Karen and I use two iPhone apps to identify the color of three of her cardigan sweaters, one of which she plans to wear at our friend’s memorial service. We find that the two iPhone apps, AidColors and oMoby, help us, but do not provide us all the information we want.
Download, Play or Pause – Color Sense with the iPhone: Karen’s Sweaters
Tyler Juranek demonstrates the iPod Touch with VoiceOver and the Refreshabraille 18 display.
Tyler covers a number of topics in this approximately 30-minute podcast, including:
I am honored to welcome Tyler to the Blind Access Journal podcast for his excellent debut. We are looking forward to many more contributions.
Have you ever missed a visit from friends or relatives even though you were home? Have you waited all day for your groceries only to find out the driver classified you as a no-show? If you have experienced annoying issues like these, then the Wireless Door Bell with Waterproof Button from Blind Mice Mart might just come to your rescue.
Karen, Alice and I demonstrate the wireless door bell in an approximately four-minute podcast.
Kevin Chao demonstrates shopping in the iTunes App Store, posting to Twitter and sending a text message by entering text on the iPhone’s virtual on-screen keyboard using the touch typing method.
Follow these steps to switch between “standard typing” and “touch typing” modes:
Download, Play or Pause – Touch Typing Your Way to New Apps and Social Networking on the iPhone
Kevin Chao describes the way in which he uses his thumbs for touch typing on the iPhone’s virtual on-screen keyboard.
Download, Play or Pause – All Thumbs on Screen for Touch Typing
Sendero Group offers a $5 iPhone app that aims to help blind people navigate outdoors using their iPhones.
After installing the LookAround app, following these steps makes a great deal of information about the user’s surroundings immediately available.
Kevin Chao demonstrates recording and trimming audio on the iPhone using the built-in Voice Memos app. Voice Memos is a handy utility for tasks ranging from basic voice-note taking to recording a demonstration of another iPhone app or feature right on the device without the need to use any additional equipment.
Download, Play or Pause – Recording the World Using Voice Memos on the iPhone
Parker Waddington and Randy Rusnak from Accessible Devices and VIP Conduit hold a conversation demonstrating the HeyTel iPhone walkie-talkie application. Described by its developer as “instant voice messaging,” HeyTel operates similar to amateur radio, citizens’ band (CB) radio and the push-to-talk cellular services offered by companies like NexTel.
Download, Play or Pause – Hey There, Who Are You Talking to on HeyTel?
Enjoy this approximately 36-minute sound-seeing adventure as I get off the bus, check into the bus stop using Foursquare, cross two streets, walk to a shopping center and combine use of the A+ Voice Compass iPhone app with a bit of sighted assistance to locate Supercuts for a long-needed hair cut. It is just one example of the responsible combination of traditional orientation and mobility skills and technology to achieve successful results while traveling as a blind person.
Download, Play or Pause – A Brain, Cane, Pair of Ears and My Trusty iPhone Show Me the Way
Kevin Chao demonstrates oMoby, a visual-search application for the iPhone that enables users to take pictures of objects and identify them quickly.
Originally intended for use by sighted people as a shopping tool for locating similar products and making price comparisons, visual-search tools like oMoby and Noogle Noggles are helping blind people independently count their cash, identify their groceries and hear visual descriptions of many other objects.