Dear AccessWorld Editor,
Thanks for the information in Bill Holton's article, Is Accessible TV Viewing Finally on Its Way?. There are several TVs in my house, and each has a different remote. The remotes are so difficult to use, I usually have my husband fix any problem. If I want to know what is on TV, I usually ask him or go online to get listings for cable. It is a royal pain.
I know I will buy an accessible TV after 2016, and I cannot wait. Any and all improvements are welcome.
Maybe in the future cable or TV providers could add remote access to their tool chest.
I am happy that many options will soon be available at market prices.
Good job, and keep the TV information coming.
Sincerely,
Ann Medlar
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
In response to Bill Holton's article, Is Accessible TV Viewing Finally on Its Way?, my question is: What good is 50 hours of video description, which I find quite useful, if the cable company buries the option to turn on SAP in a sub-sub-sub-submenu with too many arrow movements and enters to memorize to get to it?
And, why can't cable companies make their much-advertised smartphone apps accessible, which would be helpful right now?
Tracy Carcione
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
I greatly enjoyed Bill Holton's excellent article, A Review of the Odin VI: An Accessible Feature Phone from Odin Mobile. It seems that companies such as AT&T should be encouraged to provide this phone as the basic free or low-cost option for their customers who are blind, like me! I think I read somewhere that AT&T has an accessibility office to which such a request could be made. Do you know of any such AT&T office and, if yes, the phone number? I could be the guinea pig and see if they will go for that!
Sincerely,
Tim Ford
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
Bill Holton's article, Is Accessible TV Viewing Finally on Its Way?, is fantastic. I'm hoping to purchase a new TV sometime in the next few months, and although I've attempted to research, I haven't been able to determine what the most accessible model currently available might be. I'm looking for something in the 40-inch range. Does AFB recommend any specific models or manufacturers at this time? Which companies seem most likely to follow the FCC guidelines? I understand that there might not be anything perfect out there yet, but I would really appreciate any recommendations you may have. Thank you very much for your time.
Melissa
Response from AccessWorld Editor, Lee Huffman
Hello Melissa,
Thank you for writing with your comment and question. AccessWorld has not done a full accessibility evaluation of televisions currently on the market, so I'm not able to offer any recommendations at this time. We are seeing increased interest in the topic of accessible TV from our readers, so we will be updating our information when we have more to share. Stay tuned to AccessWorld!
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
The AFB AccessNote Notetaker App is exceptionally great! I have been using it on my iPhone 4S, and I recently upgraded to an iPhone 5C and now an iPhone 6. I have to say that it really is fast on the iPhone 6.
There is one feature that this notetaker app is missing and that is the capability to save to locations other than Dropbox. I realize that it saves files in its native location, but it would be nice if [files] were able to be saved to external drives such as those that can be used on the iPhones and the iPad. There's really no need to keep cluttering up your iPhone's memory just to save notes and such, especially if you are an extensive notetaker like I am. Being able to access drives other than the iPhone itself and Dropbox would be really nice to have.
Other than that, AccessNote is the perfect note-taking app!
If you could save your notes to other external drives like those that are connected via Wi-Fi, then you would have the perfect tool to use in business and in school. It would be the best free notetaker ever!
Thanks,
Donald Brown
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
Screen readers are not keeping up with cloud-based computing. More and more, users are expected to interact with, create, modify and share data in the cloud. Whether it's for an employer, a school, or an organization for which someone volunteers, we're expected to view a handout in Google docs, join an online meeting, maintain a group calendar, change a spreadsheet in Office 365, post an update to Facebook, consult a corporate database or join a Yahoo group. Even if you aren't into social networking, you'll have to interact with cloud-based applications to work, get educated, or function as a citizen.
Sadly, the three Windows screen readers I use are still heavily invested in virtual cursors and keystroke element navigation. If a page is properly marked up with lists and headings for structure, and if interacting with that page involves clicking on a link, then all is good.
But there are many clickable elements on pages that screen readers don't recognize. There are elements that can be dragged that a screen reader does see but with which the user cannot interact. There are aria regions labeled "region" and pages that dynamically change without the screen reader being aware that new content has appeared. There are unlabeled buttons, empty tree views and scrollable areas that can be read only partially.
Even when that online application has keystroke access, you have to toggle off the screen reader's browse mode and potentially miss reading important information while you press the application's hotkeys. And how does a poor user even know when they are supposed to issue the application's keyboard shortcuts, and when they should use the screen reader's hotkeys? Also, it's all too easy to inadvertently navigate outside a cloud-based app and start issuing keystrokes to the browser's interface. I've often discovered I've tabbed into the browser's address bar, or am arrowing through its history list, when I actually wanted to tab and arrow through a tree view in that cloud-based application.
Even for apps like Gmail, whose accessibility has greatly improved, the poor user is obliged to rummage through online help to locate the settings, keystrokes, and techniques needed to effectively work with the application.
There are many complex political and technical issues to resolve here. But I believe there are six basic steps screen reader vendors can take that would simplify the situation:
- Add a method to restrict the user to the cloud application's interface. No matter what keystroke is pressed, this feature would make the browser interface off-limits until the user toggled this restriction feature off. The user would be confident that all key presses were being sent to the cloud-based application and not the browser! Already, the user can bypass the screen reader to directly send keystrokes to an application, and here, I'm suggesting they sometimes need to bypass both the screen reader and the browser.
- Add a virtual title bar. In conventional Windows software, all screen readers tell users where they are focused by giving them a command to read the current line (or focused control) and a command to read the title bar. In the browser, a similar command is needed. There should be a screen reader keypress to inform the user whether he's focused in the application or the browser interface, and if possible, which pane, window or frame of the application's interface has his focus. This way, users would know whether they were interacting with the browser or the cloud-based application. They'd also know if the screen reader itself had lost contact with where a user was focused. Why is it that none of the Windows screen readers have a truly useful "where am I" key that works in cloud-based applications?
- Bring back the mouse cursor. Since Windows 7, the ability to position the mouse on an element within the browser has disappeared. This means the user is stuck working with keystrokes, even if he can effectively use the mouse in traditional applications.
- Do a comprehensive job documenting how to function within popular cloud-based applications. A user should not need to sort through irrelevant online help to locate the few pages that could assist him as a screen reader user in mastering the basics. If a sighted person can update a shared calendar with a few simple clicks, the screen reader user should be able to find the equivalent keystrokes with a minimum of hassle. Because the interfaces of cloud-based apps change frequently, updating this documentation regularly is also crucial. These guides could be subscription based and possibly create more revenue for screen reader vendors. Corporate users could subscribe to fee-based blogs for using Microsoft Office Online, and a cheaper fee-based blog might support users of Facebook. A free teaser-based blog could be offered to demonstrate how to use Gmail or Yahoo groups.
- Provide a Web analysis tool that a user can run to determine why they are having trouble with a site. I often ask myself if it's my lack of knowledge, the site's lack of accessibility or does my browser need updating. A diagnostic utility that could analyze the situation could go a long way to remedying this. And if it generated a standardized, detailed report, a user could easily mail it to the feedback address for the organization with the inaccessible site. Such precise reports would help better publicize the lack of accessibility many popular sites exhibit.
- Lastly, vendors of screen readers should not be shy about publicizing the access problems with a site. The screen reader vendors should take a leadership role in encouraging mainstream designers to make their sites more accessible. Just as the service dog schools have helped us advocate for better access to public venues with our dogs, screen reader vendors need to step up to the plate as well. This mission might involve creating a nonprofit foundation, because it's unfair to expect commercial companies to take on such a task.
It's time to stop blaming webmasters for inaccessible sites, when most of them have no idea how to make their site accessible, let alone even knowing that screen readers exist.
It is time for us, as consumers, to start pressuring the vendors of screen readers, on which we depend, to actively involve themselves in bringing greater access to cloud-based computing!
Best regards,
Deborah Armstrong
Dear AccessWorld Editor,
While John Rempel's article, Comparing the Accessibility and Screen Enhancement Features of Google Android Lollipop 5.0 and Apple iOS 8.1.1 for People with Low Vision, is well written, the author did not mention the new Zoom Controller capability in iOS8.1.1.
This controller, when active, leaves a small circle of adjustable transparency on the screen. It can be moved to a less conspicuous part of the screen by touching and dragging.
Tapping it once opens a menu that presents a Zoom Magnification slider at the bottom, as well as touch controls to turn zoom on and off and adjust contrast to several presets. Tapping outside this menu window closes it again.
Most importantly, when the Controller is touched and the finger is quickly moved in any direction, it turns the controller into a joystick that allows for scrolling the text in any direction and at easily controlled speeds.
This eliminates the issue with 3 fingers and the resulting image jump that often occurred.
The scrolling seems to give text the same scrolled capabilities and smoothness as many of the portable video magnifiers on the market today.
While not perfect, this is a huge step in the right direction for text control and scrolling when using zoom.
Respectfully,
Bill