Category: accessible Devices
Hey all! do you think ipods are accessible for totally blind users? are they accessible for visually impaired folks too? Please post any oppinions.
As far as I know, they are *not* accessible for those of us who are totally blind. The reason being is they operate on a menu system. One would have to just guess and find out what song they're getting...or something like that! Sorry I can't be of more help...
Yeah agree with Katie, check out Geeks R Us, there are now like 3 Ipod topics.
i am totally blind and i have a reo make ipod and i find it accessible. i know the screen display is visual, but i know what songs i have put on there anyway, and at the moment, not many songs are on there. there is an oval shape on the top of the ipod and in there, are buttons, a bit like a mobile phone with a raised line in the middle. above the raised line is the play button, below is the stop bottom and either side is the skip forward and skip backward button. the on off button is near the headphone socket and near the socket where you plug the cable into it to download songs, that is the most accessible ipod i found.
what software do you use to transfer your music. I didn't know rio made Ipods? I thought it was exclusively through apple. Will have to check it out
oh bummer. so what other things are really accessible? for us folks.
There's lots of things. I heard Archos is good.
I would go with Iriver, because it's a harddisk baced system, and you don't need to install any software to drive it, you just plug it into the USB connecter of your computer, and presto! it shows up as a nother drive letter, so you can then move files to it with eas of use.
Ya have heard Iriver is good too.
What is Iriver? I mean, how much does it cost? What does it look like? What is its storage capacity? Can one put any media types on it?
The iRiver is a sleek and compact H320 20GB digital music player holds up to 600 hours of your favorite songs. Plus, you can transfer and store digital pictures and
View them on the vivid color display. A rechargeable battery that lasts up to 16 hours, enhanced 3D sound, ultra-fast USB 2.0 file transfers and simple
Navigation is just a few of the features you won’t find anywhere else.
Approximate price: $250-$320.99
FEATURES
• Plays up to 600 hours of digital music*
• 20GB of internal storage†
• Large, vivid color display
• Ultra-fast USB 2.0 transfers
• Supports secure transfers from Windows Media
Player™**
• Rechargeable battery lasts up to 16hrs
• View JPEG or BMP images
• Built-in FM tuner
• Integrated voice recorder
• Record music from any audio source (no PC required)
• Supports MP3, WMA, ASF and OGG music files
• Store or transfer files of any type
• Enhanced 3D audio
PACKED WITH
• iriver earphones
• Carrying case
• USB 2.0 cable
• Audio line-in cable
• Installation CD
• AC adapter.
You can locate this elaborate toy at places such as, circuit City, Target, and Amazon.com. Hope this info help.
That did...thanks!
i have the muvo. You can get it free when you sign up for a year subscription to audible. This is a audio book store, with lots of books and periodicles. I got my player free and pay 14.95 a month and get one book and one periodical a month. I like it because with the books from audible to my player when i shut it off, it starts back up where i left off! You can read about this at www.audible.com smile- angel
I don't think I would get an ipod since it doesn't play that man y formats, including vorbis (that is it cannot play vorbis).
James
Some one Told me that there is an accessible feature on the I pod. I am not sure if this is true. I need to ask more people about it. But the person I asked about it is an apple freak and knows the I pod and mac computer inside and out. If i find out more from any one i will post again.
Wat is the accessible feature on the Ipod. speedysticks25, what is it. Wana know.
There is a review of the I-Pod in the March issue of AccessWorld. Go to www.afb.org/aw and click on the "back issues" link. Also there is a review of audible.com in there as well, which was another item mentioned in this thread.
Www.anapod.com/
Buy the software, and your iPod is totally accessible without itunes. You can drag and drop files with anapod, or copy and paste them, because it acts like a removable storage drive on your hard drive. You can play any format with anapod also.
If ipods only had FM tuners, I'd buy an ipod, and buy the anapod software.
Reguardless, it's the best you'll ever get.
A lot of people I know either like the Creative MuVo that was mentioned before, or the Iriver IFP700 or 800 series. Note that the Iriver models I mention are flash-based players so will not hold as much music as the hard-drive-based models. The advantage of the Iriver models, even though they have a scren, is that they will play many formats including .ogg Vorbis. Some models have FM tuners and can also record using an internal or external mic or a line-in source. As for prices, look around in places like Best Buy or Circuit city or other places. I discovered overstock.com has some good prices on Iriver models. I'd try and get a 256-meg or 512-meg model is possible. Can't say much more as I don't actually own one. Some friends of mine are working on putting together an Iriver manual taylored for blind folks so they can map the menus successfully.
So, which is one is blind friendly?
We've discussed all of them, but we haven't come to a conclusion. I'm thinking about buying one, but I don't want to buy one unless I know I can use it properly.
Hi.
You can put speech on your ipod making it be much more accessible.
Heres a small bit of info.
I am getting a ipod sometime in 2006 and will do this, then i will write a free guide as to how to do it.
Basicly, some people made a new os (linux based) for the ipod, called podziller (google for more info).
So, you install it on your ipod, and then you find a speech program for linux (i have a link somewhere, if someone really wants it, i can find it).
The os is really good, it lets you view photoes, textfiles and movies?
What i'm thinking of doing is putting some softwhere on that'l convert my voice to text, so i can word prosess on it to.
Note that this doesn't work on some ipods, and google for moreinfo.
p.s: i'm thinking of putting a wireless 802.11g card into it, and then hooking it up to my network.
BEN.
I just this weekend bought an IRiver H10. It does not worklike athumbdrive but instead it uses the Windows Media Sync thing which is accessible - you just choose an album or artist f a list and go to 'start sync' b I'd prefer doing it direct with explorer. Also it has this issue with repeating songs on shuffle which I c n figure out but overall I like it.
Jameses
There is a new list to discuss Ipod accessibility and other MP3 players. To join, send a blank message to blindipod-request@freelists.org
I would like the link. I really want one, but I want to make sure it works with jaws, and that I can work it myself.
hey we want you to post this link
B3n, there is no way to put speech on the iPods, even with the Linux hack at this time. iPod Linux is not a full version of Linux, and the iPod is not a full computer, either. Also, in Linux mode, you still can't play audio, however you can record it.
At any rate, to disspell anybody's jabs at the iPod, I will say that I have had the 20GB iPod Photo now for four months, and love it! The wheel gives you audible feedback through your headphones, so if you are familiar with what music you have on there, you can get where you need to get very quickly.
iTunes really does blow chunks, but you can use Anapod Explorer, or any of several other Windows Explorer integration programs to transfer your collection to the iPod. What makes it an even better player is that the menus don't wrap, so if you run your thumb left on the wheel till the clicking stops, you are always at the beginning of the current menu. Some people have mentioned the Iriver H320 player, and that's a good choice, but you will find the same accessibility issues in that as you will the iPod, except the iTunes drama.
The earlier poster who said that iPod is crippled because it only plays a few formats is correct. I can't argue this point, however with Anapod Explorer, and even iTunes, you can have them automatically convert the unplayable files to AAC, which sounds better than Mp3, and on par with OGG, in my opinion. Futhermore, the Digital to Analog converter in the iPod is the best I've heard to date, so if you're going for sonic quality, my vote is still the iPod. Oh yeah, the Shuffle is retarded. Don't get that one!
One more thing...There is hope for iPod speech! The Rockbox project, the group that made the old Archos players talk, are working on a new firmware for the iPod. Maybe one day, I can replace my clicks with voice clips.
see, i was thinking of buying the I pod shuffle. and the anapod software
rockbox is looking like it's well on it's way which makes me very happy. If you guys need software for the transfer of music. www.mediafour.com check out x play. I'm sure I've posted this several times, but I can't praise this software enough.
Noooo! Not the Shuffle! The Shuffle's a joke! Get nothin less than the Nano!
I pods are not accessible and although there are both window eyes and jaws scripts for I Tunes, they are expensive. The only I pod you could use with much success with no sight would be the I pod shuffle. Your best bet is to go with Iriver or creative labs etc. The I pod is a nice little machine but they are still over priced and I tunes effects the structure of your mp3 collection and also forces you to convert your wma or mp3 files into m4a or now, m4b file formats which are Apple's prapriatary file formats. Here's the real catch though. You can only play m4a files in I tunes or the latest version of winamp. And, with the introduction of the m4b file format, it's even more of a pain because you can only play it in I tunes and you can't burn it to audio CD or batch convert it!
An alternate firmware is being worked on for the iPod, which includes voiced menus. Since the decoding is software based, there will be many other formats than what is available currently.
Take a look
http://www.rockbox.org
An alternate firmware is being worked on for the iPod, which includes voiced menus. Since the decoding is software based, there will be many other formats than what is available currently.
Take a look
http://www.rockbox.org
Ah rock box for the I pod! Very neat. Now if they could also make some alternate firmware for the creative labsl zen mp3 players...
Guitar God, you are mistaken! The shuffle is not the only iPod that is accessible. I am totally blind and have used the iPod since October with absolutely no problem. As for m4b files not being burnable, I just burned five of them tonight. All an m4A or m4B file is is an mp4 file. True, Windows Media Player can't play them, but so what? I was using my iPod the first day I had it, and finding the exact cd's I wanted to listen to in it with absolutely no problems whatsoever. There are a few other users on here as well who have the white iPods, and have no problems with them. Don't buy into the hype, man! The iPod's just as accessible as any of the other players out there, and moreso than most, actually!
But did you use I tunes to burn the m4b files or another application? Are you talking about the new I pod line or an older one? how do you navigate the menu structure with just the wheel control? Or does this model have other controls as well? This is interesting...
No. There is a wheel with a button in the center. You run your finger around the wheel to scroll through your artists, albums, menus, etc. As you run your finger around the click wheel, the iPod makes a click through an internal speaker, as well as the headphones if you so desire, and I do! When I get where I want by counting the clicks, I press the center button to select, and continu to use the wheel until I reach my destination. Since everything's always in the same place, all one needs to do is memorize the menu structure, and using the iPod is very easy! I can even get into the settings, and change things like EQ, reading speed, and the likke. It all depends how deep you wish to go with it. When you turn the wheel to the end, it stops clicking, and the menu does not wrap.
interesting, so whichipod do hyou recommend me to get then? i am crazy for getting the Ipod shuffle. although my brother's ipod is cool. im planning to buy 1 in April for my birthday.
I'd stay away from the shuffle. It doesn't hold a lot of stuff. Get the 30GB one if you possibly can, which is just the normal iPod. It costs $300, but if you can't aford that, go for a nano.
what is the difference betwene the normal one and the Nano Ipod
The Nano is the miniature version of the normal one. It has flash memory instead of a hard disk, so therefore holds less music. It also doesn't play videos, but I guess you probably don't care so much about that part.
I'm on my third iPod and I love them. It's not totally accessible to where I can choose the exact song I want, but that's part of the fun. I also have an iPod shuffle that I use solely for working out and its great. By the way, I'm a total...
Ah this is very interesting. Perhaps when they come out with an I pod which has over 60 gigs of storage, I might invest in one. I have over 100 gigs of music and don't like encoding below 192k. I have the creative labs zen jukebox sixty gig player currently but I can't fit all of my music on it which bothers me!
OK, so call me stupid, but if I were to get an ipod today, how would I download songs to it and which one should I get where I can use to it's full benifits? My mom bought my niece one for 50 bucks at Wall-Mart around Christmas time.
OK, call me stupid, but if I were to get an Ipod today, would I have to use I tunes to download all of the songs and then transfer them to an Ipod and would it cost me extra after I get the Ipod to download all of the songs off of I tunes? Another thing is my mom bought one for my niece for 50 bucks at wall-mart around Chirstmas time, so hopefully, I'll have good luck if I decide to buy one of them. I know you're hinking Good luck, right? Anyway, let me know, Lauren
Get the biggest one you possibly can, and also go to www.redchairsoftware.com, and by Anapod Explorer. Upload your music with that. Have somebody read the iPod screens to you, and memorize the menu as you go through it. It would also help if your songs were organized well. You can do that in Anapod. Memorize your iPod menus, and you're good to go.
are there control remotes that work with an ipod. cause that I think is another alternative. i saw that in apple or somewhere.
are they accessible?
They are accessible, but they don' control may aspects of he iPod. Learn to control it properly, and you'll have the battle won. There are many of us on the site that use them, so there's no reason you can't learn, too.
Of course some of them are... I think the only thing is to be careful when you buy them.... And, I mean, you don't have to absolutely something called IPOD, you can have a mp3 player, some of them are just small like ipods and in my opinion anyway, it's the same thing... as long as you can hear your music...I personnally don't care if it's an ipod or a mp3 player or whatever other thing...
I'll have to find out which MP3 player my cousin's got. I'll probably see him Friday if not tonight as he's 14 on Friday and I'll ask him. I myself, just got the Ipod Nano from Artgos. It's on special offer with this half-price docking station and speakers in one, and you can connect any Ipod to the docking station so it's well worth looking in to if that's the thing for you. The Nano has Flash Memory, it's own soft leather pouch, all the leads and connecters you could wish for to enable you to connect it to anything in the world, I've got the two GB wite Ipod which doesn't do photos, but I think it can still do videos though you can only download 500 songs/tracks on to it. The docking station comes with it's own carry pouch too.
Damn. Sorry folks. Meant to type Argos in the last post. www.argos.co.uk/.com
mmm. i am going to buy an MP3 player. its a sampson MP3 player. it has different buttons for different things and is the same size of an Ipod. it downloads onluy up to 500 songs and it has a radio and such.
but, i would like one that can connect to a speaker. that's the thing, i want one that connect to these speakers used for ipods.
I have a very crappy speaker. You can by 'em at radio shack for about $20. I am planing to use my old desktop comp's speaks anyway, because I just got a notebook computer from dell. iTunes is inaccessible to JAWS For Windows no question about it. But... Window Eyes? I use JFW, so please tell me about Wineyes. There is a accessible interface for iTunes from some site the company is in the UK and there website is something like:
www.TNTConsultansy.com type it in google.
Tristan
i was going to buy that mp3 player and now i chose the Ipod nano. so Are there accessible JFW scripts for Itunes?
oh, i forgot, my Ipod can hold 1000 songs. whitch is inexpensive and also plenty
when i saw the Ipod shuffle, i couldn't beleave the size. it was the size of a quarter not even.
we;;/ i'm getting an 80 gb ipod and i entend to use xplay to manage it. I heard you can manage an ipod in winamp. is this true and is it accessible?
i don't know
I am happy with my diskman and cassettes. I don't see any need for an IPOD per say. Besides, if I waited around a few years, the accessibillity kinks would be all worked out. I also only rip at 320 bitrate. My mp3's have all kinds of different ways for tags etc also.
how do you order anapod explorer?
i forgot the site. google x-play.
yah, but is anapod better or are anapod and xplay the same
well, i have a tric used to import CD's to the Ipod using jaws.
1. Go to the desktop and to my computer.
2. Go to where it says DVD and press alt-enter on it and you'll hear DVD properties.
3. Arrow to the right to when you hear Autoplay and tab till you hear "Select content type and arrow down 5 times till it says "music CD"
4. Then, tab till you hear "actions, select actions to perform automaticly" and arrow about 6 times till it says "import songs using Itunes."
5. Then press ok.
to re asure your settings will work press the apply button which is after cancel if you keep tabing.
any questions, let me know by replying to this post
Priscilla
oh, i already downloaded some podcasts, how do i access them on my ipod
how do i access podcasts through my ipod?
hey all. i found the site for x-play.
click here
to go there.
Wonder why it took so long to come out with that?
had to find it again.
I have an i-pod shuffle, one of the new ones. It doesn't hold much, 1 gig, but it is completely accessable! I also have an mp3 player, but I had to memorize all of the menus and controls.
For anyone who lives in the United States, (or anyone who wants to look it up), there's a book called The iPod Experence, Gaining Access to the iPOD Shuffle by Anna Dresner, available through the National Braille Press. She's figured out how to make the Shuffle accessible for the blind, using a program called Anapod Explorer, JAWS version 6.0 (how unfortunate), and iTunes. (I haven't figured out how that last part works.) You can go to www.nbp.org and look it up.
hey theres rockbox it provides speech output to the user as an extra! the site is:
www.rockbox.org
just got a Ipod video 30GB, and its great. use rockbox to access the content. the click wheel is a touch wheel, which I like. not for everybody perhaps. used an Iriver before and although the sound quality on that was better, the Ipod is small and far more supported in terms of development.
Anybody know where I can get the best price for a 60 or 80 GB IPod? I plan on using rockbox and anapod or x play with my IPod. I live in the US, and went to get the best deal possible. Any bargain hunters out there?
not sure about that, but I have to get Anapod Explorer
hmmm, dan and i both have the thirty gig. and have had no luck geting rock box to work. any suggestions?
Rockbox only spells the words in your folder though. it can't speak the names in words, right?
John
I have an ipod video 5.5 gen and have installed the rockbox software and voice file. I am still not getting any speech output. Can anyone be of assistance?
make sure you are using the IBM reed voice, and ajust the file and director settings in the voice menu once its working.
john, rockbox does speak the words in your folers, if you set it to do so in the voice menu which is found in general settings.
it will also speak files names, also set in the same place.
note however if you choose to talk files names, you will need to download and use voice box to create the individual talk files themselves.
Is that for all mp3 players no matter what, or does rockbox only speak the file names as words on certain players.
that's for all player that rockbox will run on, see rockbox.org for current device list
see the rockbox topic for instructions on installing rockbox
tristan
I have installed the eloquence voice. I had a friend say the speech might not be working because I don't have the latest ipod firmware. But when I connect my ipod to the computer, I get no message of any updates. And I don't know where to go if the ipod doesn't prompt me for the install.
as i said before, you have to use IBM voice.
I think its actually called IBM ViaVoice.
John
the nano is growing, now from 180 songs, its now up to 226 songs and i still have a lot more to reach 1000
if any of you have any suggestions where i can download free songs, please reply back. thanks
My sister is fully sighted and has the ipod nano. It just has a round thing in the middle, which is like a sort of button that does everything depending on which bit of it you press. I'm thinking of getting an ipod or mp3 player, but I don't know if I'd be able to see them if I was to go into a shop and ask about them. I wouldn't be able to use the ipod nano, because I can't see the screen on it and there aren't really any actual buttons to press, just the circle thing.
I think, don't quote me on this, but I think Rockbox works with the Ipod Nano. Mine's lurking in a top drawer in my room at home, hasn't been used for ages, so I haven't tried Rockbox yet. I got a Zenstone player as well, loads more accessible, but you can't get as many tracks on there as you can the Nano, so I might use it again once in a while. As for not being able to use the click wheel, you just count the number of clicks or the number of times you press the centre/menu button to access the various functions of the Nano, and you skip backwards and forwards through your songs just like you would on your diskman. Hold the Ipod lengthways so you have volume up and down buttons at 6 and 12:00 and your back/forward skip buttons at 9 and 3:00 then you're on a roll. The Nano also has a little switch at the top to lock it if it's in your pocket or handbag. Harmony, just try your sister's Ipod out if you can and see how you get on with it.
Jen.
I've gotten really use to my IPod Nano and now love it! I modified the main menu, so there is only like 6 options and the second one is my playlist. Lol, I like how things work out in alphibetical order, definitely helps with memorizing. I listen to the clicks, go directly to my playlists and choose the one I want.
I use anipod explorer to transfer my songs. BTW, what is the anipod xtremer for? Can't figure that part out.
Does anyone have the 2nd or 3rd gen of the shuffle. That cute little thing tempts me! I have this crazy idea to own a red or green one and fill it with only Christmas music...*grin!* A question I have, is can you create playlists on the shuffle?
I think an eyepod shuffle just puts songs on in what order it wants to.
i don think you can do playlists on the shuffle. but lisstening to random songs is fun
hey everyone,
i'm thinking about purchasing a new player with in the next few days, and was hoping to get some good suggestions. i'm fairly technically savvy, but not a techy--meaning that I can learn things quickly, but like things to be somewhat intuitive.
1. I was thinking about getting a Ipod 5.5 Generation; 80GB--is this the best option, or is the Iriver a better option?
2. Which works better with rockbox?
I really like the ability to just put the ipod on random and let it select the songs--it soundslike i'd be fairly easily able to do this with a nanno or basically any other ipod; are the menue's difficult to learn/navigate?
Is there the ability to just start the ipod in the shuffel or random mode automatically?
Thanks for everyone's help!
Hey all: I posted on the rockbox board, but thought I'd post here as well. I bought an 80 GB generation 5 ipod with mac 1.0 firmwear. I went to rockbox.org and downloaded the proper rockbox software plus the font and english language. I've unzipped these files into my ipod drive successfully, and put my ipod in disk mode. I also downloaded the ipod patcher, but when I run it, it says it can't recognize my ipod. It says to make sure the ipod is connected and that it is in disk mode. I've tried it on a PC running XP and a friends PC running Vista, both are unsuccessful. My friend checks the ipod and it says it has 73.5GB of 80GB remaining, so I know something is getting downloaded. When I try to press select and the menu key, the apple shows up, and it runs in its normal mac software. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Please feel free to email me at luis.r.elias@gmail.com
Thanks in advanced
I have an ipod shuffle and luv it. My parents got ipods for my sister and I for our birthdays two years ago. When it came time to figuring out which one I wanted, my sister flat out told me that the shuffle would be the way to go, since the nano, which is what she has, is so visual, and at the time, I knew nothing about ipods at all. I eventually want to get a newer shuffle that holds more songs. I got the one with the lowest capacity, which at the time of purchase was 120 songs, because I did not think that I would have that many songs on there, since I couldn't even think of 120 songs that I listened to. Apparently, with the newer shuffles, there is another switch that u use, and it puts the songs in alphabetical order.
I want an ipod. Me and my dad did some research on them and we found out apple is making a talking ipod. It is soposed to come out sometime this year.
OMG! another toy I must have. lol
i have the 4th gen ipod since i gave my older ipod away to one of my cousins to keep from ecuador. i love the thing. it is alot more acessible than the second generation ipod. it reads most menues and such. but if you don't have an ipod now, get the 5th generation ipod nano.
it has voiceover and is 100% acessible.
Actually, the Ipod touch is accessible also. There are boards on this topic already so I won't go into the details.:)
Hi. I have an ipod nano 5 gen. I want to set an alarm on it, but I get confused when it comes to the time part. The menus rap on that. I'm not ever sure if it starts at 12:00, or the time it is currently. I hope they make that more accessible, and the battery percentage, as well as the time and date being spoken and the stopwatch.
The rest of it is cool, and I love it.