Category: accessible Devices
Hi everyone, I've come to the conclusion that I need a more integrated device to get ahead in my spot in the world. I'm wondering if there are any ipad users here and what you can tell me about it. I know there are a few iphone users here as well. Should I consider an iphone instead of an ipad? I'm just not prepared to make the state pay 6 grand for a highly specialized device. Plus just flipping through google search pages it looks like apple has gone out of its way to make its mobile devices accessible. It'll be nice to have that sense of anonymity on the bus rather than being accosted by small children old ladies and strange men asking me what the strange looking thing in my lap does. Thoughts and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Tiffany Ps How much will one of these things run me anyway?
I have an IPod and a braille sense, and I can tell you there are things which your Ipod alone won't do, for instance, reading braille. An IPod is first and foremost a music player, it does it exceptionally well, and you can download aps to make it do other things, but it is still quite small and cannot do everything. If you want something that you can more easily write on, you might think of an IPad. Of course, in order to read what you write in a braille format, you'll have to get a braille display, and you will still be asked what the strange thing your running your fingers over actually is. You'll also have to deal with people asking how you can possibly use an IPod when it has a touch screen, and only four butons to speak of. Do what is best for your needs, and nevermind how many people ask you what it is; that's what headphones are for.
I have heard that you can use the BrailleNote Apex as a braille display for the iPhone, but I have had trouble pairing the two devices. Does anyone know how to make this work?
I wrote about this elsewhere recently (see the "what braille note taker should I get topic".
I believe iPhone ($200 with 2-year AT&T contract, you can waive the data plan requirements by calling their accessibility center" or iPad ($450 to $600 depending on where you get it, new or used, and its capacity) would fit the bill.
I use an iPhone with a Braillepen12 ($999 plus $20 for shipping) 12-cell display, but the Refreshabraille is 18 cells and, I believe, similar price tag.
Pairing those particular devices for me was no problem:
1. Go into settings on your iPhone
2. Find "general".
3. find "Bluetooth".
If Bluetooth is off, then doouble tap on the button to turn it on.
Turn on the Bluetooth on your braille device.
Next you go to Accessibility and Braille (also under settings).
If the iPhone sees and recognizes your device a name should pop up in the list of devices. The name is not necessarily something you recognize.
By double clicking on it you can initiate the pairing. I had to enter a pin code of 1234 to pair them, and I had to single tap the numbers to select them and then double tap to enter them into the edit field, this is different from, say, using a keypad to make phone calls.
Then I found the "pair" button and it worked.
This only has to be done once. After that the iPhone should pair instantly with the device if Bluetooth is on on both of them.
So total cost of an iPad with an 18 cell display is around $1500. Add to it possibly $50 to $100 in useful apps for Word processing etc.
I like your attitude and I think this is the right option and right way to go.
Cheers
-B
I'm so glad someone is trying to make a mainstream device work for them instead of going with "special" technology. That makes me happy. I can't really explain why besides the fact that I'm becoming more and more frustrated with "blind" technology. To be honest, I think a few years ago, it definitely had its place, and in some situations now, it still does. However, I'm seeing more and more blind and visually impaired people becoming more open to things like a touch screen and things like that, but it's thanks to companies like apple that this is possible. I hope as time goes on, more companies will add or enable more accessibility features. I'm sorry, but I hate the idea of having to spend 6000 dollars on a device that is already out of date. That really bugs me.
This is wonderful. This is in the doable range for us. Can you get away with paying for this kind of thing say in 3 big chunks rather than all at once. A lot of freelance work that cme through Bruce's broker has been a loss to us because of bad behavior on clients part. We've only recently been able to secure enough income to actually save something. It may be more realistic then to just save up for the thing and make it a thirtieth birthday present to myself. I don't want to wait that long but I will if I have to. Ultimately I'd like to have a mac desktop with a mobile apple device of some kind. I love the ip-ad plus braille display idea. I'm guessing that as tech improves and blind people are more integrated there will be fewer questions. I'm thinking the device cofbo will help with that too, plus I'm less likely to hear how wondrful it is that someone else paid for my tech, it's bad enough that I have to go begging just for an associates degree. I'm not doing it until my son is walking talking and potty trained anyway. By that point we should have enough money to pay for at least some supplemental courses. You can pay per unit now which makes it easier to deal with. I hate the entitlement complex. Tiffany
Oh sir Brew! Tis Mr. Woof asking a question of thee: I called AT&T's disabillity center and they stated that the fee can be waved in regards to the data plan for everything except the iPhone. Is this a new thing that just started? My great and humble thanks to you for your insite.
To pair the apex with the iphone, on the apex, tart bluetooth, but do not search for devices. Then on the iphone go to settings, general, and then bluetooth. If it is off, then turn it on, and go to the heading labeled now discoverable. Double tap on your apex, and when prompted, enter the pairing code of 0000, and quickly click on the pair button, above and to the right of the onscreen keypad. On the bn, go to the braille terminal. Also if you do not have braille enabled on your phone, go to settings, general, accessibility, and then braille. Sorry if there are mistakes in these directions.
Matthew
Sir Woof Woof.
I stuck with the $15/mo dataplan (200mb) for the iPhone, as I felt the availability of the internet anywhere was one of its main attractions.
However I was told by various sources at the time (approx 10 months ago), that the data plan for the iPhone could be waived, after all it sounds rather silly to waive it for other i devices, as they are generally not bought in a subscription model, at least not to the same extent the iPhone is. Bad move on their part.
Two thoughts on the iphone and ipad. If you don't need a phone I'd go for the ipod touch instead of the iphone, the ipod touch can do everything the iphone can except for OCR. I don't see the point in buying an ipad when it costs more then an ipod touch. It may be sueful to buy an ipad if you have some vision and the larger screen size helps but as a totally blind individual I don't see the point. Finally if you want to use an ipod or iphone for taking notes or doing writing of more then a sentence or two buy a full size bluetooth keyboard. With a mini bluetooth keyboard I can not type nearly as fast as I could on the braille note. A mini keyboard is good enough for texting and short emails but if you have to take notes in class or meetings you will want a full size keyboard. The one downside to the ipod/iphone is typing with no keyboard. It is duable but is very slow. When I don't have my keyboard with me I try not to write more then three words at a time. I'm hoping the tactil screen protectors will helpw ith this.
the best way to get faster is to practice, practice, practice.
practice is indeed the key to typing fast on an i device, i used to suck at it now i can type fast enough to do full out stuff on twitter and texting with no more delay then say on a phone with a physical keyboard. Part of it is also your mindset, it's not an actual keyboard so it's slower, meaning you make it that way. I'd advise against the tactal protectors, you don't need them if you can remember keyboard layout from something else and that the keyboard on i devices is near the bottom of the screen. also, in touch typing mode, you cn hold your finger on the screen and slide, not just flick.
Yeah, I've just started teaching myself how to type a few days ago. At first, it was awful, but now, I've gotten a lot better. It's all about your muscle memory. Once I started thinking about where the letters would be, I became more accurate. I haven't turned on touch typing yet. I need to do that. I just haven't.
I am planning on getting the bookshare app that just came out recently. What Braille displays work with the ipod touch?
Yeah, Tiff, iOS devices are so worth it! Get you an iPad (about $500-$600) & a bluetooth braille display (between $1000 & $1800 for the cheaper ones), & you've got yourself a full-fledge notetaker! The display will also work with a Macbook & a windows PC too. I don't know what BN you have, but the Apex's will control the iPhone & so will the braille sense plus & Braille sense On-hand for those that have those. I am wondering if the BN mPower works with iOS devices too? Hmmmm...
I'm still having trouble pairing my BrailleNote Apex with my iPhone. If I manage to type 0000 and tap the Pair button in time, it tells me that the pairing was unsuccessful and to make sure the PIN is correct; however, I don't know what other number to try.
When pairing the apex with the Iphone, start bluetooth on apex, but do not search for devices. Then go to the main menu and enter braille terminal. On the phone, go to settings, and then bluetooth. Select the apex as a discoverable device and enter 0000 as a pairing code on the phone, then press the pair button which is above and slightly to the left of the number pad that appears. Then when the phone has paired, go to settings, general, accessibility, voiceover, and braille. Choose the apex from the list of braille displays. If your apex is in the braille terminal it should then start to display whatever is on the phone's screen.
If you don't need the phone part, then the Ipod touch or Ipad is the way to go. (And if you do need to talk to someone with the device, you have face time and skype among other options.) I find it helpful to use a bluetooth keyboard if I'm going to do a lot of typing. If you need Braille, then a bluetooth Braille display of some sort is the way to go. I was an Apple fan even way back in the nineties with outspoken and the classic OS. I think it is great that they are so committed to accessibility in all of their products and there is no valid reason why other companies can't do this; it's just that they choose not to. in any case, I think things like the pac mate an such are living on borrowed time. The specs/features of many of the "blind" PDA/pocket pc devices are way behind current standards and the price point is through the roof. A lot of these companies really need to take some time to update their products, prices, and business models. As an added bonus, IOS is very secure.
Yes, I think the i-pad display and maybe a keyboardd fitts nicely in to our range of possibilities.I've always wondered how they get away with charging so much. I know the whole niche market part but they must not care very much about who pays for it if you put blind tech out of reach of blind peoples average income etc. I'm glad a mainstream company has been on our side for so long. I think Bruce's old g3 has outspoken on it. Would it be worth paying say 300 bucks for an old g4 to learnt the mac os or should I just go for the modern tech? I feel like I'm back in sixth grade with a braillelite compared with what most people have these days. Being left behind sucks. Tiffany
No, the m-power will not work with iOS devices, sorry. I wish it did though. The important thing to remember when pairing the Apex is to start terminal for screen reader before you try to pair it with the phone.
I love the iPhone with my refreshabraille 18. Since it has a joystick and braille keyboard, I don't ever have to mess with the touch screen if I don't want to for most functions. One exception to this is the double tap and hold gesture which is used to edit various things.
Pac Mates are useless. I'm going to make the switchmyself once I get enough money to doit. I already have an iPhone and love it.
I think you should get an iphone (they are one of the more accessible phones) If you are not wanting to txt or whatever, an ipad is best for you
Hi all,
Don't you just love dead topics?
I have been thinking a lot about this for the last couple of months, and have some questions/observations.
First, I'm not aware of there being any word processor on the iphone that has an accessible inbuilt spellchecker.
I'm hoping I'm wrong about this, and that somebody can correct me in this regard.
I've been carrying my i phone to class for a while now, using a bluetooth keyboard. Sometimes I just don't feel like hauling my laptop on the walk across town to class. This has worked quite well for notetaking, but doesn't work nearly so well when having to take quizes or submit impromptu assignments.
I submitted a quiz to one of my professors the other day in a text file, but it was lame having to use the app switcher to switch back and forth from the quiz (received in an email), and the plaintext word processor.
Plaintext, by the way, is a gift from the Gods. I don't know what I'd do without dropbox.
Anyway, it has been very efficient for me to use my i phone as a notetaker, but serious word processing power on the i phone has eluded me so far.
Also? does anybody have any recommendations on where to get a Braille display for the iphone?
I'm looking for something that is both cheap and small.
I don't want a desktop model with a billion cells or anything, just something that could fit in a jacket pocket, or a small messenger bag.
I'm not looking to spend a shit load of money on one either.
I want it mainly for ebook reading.
It doesn't have to have a keyboard, as I already have a model of qwerty bluetooth keyboard that I prefer, this being the verbatim, which is awesome.
It really sucks that braille displays are so expensive.
I can't drum up the lack of dignity it would take to ask the state to by me one, especially seeing as how it isn't really a life nececity or anything.
What I really want it for is to be able to start reading books in braille again, and not have to listen to all my ooks in audio format.
Anyway, just some thoughts.
Peace
There is a word processor for the phone called Pages. It's $10 from the app store and you can e-mail your documents from it in Microsoft Word Format. You could also print them if you have a printer that has support for the iPhone, but it's a little expensive.
I have pages. I'm just not sure how to use the spellchecker. It tells me when a world is misspelled, i just can't make it give suggestions.
Also, I can't figure out how to name documents in pages.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Mac and iPhone spellcheckers don't give suggestions, you just change the word. As you type it will try of course, and you can accept what it wants to suggest by pressing space, but other than that you just have to fix the words as you proofread or type.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
I've found this to be the case in word processor programs. There is a way you can select auto correct words with the rotor I believe, but I don't know. This seems like a pretty huge hole. What computer doesn't have a reliable spellchecker?