iPhone Accessbility Tools

Quick guide on all the Accessibility Tools for the iPhone 4S

The revolutionary iPhone includes a host of innovative accessibility features, apps and hardware that make it easier to use for those with impaired vision, impaired physical and motor skills, hearing loss and reading problems. Below are some usefull bits of information and tools:

1. VoiceOver
2. Physical & Motor Skills
3. Hearing
4. Accessibility Products for iPad, iPhone & iPod Touch
5. Top must have Accesibility Apps

5. Must have iPhone Accessbility Apps:

Reading:

Vod Lite (Free): A Daisy 2.02 reader with text to speech and highlighting.

Comment: Total playing time is limited to 120 seconds. However, the full version (£15.49), allows unlimited playing.

Web Reader (£1.49 for iPhone) and Web Reader HD (£2.99 for iPad): A text to speech application for reading any web page.

Comment: Useful application which can now be used to read pdf, word and rtf documents through applications such as Dropbox (see below).

Speak it! (£1.19): A text to speech app which works by cutting and pasting text into the app. It comes with natural sounding speech synthesized voices but enhanced versions can also be purchased for an additional fee. Text can be highlighted as it is spoken but the keyboard needs to be displayed for this to function.

Comment: A useful utility with clear sounding speech – £0.59 for additional quality voices. I particularly liked the way the files can be saved as audio files and even emailed from within the application.

Blio (Free): Reads ebooks that are in the Blio bookstore with audio, customised fonts, colour backgrounds and images but also allows access to freely available ebooks and EPUB, PDF, or XPS formats, via iTunes or the web.

Comment: There are sample books available that offer an American voice but other voices can be purchased for £6.99 each. N.B. not all books can be read with audio. If you have a PDF it will not reflow or allow access to VoiceOver for reading aloud but you can read it with white text on black and zoom in to enlarge the font.

CamScanner (Free*/+ £2.99/Pro £4.99): A portable scanner for your phone. It scans the document, whiteboard etc and saves as a pdf. You can either store this on your phone or, perhaps more usefully, send to email, Dropbox account etc N.B. The free version adds a watermark to the pdf.

Image to Text (free): This app allows the user to take a picture of some text which is then transcribed via Optical Character Recognition. It is saved as text and sent to others via email or read in the Evernote app. Reading aloud can be achieved by using the built in VoiceOver.

Comment: Works quickly considering the OCR overhead and is accurate if there are clear fonts – filters out images and seems to cope relatively in the sunshine and with shiny surfaces – outputs basic text.

Eye Reader (£1.49): This app allows the user to hold the phone over a page to magnify and illuminate text using the LED and camera. Not only is the text enlarged, but it can be read in the dark and is very easy to use. There are no set levels and the light automatically comes on when you launch the app. User settings are not available.

Comment: You need to hold the phone steady to get the clearest view and vary the distance to change magnification levels. It does not work so well for white text on black as the light causes reflections. Watch out for battery power with constant use!

Instapaper (£2.99): A useful facility for saving and reading web documents which can then be read when you are offline. The facility is installed as a bookmark so that when browsing the web, with one tap the document is instantly saved into the App for later access.

Comment: This is a useful facility for those using devices which are not 3G enabled. Items can be moved and saved into different folders.

Kindle (free): an app sized version of the Kindle. Adjustable font sizes and background colours (more available on the ipad app than the iphone) can be applied.

Comment: Unlike the actual Kindle, the App equivalent is not supported with speech to text. Although the iPhone and iPad have an accessibility feature – VoiceOver – its use changes the mode of commands for the whole device once activated e.g. double tap is required instead of single to open screens. For those used to using text to speech support on a computer this feature is not particularly user friendly nor supports the range of voices text to speech users have become accustomed to. Would be great to have a version you paid for which allowed it.

However, if you do not need text to speech, the ability to download books and read whilst on the move makes this a useful App to have. Books can be synced across devices – so you can always read from the same place no matter what device you use.

A dictionary can also be downloaded which supports the App (requires internet to access). This combined with the note taking facility – makes it a useful study tool.

Perfect OCR (2.49): Use your phone to scan a document and convert to OCR. Save as a pdf or e-mail direct from the application.

 

Writing Support:

Dragon Dictation (Free): This is a lite version of the popular speech to text application. N.B. it requires web access to function. Text can be sent direct to sms, email, Facebook etc.

Comment: This app has surprising accuracy considering the fact that it does not require any “training” to use and is free. However, this version lacks text to speech (TTS) support which is a major issue for those with dyslexic difficulties. One possible way round this would be to copy the text into a third party TTS app such as Speak It! Maybe this is something Nuance could consider in a later paid version?

ZenTap Pro (£1.99): This is an efficient text prediction software application from which emails, texts etc can be sent.

Comment: The layout of the keyboard in this allows for frequently used keys, such as punctuation, to be accessed from the top screen. An arrow key for moving around text – an option infuriatingly lacking in the main iPhone keyboard – is also available. Both of these options have made text production faster regardless of whether I make use of the prediction facility it was bought for.

iThoughts for iPhone and iThoughts HD for iPad. (£5.49): A mind mapping app. Can export directly to e-mail, Dropbox etc.

 

Writing and Drawing:

Pages (£6.99): This app provides a bite sized version of a range of word processing tools for both iPhone and iPad. A range of templates are included, shapes, tables and photos can be imported with a tap and documents saved or exported.

Comment: There are a range of note-taking apps around but this is a simple but elegant app which allows basic documents to be produced. Although documents can be directly exported to email, iTunes etc – the option to export directly to other facilities such as Dropbox etc would be useful. As a word processor, it is an easy product to learn to use but still await the time when a product appears on the market which might include an assistive toolbar providing facilities such as a spell checker and an easily accessible means of text to speech support.

Evernote (Free): A very easy to use web service that links notes from the computer and iPhone or iPad whether they are text, audio or images – store them on one machine and they will automatically update on your portable device.

Comment: Allows you to keep your jottings safe and organised into notebooks – they can be tagged and easily found again. Recordings can be made, photos taken and all can be shared via email – they are automatically dated and a location can be noted to help the memory! The free Image to Text app automatically sends text files to Evernote that can be read with VoiceOver.

Internet Search:

Dragon Search (Free): Instead of typing in text when you want to search the Internet – just use speech.

Comment: again lack of text to speech facility but since the text required for a web search is limited this may not prove to be such an issue.

Google Search (free): Just speak into this app to search the internet (requires internet access).
Comment: this seems quicker than Opera and Safari browser searching.

 

Organization:

Dropbox (free): If you use more than one computer you may have used Dropbox to save and move documents between devices. The facility is now available as an App allowing you instant access to your documents wherever you have web access.

Comment: This facility is excellent not only for back up and sharing files but also for transferring files such as photos between e.g. iPad and computer without the need to sync. Additionally, it is also a means of being able to access TTS fairly simply with documents such as pdf, word etc. Transfer the document to Dropbox and then open it via Web Reader to hear the document read aloud.

Daily Reminders (Free/59p): A very simple notification pad for daily tasks.

Comment: If you use Outlook efficiently then this app will seem very basic to you. However, it is this simplicity which makes it a really useful tool for setting reminders for the tasks you need to do each day and one day ahead.

Communication:

Scene & Heard (£29.99): Can instantly capture and combine videos, photos, text and audio to create interactive scenes. It is marketed as a communication aid for children and adults but its simplicity of use makes it a viable literacy tool including matching symbols (Widgit) and words to photographs etc – easy to use and versatile.

Comment: Scene and Heard is an easy way to make photos of scenes come alive and act as a way of encouraging conversation and symbol use.

Pictello: (£10.49): an app to simply create talking picture albums and books. Each page can contain an image, five lines of text and a recording or use text to speech. It does not need internet connection to create or read the stories back.

Comment: A very easy app which quickly creates texts and events to share. N.B. Text is not highlighted and UK text to speech voices need to be downloaded if required but at no additional cost. These take a while to download and you are advised to connect the device to mains power whilst doing so.

Grace Picture Exchange (£26.99): A simple way to make choices using symbols or pictures. Add categories and develop personalised signing and symbol communication but there is no link to text to speech or audio at the moment. A manual is available.

Sounds: The Pronunciation App from Macmillan (free): Phonemic chart with quizzes and games for learning phonetics. This really helps speech therapists but also helps those who need help with pronunciation of unfamiliar words.

Comment: A really good way to keep your phonetics up to scratch if you are a speech and language therapist. Easy to use and quite addictive in test mode!

Miscellaneous:

Find My iPhone (Free)): An application which does just this.
You will need to set up a MobileMe account when you download this app. To locate your missing phone; either download the app onto another device or use Mobile Me from a computer. Your phone’s location is then displayed on a map. It includes an option to send a message to the screen or play a sound (even if it is in silent mode). It also allows you to lock or wipe the device remotely in the event of it being stolen.

Comment: Make this one of the first apps you install. It only works if your device is turned on, but it is really useful. The GPS signal gives reasonable accuracy for location. If you have actually lost your phone, there is always the chance that the ability to send a message will enable the finder to return it to you.

Fusion Calculator (Lite version Free/£2.49): A calculator which allows the user to view calculations in multi steps. Numbers can be saved and dragged around the screen whilst the keypad is used for other calculations.