Category: accessible Devices
Hello everyone,
I find myself in need of a new phone, since the one I have is old and I want a new phone company. For the past ten years I've been able to do no more than dial numbers and use a few other extremely basic features of my cell phones. Now I find myself wondering whether the Iphone might not be a worth-while investment, but I'm a little uncertain. I was hoping some experienced users might be able to offer some input. Is it really worth the price tag? How has it improved communication in your life? how accessible is it really? What applications geared toward blind and visually impaired are really useful? Can I get an external keyboard? Typing on a touch screen sounds like it would be quite difficult, or at the very least, slow.
Thank you all.
getting an iPhone would definitely be a worthwhile investment, as far as I'm concerned. it has changed my life drastically, for the better.
using a touch screen is definitely a little slow, but as with anything else, the more you do it, the better you feel.
and, yes, you can get an external keyboard to pare with it.
I'm not someone who has many apps, but I hope what I've said has helped.
if you have any other questions for me, though, feel free to ask.
To be fair, sense this is a post about Iphone and the poster asked, yes, the Iphone would binifit you greatly. There are a tun of accessible apps that can either intertain you, be useful for barcode scanning and etc. With that said, I am not a Iphone user, I was a IOS user for about 2 years up to IOS 5.0. So to the ariginal poster, a Iphone is a great tool to use in your life. However, their are equal alternitive devices running the android platform if that might be of intrest to you.
I won't get into the IPhone versus android device. I will say that the IPhone has drastically changed my life for the better.
I have apps on my IPhone which can read bills, detect colors, navigate, map directions, show me what kinds of things are around me, read books, and a whole list of other things. Buying an IPhone has saved me thousands of dollars for not having to buy independent technologies to do all these things.
The touch screen does take a bit of getting used too, but so does any technology. I would highly suggest it. It is completely accessible, minus a few apps.
I can't say it has changed my life, but it is a sweet device. I personally don't use many apps only messenger and Skype, the weather and to play location services.
The reason I chose it over other devices was the ease of information on how to use it. We as blind people can simply download the manual or read it online, and pick up the phone and follow along with the instructions easy.
I have had 1 or 2 other cellphones that were this way, so this was important to me.
Last if you don't have sighted help setting your phone up from scratch is simple for us, and if you need more help Apple will assist you completely.
I totally agree with Cody. One of the reasons the iPhone is cool is because it does save you from having to buy a lot of independent technology. I use mine to do all the things Cody mentioned, and more. I do banking with it, weather, games, and so on. The phone and all that comes on it by default are accessible. Not all apps are, of course, but there's a wealth of information on a lot of different websites about what apps are accessible, and what are not. Chances are, if you're interested in an app, you can find a blind person who has tried it and posted about it.
Yes, you can get an external keyboard for the phone. I have two of them: the Apple bluetooth keyboard, and the Rii Mini Bluetooth keyboard. I have gotten used to the touch screen, and am reasonably fast with it, but I do like to use a keyboard when I can. However, the touch screen sounds far more daunting than it actually is once you are used to it.
You may have seen an older post of mine on here where I gripe about my iPhone. I will admit, when I first got it, I was incredibly frustrated with it. It was probably good Verizon only had a 14 day return policy on it, or I may have taken it back. It felt so complicated. Simple tasks seemed to take more work than most government operations. However, I did get used to it, and now am very glad I have it. It is definitely worth the money I spent.
Hi. Remember me? I'm OceanDream. Once upon a time, on an old board that probably can't be posted to by now, I posted that all touch screens can go die for all I care. I have since changed my opinion on that 180 degrees. Trust me, that takes something incredible, so hopefully that says something.
to be fare I was not going to get into the debate of android verses Iphone. Just said there is a viable alturnitive platform other then Iphone. Also to be fare, it to requires you learn how to interact with its touch screen. :)
I have a folder on my iPhone labeled 'Bionic Eye,' because that is exactly what it is for me. Like Alicia and Cody said, I can do so many amazing things, and do other things far faster, than I ever could with any other device I have ever had or seen.
Also if your family members get iPhones and need help you don't have to learn their device plus yours in order to help them. Sure, your gestures and theirs are slightly different, and if you are going to help someone sighted, it does hel to know what some of the labels look like.
But at that it is so much simpler than having a moderately-accessible phone plus helping a spouse or a family member use their completely inaccessible (to you) device.
The touch screen element adds a component of exploration that is really amazing. It's definitely a worthwile investment. Plus, if you buy the 4S you get a dictate button on your keyboard for the quick text message when you're on the go.
Here is something that will help you.
http://www.apple.com/accessibility/iphone/vision.html
THank you all very much for taking the time to respond to this topic. I really appreciate all of it. I'm going to hopefully have the opportunity to play with one tomorrow night, and that, along with all of your comments will help me decide what to do.
Don't forget that Apple allows you 90 days of free support. Your cell provider will give you the rest. For accessibility Apple is the place to ask.
The other thing that I someitmes use it for is Facetime. Good clear audio quality, and if you ever need help with something visually, the video can allow a sighted person to help you. It's only available via wifi at the moment, but it also means no air time consumed while talking. The draw-back is that facetime only works with Apple devices. Apple has said that Facetime over cellular networks will be coming in iOS 6, and I hope it's more successful than when they tried to bring it into a beta in iOS 5.
I don't know if there is a good word processor for it yet, but I have an kPhone 4 and I will not go back to anything else again. I do have a keyboard buddy case wich is a case that the iPhone sits in and the keyboard slides out of it and bag in when you are not using it. The only blindness device I would look into is a braille display for the use of reading braille and note taking, and possibly a bluetooth barcode scanner for digit eyes since the camera can be kind of a paine to use at times. But I would say, if you can, get yourself an iPhone. And once you get used to using it, you will not want to touch any independent living blindness related products ever again.
He got one! Lol
for word processer, try pages. Some may not agree with me here, but i found that pages is one of the most accessible word processer for IPhone compare to others. You may need a while to get use to it, but ones you use it, you'll find it pretty useful.
Have you figured out a way to easily rename documents in pages?
I actually did grab Pages. It does work better than others I've tried. But there are a few things I can't for the life of me understand. First is, as the previous poster stated, renaming (or even naming for that matter) documents. The second is a practical way to transfer docs back and forth. I use Itunes, which works, but it's frustrating and I don't think very accessible in this regard. Reading by paragraph In a pages document seems rather impossible too. The entire text acts as a single element, and you seem to be only able to scan by word, line, or character. I do have an apple bluetooth keyboard, and that actually makes text editing (and typing) worlds easier. But that's one issue I can't seem to find my way around. Also doesn't seem to be a "say all" command. My only other gripe is spellchecking. I know you can do it on Pages; Voiceover even recognizes misspelled words. But is there a way to actually use the thesoris, dictionary and spellchecker with voiceover? For that matter, is there a way to Interact with certain elements within an element, such as a misspelled word, or a link?
All good questions.
Another app I use for just general notes, recommended by Scott aka Kc8PNL / Sir Farts A lot is Nebulous Notes. I put notes for our operations or presentations, anything where I need to be able to get to it right away. Been a great asset to the Coast Guard duties.
I too would love to know how we are to rename, or even name, documents in Pages.
I haven't yet messed with Numbers though I do have it. It's the Excel of the Mac / iOS. When I used the PAC Mate I always used Excel for bookkeeping and other similar tasks, which is why I bought Numbers. Anyway interesting bits of info.
The thing I wonder is if the short commings you are asking about and others are only for us, or are the simply things that can't be done buy anyone sighted or bliind?
The one thing I've decided in my experience is that this device is completely usable for me as it is for the sighted, less the things that are not accessible on any device for me, like things on web pages, pictures.
Maybe send this list to Apple or get on the phone and ask a rep that deals with accessibility about them? It be interesting what the answers are.
I personally don't require this from a phone. Its a phone, I've got a computer too. Lol
Yeah. Has anyone heard of any bluetooth barcode scanner that would work with digit eyes? The camera is a paine to use at times. Sometimes I have to move the phone slowly to get the name of the item. I do like the app though. I'm just looking for ways to avoid expensive blindness products overall.
for text editing there's a plain text app that you can synk to your dropbox account if you have one. i liked it. then it changed in an update and i like it a bit less, but i still like it.