A Brain, Cane, Pair of Ears and My Trusty iPhone Show Me the Way

by

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

What is that thing anyway, oMoby?

by

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.

Download, Play or Pause – What is that thing anyway, oMoby?

Dancing Around the World of Barcodes with Digit-Eyes

by

Kevin Chao demonstrates Digit-Eyes, an iPhone app that scans the barcodes found on commercial products and enables the creation and use of audio or text labels that can be easily attached to items found in the home, on the job or at school.

Digit-Eyes relies on the iPhone’s camera to scan barcodes. Correct positioning of the iPhone is critical for the successful use of Digit-Eyes, Noogle Noggles, oMoby or any other app that uses the camera. There is a learning curve for most blind people who wish to use these apps, but employing a systematic approach and staying patient can really pay off in the long run.

Follow these steps to start scanning with Digit-Eyes:

  1. Find and double tap the Digit-Eyes icon on the Home screen.
  2. Flick to the right to locate the Scan button and double tap it to get the party started.
  3. Digit-Eyes immediately begins scanning and a ticking sound is heard to let you know it is working.
  4. While Digit-Eyes is scanning, position the iPhone so that it is lined up with the product being scanned and follow our camera-handling tips for best results.
  5. You will hear a beep and VoiceOver will speak the name of the identified item when the scan has completed successfully.
  6. If you are unable to complete the scan after several minutes, flick to the right to find the Cancel button and double tap it so you may try again later.

We thank Nancy Miracle, president of Digital Miracles, the company that develops and sells Digit-Eyes, for providing some quick tips for successfully using the iPhone’s camera:

  • Make sure the screen curtain is not enabled. Digit-Eyes can’t see anything when the iPhone’s display is blank. Triple tap using three fingers to toggle the screen curtain on and off.
  • Make sure there is light for the camera to acquire a good image. If you are indoors, it may be necessary to turn on a light.
  • Place a finger immediately to the right of the camera, which is located in the upper-righthand corner of the iPhone when it is facing away from you. This will help you line it up with the item to be scanned.
  • Place the iPhone approximately two inches above the object and gradually move it upward. The recommended approximate distance varies according to the device being used. Place the iPhone 3 G S approximately six inches away from the object being scanned. The iPhone 4 should be placed between six and 12 inches away. The new iPod Touch should be placed 12 to 20 inches distant.
  • Never move the iPhone from side to side while scanning. The camera’s automatic focusing technology apparently can’t capture a good image under these conditions.
  • Gradually turn round objects like bottles, cans and jars clockwise or counterclockwise in increments of 60 degrees while scanning. Simply scan the four sides of rectangular and square objects. In most, but not all, cases, the barcode will be found on the front or back of a box.
  • The barcodes on many grocery and other products typically found in stores may be located in unexpected places. For example, the barcode may be located on the bottom of a box of breakfast cereal. It may be helpful to think about the way a product might be positioned on the conveyor belt in the grocery store during the check-out process to determine where to look for its barcode.
  • Keep in mind that the camera in the iPhone does not work like the ID Mate or other products based on laser barcode scanners. Using products like Digit-Eyes is going to require a great deal of patience and practice in the beginning while you learn effective techniques for estimating the correct distance between the iPhone and the item being scanned and lining the iPhone up with the product so that a clear picture can be taken.
  • The Digit-Eyes website contains exhaustive information and tutorials covering the effective use of the product. It even gives you the ability to print practice sheets of barcodes you can scan with your iPhone.
  • Nancy and I discussed Digit-Eyes and the iPhone’s camera in depth in a two-part interview broadcast on the July 24 and July 31 episodes of ACB Radio’s Main Menu technology show.

Have you found a technique for using the camera that works well for you? Do you have an interesting story to tell about how Digit-Eyes and other camera-based iPhone apps have helped increase your independence? If so, please share it with us in the comments.

Download, Play or Pause – Dancing Around the World of Barcodes with Digit-Eyes

Wearing Google Goggles and Looking Through the Noogle Noggles Lens

by

Kevin Chao identifies several objects using Noogle Noggles, an iPhone app that provides an accessible interface to the Google Goggles visual-search engine.

Noogle Noggles enables the user to take a picture of an object, quickly identify it and get more information about it straight from Google. It is being used by blind people to identify books, cards, groceries, household items, money and many other types of objects.

Download and Listen – Wearing Google Goggles and Looking Through the Noogle Noggles Lens

Siri Virtual Assistant iPhone App Demo

by

Shownotes

Kevin Chao demonstrates the Siri virtual assistant app for the iPhone. Simply open Siri, press the speech button, ask your phone for help with something and this app will get the requested information for you.

If you are not wearing earbuds, headphones or a Bluetooth headset while using Siri, follow these steps to make sure VoiceOver does not interfere:

  1. Flick to the “speech” button or touch it near the lower-righthand corner of the screen.
  2. Double tap with three fingers to mute the speech from VoiceOver.
  3. Double tap to hear the beep indicating you may start talking.
  4. Ask your question and wait for the beep indicating Siri has stopped listening.
  5. Double tap with three fingers to unmute and resume speech from VoiceOver.
  6. Flick around the screen to locate the information that answers your question.

Apple has owned this app for at least six months. While Siri is reasonably accessible now, it does contain poorly-labeled buttons, VoiceOver easily interferes with the user’s ability to dictate questions and there is a general lack of Apple’s typically thoughtful accessible design considerations in the user interface for this app. We hope that, as Apple updates and possibly integrates Siri’s technology into iOS, the company will add the finishing touches to its accessibility along the way.

Download and Listen – Siri Virtual Assistant iPhone App Demo

Practicing Gestures on the iPhone with VoiceOver

by

Shownotes

Kevin Chao demonstrates a special VoiceOver practice mode that helps new users learn the gestures needed to effectively access Apple’s touch-screen devices.

Audio from this recording will be used as part of a short VoiceOver promo that will go out to the mainstream technology industry demonstrating the capabilities of blind people using accessible touch screens thanks to the built-in accessibility support included in Apple products.

Download and Listen – Practicing Gestures on the iPhone Using VoiceOver

Sendero LookAround GPS iPhone App Demonstration

by

Shownotes

I demonstrated Sendero’s brand-new LookAround GPS application for the iPhone on Jeff Bishop’s Sept. 17 Desert Skies show. It was also heard on ACB Radio’s Main Menu program. I thought it would be nice to share this sound-seeing demo with those of you who may have missed the previous listening opportunities.

Since the recording of this demonstration, Sendero has submitted version 1.1 of LookAround to Apple for approval and posting on the iTunes Store. This update may have fixed some of the concerns that came up in this recording. Stay tuned to Sendero’s LookAround page for the latest information on this app as it becomes available.

Download and Listen – Sendero LookAround iPhone App Demo

Blio Developer Says Instability Caused Launch of E-reading Software Without Accessibility

by

Tuesday’s highly-anticipated launch of new e-book reading software took off without accessibility for blind readers.

Developed by K-NFB Reading Technology, Inc., a joint venture between Kurzweil Technologies and the National Federation of the Blind, Blio was promoted as a cross-platform, accessible, visually appealing way to read books.

Instead of a new way to read books, blind users found a note buried in the website’s downloads page stating: “An accessible version of Blio will be available for download in October.”

James Gashel, vice president of business development with K-NFB Reading Technology, said Blio was launched without accessibility because adding it made the software too unstable for public release.

“Obviously, I want Blio to be accessible on the first day. There’s no question about that,” said Gashel, who serves on the board of the National Federation of the Blind. “We pressed toward having the same level of accessibility, but it doesn’t make sense to invest effort in making software that doesn’t run right accessible at the time of launch.”

Blind readers, who said they were looking forward to an additional way to get more books in an accessible format, immediately began expressing their disappointment by way of the Twitter social network.

Blind computer science student Kevin Chao said Blio crashed after ten minutes even without the accessibility features.

“I brought up the table of contents in the Getting Started book, tabbed around and Blio crashed,” Chao said.

“Blio has failed on a number of counts,” Chao said. “It’s not fully accessible, it’s too late and it seems not to have garnered any traction in the mainstream.”

Chao, who describes himself as a tech enthusiast who pushes the limits by testing products for accessibility, assessed Blio’s launch performance.

He said Blio is missing basic interface and navigation features found in software that has been made accessible to screen readers for the blind.

“There is no menu interface, just a lot of buttons and other controls,” Chao said. “Pressing the tab, shift-tab and arrow keys produce unreliable results. There also appear to be no hotkeys to activate any buttons or navigate to various fields or controls within the application.”

He said Blio’s book reading features are also not accessible.

“Using JAWS, I could read the first line of a book. I could listen to a book using ‘read aloud’, but there is no way of navigating,” Chao said. “I can read the Getting Started guide when hitting ENTER on the ‘read aloud’ option, but I can’t control voice features like rate and pitch.”

Gashel said accessibility is a Blio feature that will improve as the software evolves.

“I would look at Blio as rolling out, and so not all of the features of Blio that are supposed to work for everybody are working on the first day,” said Gashel. “What we’re focused on is whether or not Blio will be accessible. It will be. There’s no retreat or backing up.”

Another disappointed blind book enthusiast asked what would happen if key features for sighted readers were left out of the product.

“I wonder how this would go over?” asked Richard Wells, a blind Baptist pastor who also does quality-assurance testing for an assistive technology company that provides screen-reading software for the blind. “New book reader just released. The visual display should work some time next month.”

Listen to the Desert Cafe Sunday Night

by

We will open the Desert Cafe doors once again on Sunday night, Sept. 26. So, if you are interested in listening to great internet radio before bed or while you are drinking your coffee getting ready for your day,then join us. You will have fun hanging out in the Cafe.

Tomorrow night September 26,
Come Join us and listen to our music mix.

We will play the usual tunes and have virtual  food and beverages in the cafe,
and  chat with  you all about your day.

Darrell  will discuss more about the iPhone; it has become a fun  techie segment,
and you all will see how quickly  the time went.
He  will be demonstrating oMoby,
not Adobe.
Several objects he will identify,
Even about money oMoby does not lie.
Perhaps, he will demo other Aps,
So come hangout with us,Ladies and Chaps.

Do you find this menu appetizing? If it has appeal, then point your browser to ACB Radio Interactive and listen on Sunday from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Pacific time, 9:00 to 11:00 Mountain time, 10:00 to midnight Central time, 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Eastern time or 03:00 Universal time on Monday.

We look forward to hearing from all of you on e-mail, MSN / Windows Live Messenger and Twitter during the show.

Letter to Cronkite School Dean Christopher Callahan About the Need for Accessibility

by

Many of you will note that, recently, I have been posting comments on Twitter about my journalism school’s lack of accessibility. These comments were driven by my frustration with what I perceived to be the school’s lack of interest in improving the accessibility of its websites and other technology resources as evidenced by its ignoring and failing to take seriously previous correspondence I have undertaken with Dean Christopher Callahan.

In response to my tweets, I began receiving direct messages from Dean Callahan expressing concerns and disappointment with my approach to these issues. Haven’t I heard that before?

Stating he had previously invited me to meet with him to discuss solutions, he did so again. I never received that previous invitation. I’m not saying it was not sent, just that I did not, for whatever reason, receive the message.

Those of you who truly know how I approach these matters also know that I never take a fighting stance with anyone who is constructively engaging with me or others to improve accessibility. Doing so would be counterproductive and undeserved. The hammer approach is reserved strictly for those who outright ignore me or who show the bravery to actually make a statement justifying their ongoing discrimination against and exclusion of blind people from full participation through inaccessibility.

Trusting that Dean Callahan previously sent a constructive invitation to engage in discussions, I apologized for the character of my Twitter posts and agreed to an Oct. 5 meeting to discuss how the Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication can successfully address accessibility in light of its stated diversity policies.

As part of that correspondence with Dean Callahan, I restated an earlier promise to send him an accessibility assessment of one of the school’s websites along with useful resources for making websites accessible. The following letter, sent to Dean Callahan Friday afternoon, fulfills that promise and serves as my ongoing effort to work with the Cronkite School to become more accessible to faculty, staff and students with disabilities and to educate future online media content creators and editors about the need to make sure their work is accessible to all audience members.

Hello Dean Callahan,

As you have requested, please find two examples of accessible media websites along with some resources that can be useful in making the Web more accessible to people with disabilities.

BBC

The BBC works to make its Web presence accessible. Although it is not perfect in all respects, their efforts are evolving in the right direction.

Here is a link to BBC’s accessibility help page.

The key point to be clearly understood is that BBC publicly states that it cares about accessibility and works to make positive changes in that area so as to include members of its audience who have disabilities.

National Public Radio

NPR also makes the bulk of its Web presence accessible, although it doesn’t state it as loudly as does BBC.

The organization offers a text-only site.

The use of text-only sites is controversial, and I personally disagree with the practice, as the tendency is to update the “graphical” site without providing exactly the same content on the often-forgotten text-only edition. When this oversight is noted, it represents a separate-but-unequal situation which was banned by the Supreme Court in the 1960s as it was being applied in the segregation of African-Americans.

Accessibility Assessment of CronkiteNewsOnline.com

There are a number of unfortunate elements on the Cronkite News website that currently make it difficult to use for blind readers. Further, it seems recent updates to the site are making it even less accessible.

Missing Alt Tags for Graphics

The most obvious accessibility concern with the site is the lack of descriptive alt text tags for images. These HTML tags can provide a text-based description for graphics and they should be used for all important images on a site.

The site’s navigation area sounds like this for a blind screen-reader user:

nav/home
nav/about
nav/stories
nav/newswatch
nav/news21
nav/cronkite
nav/contact

Although this is not a show stopper, the presentation could be easily improved by simply adding appropriate descriptive alt text tags to those graphics.

Other missing alt tags are more serious, as there is no way to determine the content to which they will link unless the user simply follows the link to find out. That’s not right unless a sighted user must play the same guessing game.

For example, a link near the text about downloading mobile apps just says “img/front_cn.” What’s that?

Even the link that says “img/front_azfactcheck” won’t be clear to most readers.

Navigating Stories

Navigating to and reading stories is possible by tabbing to and pressing enter on links, but it could be far better. Consider using headings on the titles for each story. When this is done, as is the case on many blogs and some other media websites, blind and sighted users alike can more easily and quickly move from story to story.

Video Links Next to Stories

A link that happens to be missing its alt text tag, “img/icon-video,” appears next to most stories on the site. Pressing enter on that link seems to do nothing, although it’s clearly meant to allow the viewer to watch a video. What is this link supposed to do once clicked?

Reading and Watching Stories

There are difficulties once a story has been opened for reading or viewing.

Let’s take the Sept. 16 story titled Ranked No. 1 in country for West Nile virus, Arizona is fighting back as an example.

A link at the top of the story is missing its alt text tag. It says “09/16-westnile-video img/tp24.” What does this mean exactly? Clicking the link seems to do nothing.

A text link labeled “watch now” also seems to go nowhere.

It is clear that some sort of video player is being used which doesn’t work on all systems.

What technology is being used to play videos on the site? Is it Flash or Silverlight?

There are some steps that can be taken to make multimedia sites more accessible.

Please see the resources coming right up.

Web Accessibility Resources

These resources are simply examples of sites that provide best practices and other information about making websites accessible.

Accessibility in the Cronkite School Curriculum

Finally, I am deeply concerned about the lack of attention to accessibility in the teaching of classes like JMC 305, JMC 460 and the Saturday online media academies.

Many resources exist for developers to make their sites accessible. Why not include some assignments and good information about accessibility in these courses? After all, creators of online media are going to find themselves confronting organizations and people who advocate staunchly for accessibility and are thus going to find themselves directed by corporate management types who wish to avoid lawsuits, public relations disasters and other similar risks to their bottom lines.

Best regards,

Darrell

After reading the letter, I invite all of you to comment. What did you like? What didn’t you like? What additional resources might help a journalism school make its technology accessible or educate others on accessibility? As always, the door hangs wide open and awaits your constructive feedback.