek.

Cell phone application has potential for being useful tool for blind diabetics

Its been interesting to watch cell phones evolve into the mini computers that they have become. Today’s mobile phones are running more and more computer applications and letting their users do computing tasks without the computer.

There is a story in today’s Houston Chronicle reporting on how
more people are using their phones for data services.
(The Chronicle maintains its links for only a limited time, so I apologize if too many days have lapsed and this link no longer works.)

One particularly nifty tool, which I learned about in this article, is a glucometer application. As blindness is one of the serious side effects that can stem from diabetes, I’m wondering if this application would work with a cell phone screen reader such as Talks or Mobile Speak? If so, this nifty and useful gadget can allow all diabetics the freedom to travel with one less piece of equipment.

From the article:
“Through his Wellness Wireless company, the CEO and president of Diabetes Centers of America has embedded a glucometer into a cell phone so diabetics can automatically track their blood sugar when they check it. The data also gets shared with nurses back at the office. If blood sugar is especially high, a patient will get a message from a nurse asking whether he feels OK. If he says no, the nurse will call him with instructions. They might even have a video conversation.”

“Wellness Wireless also offers a health-based application for nondiabetics that uses other metrics such as blood pressure, height, weight, age and gender. The health information is used to recommend exercise plans and meals, and companies including NutriSystem and Whole Foods pay to suggest recipes and shopping lists.”

While it doesn’t appear to be initially constructed as assistive technology, if this glucometer works with the screen readers as I suggest, then it would definitely become just that. It would allow blind diabetics the same information that they currently get from their specialized talking glucometers. And, with the connectivity with the nurses that the program provides, that makes it even more useful than the glucometer.

Abilene Christian University gives away iPhones, but seems to have forgotten accessibility

If you haven’t heard, Abilene Christian University is
giving iPhones and Ipod Touch players to incoming freshmen.

I personally think its great when universities embrace technological advances and strive to understand the digital convergence taking place in the lives of their students.

However, maybe these people are acting a bit hasty. Do the great minds that comprise the ACU administration not realize that the
whizbang technology of the Apple touchscreen lacks accessibility?

What about incoming freshmen who are unable to access the information on their Apple device due to a motor impairment or blindness, precluding them from effectively using the touchscreen?

I wondered that myself and, in the interest of giving a fair presentation about this matter, contacted Lynne Bruton, the university’s
media contact person.
In my email, I informed her that accessible cell phones exist which can employ voice commands or screen readers that provide inclusion for all. At this time, I’ve not received a reply from Ms. Bruton; however, I will update this post when I do.


To the administration of ACU, I offer a phrase I coined a few years back: “If you’re not including somebody, then you’re excluding them.” These administrators are now aware that their decision, while grand and headline-garnering for offering up these cool Apple products, fall a bit short of offering a usable option for everybody.


For the record, I am not an Apple hater. What I am, though, is an advocate for accessibility and inclusion.

KNFB Reader Mobile also marketed as assistive technology for LD

Realizing the multi-faceted strengths of its product, the manufacturer of the
KNFB Reader Mobile
Is now also marketing the
handheld OCR device to people with learning disabilities.

The latest stage for the innovative assistive technology device is the Chicago Hilton, the host of the currently on-going annual conference of the
Learning Disabilities Association of America.
(Warning: this site had audio streaming when I loaded it. I don’t know if that is always the case, but be warned.)

Product information from the official KNFB press release:

“The pocket-sized device is the first of its kind, and enables users to take pictures of and then read most printed materials at the push of a button, using the high-resolution camera in the state-of-the-art Nokia N82 cell phone. Users can hear documents, signs, menus, receipts, even currency - most any printed text - read aloud in clear synthetic speech, at an adjustable speed.”

“KNFB Reading Technology is the brain child of Ray Kurzweil, a thirty-year innovator and pioneer in assistive technologies and the inventor of the world's first print-to-speech reading machine. The kReader uses a combination of unique intelligent image-processing software with text-to-speech and text-tracking features, which makes interpreting text much easier for individuals with learning disabilities. They can now enlarge, read, track, and highlight text using the phone's large, easy-to-read display.”

Given the background of the Kurzweil 1000 and 3000 products, the KNFB Reader Mobile seems a logical advance in integration of these two pieces of assistive technology. Using the video screen of the cell phone as a text magnifier for people who are visually impaired seems like a no-brainer, but I tip my hat to Mr. Kurzweil for employing the K3000 aspects in the Mobile Reader to also make it usable by people with LD.


If interested in pricing and related information, you may wish to read my
earlier post announcing this product.

Innovations of iPhone should lead to greater overall web accessibility

In June of last year, I wrote a post here about the
inaccessibility of Apple’s iPhone.

My biggest gripe still today about the product is that being that the iPhone uses a touchscreen, the trendy and coveted geek toy is inaccessible to anybody who has a disability and is unable to touch the screen. That includes people who are blind or have a motor impairment that limits the manual dexterity required to accomplish that task.

This leads me into an article I just came across by web development author Christopher Schmitt, wherein he states the case that
iPhone specific web development is misguided.

In this well proposed presentation, Schmitt states that there are implications for web surfing that the iPhone has forever change, and, as such, its competitors will certainly follow suit just to stay competitive. The primary point is the fact that
Web sites no longer need to design their sites specifically for a mobile device.

Schmitt argues that developers need not design web content which will only be maximized on the iPhone, but optimized for all. The crux of his presentation is centered around accessibility, not just as being the right thing to do as a good corporate citizen, but as a sound business model. Simple economics dictate that making a web site which is accessible to all makes it open to the widest audience possible. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

Schmitt writes:
“Apple recently sold its first million iPhones. Yet, there are an estimated 37 million Americans with sensory and physical disability between the ages of 16 to 64.”

“If only ten percent of these 37 million people with disabilities surf the Web on an assistive technology, their numbers are 300% greater than every iPhone sold.”

However, I think the most sensible and emphatic plea for making accessibility a priority for web developers can be discerned from Schmitt’s conclusion:
“If your Web site is geared to run on assistive technologies like screen readers, hand wands , eye tracking, voice recognition, or braille displays, the odds are that you’ve opened your site up to more of an audience than the iPhone crowd.”

Again, I sincerely believe that makes perfect sense, both business-wise and doing the right thing-wise.

In light of the argument Schmitt makes, perhaps I need to not be too hard on the iPhone. While the iPhone may still be inaccessible, there are prospects that this may one day evolve with insightful use of third party applications. And, the inaccessibility of the iPhone itself may be offset by the opening of doors for greater web accessibility as a whole due to the innovation that the device has brought to the mobile phone market.

Updated: New KNFB Reader promises another advance in portable OCR abilities

**See end of this post for an available audio interview.

In October, 2006, I finally got the chance to get my hands on a KNFB Reader and take it for a test drive. The KNFB Reader is the breakthrough in portable OCR scanning that unhooked that assistive technology task from a computer. It joined a PDA running Kurzweil OCR software with a digital camera to input the graphical image as the document being scanned. This concept was landmark in that it allowed blind and visually impaired people the ability to be anywhere and scan work documents, restaurant menus, and any other document with text in standard fonts.

At that time, while I marveled at the concept of having the ability to virtually scan any document at any location, I was also struck with both the unit’s somewhat slow speed and bulkiness. I felt that the processing speed should have been quicker and also, because it was a camera paired with a personal data assistant, it was a little bulky to make it what I felt was truly portable.

It seems like I wasn’t the only one who felt this way, at least about the size concern. The latest evolution of this product is here. The new
KNFB Reader
Is about to be released and it runs on a Nokia N82 mobile phone with a built-in digital camera.

Now, that really makes some sense. Today’s smart phones are virtually running a small computer already to execute all the semi-computing tasks anyhow, which the market demands, and this is what the latest incarnation of the tool is using to run the Kurzweil software. And, of course, the camera was already built-in, so there is no need to use two digital devices to do one job.

According to the press release linked above, which is basically just announcing today’s press conference of the KNFB Reader’s advanced enhancements, the camera is implied to also be faster than its predecessor. At least that’s what I take from the words of the President of the National Federation of the Blind (the NFB in KNFB).

And, According to the below paragraph (also from the press release,) which outlines the accessibility features of the software, I’m also going to take it that the program works as a screen reader for the phone.

“Blind users will have access to all of the functions featured in the most advanced cell phones on the market including video and music playback, GPS, wireless communications, photography, e-mail, text messaging, calendar and task functions, and more. The combination Reader and cell phone weighs 4.2 ounces and can store thousands of printed pages with easily obtainable extra memory. Users can transfer files to computers or Braille notetakers in seconds.”

This all sounds wonderful, but I want to know what this will cost and when it will be available. I’ve check both the press release and the official
KNFB Reader web site,
For more information. However, I have not found any specifics about when this dreamy piece of assistive technology will be available, nor what the price will be.

Hopefully, the unit’s price will not be stratospheric ($3,500) like its predecessor. This is especially applicable when the
Mobile Speaks screen reader
For smart phones, including two Nokia models, Is available commercially through AT&T for only $89. Yes, the AT&T offering doesn't include the OCR capabilities, but it gives everything else. Given that blind consumers have something to compare it to, that makes the price tag for the OCR software stand out and may make some wonder how much that is truly worth. If the access to the phone's features can be had for only $89, that makes it imperative for the KNFB Reader to be priced somewhat competetively.

I feel certain more will be revealed in coming days. Check back here soon for updates.

***
Update 01-28-08 7:15 pm

Okay, here is the updated information on pricing and shipping.

Celia Black, Director Marketing Communications for the KNFB Reader, read my post and sent me the following information for the new KNFB Reader.

“The retail price of the knfbReader Mobile software is $1595 US. The NOKIA N82 sold separately, ranges between $530 and $600.”

She provided the following web sources to check for pricing the phones:

http://www.egizmo.com/servlet/the-910/Nokia-N82-5.0-MP/Detail

http://www.mobilecityonline.com/wireless/store/productdetail.asp?productid=22925&refid=GG-N82&gclid=CNztrJGDmpECFQI2sgod5mfFOw

She also informs me that the new KNFB Reader will begin shipping on Feb. 15, 2008. There is
authorized dealer information
on the KNFB web site.

Additionally, according to
The Ranger Station
one vendor is selling an all set up, ready to use mobile phone with the KNFB software and either the TALKS or Mobile Speaks screen reader, which will run a cool $2,495.

***
Update 02/01/08

The Blind Bargains web site
has an audio interview available, with James Gashel, Vice President of marketing for KNFB Reading Technologies. Mr. Gashel discusses the changes that have been made, as well as what may lie ahead for future versions of the technology.

iPhone may be cool, but lacks accessibility

Today is June 29, the day of the highly-touted release of the Apple iPhone.

A lot of the hype is about the
iPhone’s touch screen,
which is being promoted as the beginning wave of coming technology.

As for that wave of coming technologies, I certainly hope not. While the iPhone may look sleek, cool, and all of those other promotional buzz words, it lacks basic accessibility for those who are unable to see the touch pad.

Maybe the new
Hitachi brain interface
is the key to giving access to the blind. While I suggest this a bit feceitiously, this interface is actually a pretty cool innovation which has great potential for applications in assistive technology.

A recent request in the Houston Chronicle wanted readers to write one of the newspaper’s business reporters and tell whether you would be standing in line to get one of these new Apple play-pretty’s today.

Here is what I wrote:

I was reading Dwight’s Techblog and saw that you were inquiring whether people were going to stand in line to get an iPhone.

I will not be and will tell you why.

I am totally blind and the iPhone’s touch screen, while packing all the reputed Apple coolness, is just a blank technological slate to somebody who can’t see it.

I use a computer at home with a screen reading program and it reads text great in many forms such as web pages, emails, word documents, and many other applications. I do things on my computer by the keyboard and without using the mouse or monitor that many sighted folks have no idea how to do, even when they're looking at the monitor with mouse in hand.

The reason I explain about the computer and screen reader is that I also have a screen reader on my Nokia 6620 cell phone that reads the screen to me, including the various folders and their contents, the display screen of the number I am dialing, and also reads aloud the caller ID. This software even reads text messages. While I don't text, I do have blind friends who text using their 6620 and later model Nokia phones and this software. While my 6620 is over two years old, it is still functioning well and giving me what I need.

In essence, the iPhone would give me less functionality than the old analog cell phones I used to use before the technology advanced to where I could use a screen reader. On those old phones, I could at least feel the buttons, figure out the number I wanted to dial, and hit send. From what I’m reading, with the iPhone, I couldn’t even feel the number buttons to dial somebody, rendering it totally useless to me.

So, as I’ve explained, the IPhone has nothing that gives me the access I have on my Nokia and would be about as useful as a stone for me. One day, there may be a screen reader that works for the iPhone. Really, though, why would I want the iPhone? For coolness? I’m 45 years old and my idea of being cool is spending time with my wife and 5-year old son. Give me the practical functionality of my Nokia and I’m happy.

I know this might have been more than you were asking for, but cell phone users come in many forms. Blind folks use them too, but we need access to the information we are using. I figured I would share a side of the cell phone consumer picture most people don’t even think about.

(I did receive a prompt reply from the reporter, in which he acknowledged my thoughts and said he had never even thought about people who couldn’t see the touch pad.)

New bar codes could offer assistive technology promise

An interesting advent in cell phone technology looms promisingly on the horizon for people with disabilities.

In this New York Times news article , read how
New bar codes can talk with your cell phone.
(The article includes a link for watching a demonstration of this software.)

According to the Times article:
“It sounds like something straight out of a futuristic film: House hunters, driving past a for-sale sign, stop and point their cellphone at the sign. With a click, their cellphone screen displays the asking price, the number of bedrooms and baths and lots of other details about the house. “

“Media experts say that cellphones, the Swiss Army knives of technology, are quickly heading in this direction. New technology, already in use in parts of Asia but still in development in the United States, allows the phones to connect everyday objects with the Internet.”

“In their new incarnation, cellphones become a sort of digital remote control, as one CBS executive put it. With a wave, the phone can read encoded information on everyday objects and translate that into videos, pictures or text files on its screen.”


So you wonder what this has to do with Access Ability and providing disability support services. Read on and allow me to explain.

The trick for making this venture work on a broad scope, of course, will be companies seeing value in incorporating this technology into their products. If enough companies do this, then the use of these new bar codes will spread. I’m predicting that this is a foregone conclusion and we will soon be seeing more and more of these bar codes. Remember, you read that here first!

That same thought about manufacturers finding value to make it worth their while goes for incorporating this feature into the field of assistive technology. They have to see the practical value in it.

Right off the top of my head, I can think of one aspect where a student buys the hard copy of a text book, uses her cell phone to gather the new bar code, and is instantly given the authorization for downloading the electronic version of the text. The accessible version can then be downloaded onto the phone and, with further innovation in cell phone technology, the book might also be read right there on the phone.

To ensure that it is actually a student with a disability who is accessing this material, this might be incorporated into a two-step process where, after entering the bar code from the book, the user is required to do the same with a publisher-issued identification card given to users of their accessible material.

This entire process can save much time for the publishers and, as time is money, the company can see profit by expediting the whole process of obtaining accessible material from a publisher. The student can also save time and have instant access to the material, an almost incomprehensible thought in many previous situations. Granted, it is a little pipe dreamy as we all know how tight the publishers hang onto their copyrighted material.

However, that proposed scenario is not too far off from being able to be realized today. There are a growing number of software applications that will run on cell phones, which already allow users to play audio files. The audio version of text material is great for some students with learning disabilities and the phone makes an ideal utilitarian tool. Additionally, two software models of screen readers already exist that allow blind people to access many features that appear on the visual display of many phones.

What is to prevent the actualization of making the cell phone progress even further, grabbing the informational leaps enabled by the new bar codes, complementing them with additional features that the assistive technology can make accessible to students with disabilities, and allowing a never before seen level of usability of information on a cell phone?

The only answer to that question may be limited thinking on behalf of the companies that have the technology and materials. If they do not think of the innovations like the one I proposed with the e-text authorization, then it is up to DSS professionals to share these ideas. If the tech companies won’t think outside of the mainstream box, we may have to pull them out.