[gps-talkusers] Mobile Accessibility for Android
- From: "Baracco, Andrew W" <Andrew.Baracco@xxxxxx>
- To: <gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2011 10:13:28 -0700
The info below comes from the NFB Access Technology Blog.
Andy
Impressions of Mobile Accessibility
6/1/2011
This post describes my experiences with Code Factory's Mobile
Accessibility. The Code Factory web site is:
http://www.codefactory.es/en
Mobile Accessibility is a package for phones running the Android 2
operating system. The package contains ten applications which can be
launched from the home screen. The phone used to evaluate Mobile
Accessibility was an HTC G2 phone. Mobile Accessibility does make
Android phones accessible. Potential users should be aware however that
practice with the phone will be necessary for efficient usage.
A brief description of the HTC G2 phone is in order. The HTC G2 phone
has a touch screen, track pad and a small keyboard. The HTC G2 phone's
physical keyboard is accessed by means of lifting the screen contained
in the upper half of the phone and swinging it open. The keyboard is a
QWERTY style keyboard containing 35 keys. The HTC G2 phone also has
volume up and down keys along its left edge, a power button on the top
edge, a camera button on the right edge and a USB connector on the lower
left edge.
Getting Started
Mobile Accessibility is available as a free demo that will run for
thirty days. The HTC G2 phone must be linked with a Google account. This
linking allows applications to be downloaded to it. T-Mobile service was
used as the carrier. The Code Factory site has a page for Mobile
Accessibility: http://www.codefactory.es/en/products.asp?id=415
This page provides more information and most importantly a set of links
for the User Guide, Quick Start guide etc. Follow the instructions in
the User Guide with care. Sighted assistance may be necessary to get the
applications installed. See the user guide section on installation
<http://www.codefactory.es/MA/en/ma_1_0_manual.html#_Toc290669646> .
Another essential site is Android Access <http://www.androidaccess.net/>
. This site seeks to list all the accessible applications for Android.
From the tools section, you can download a demo for Mobile Accessibility
and other useful applications. There are four applications that are
needed. These are Accessibility settings, Talkback, Soundback and
Kickback. The last three are found when clicking on the link for
Talkback. Note that there is a demo version of Mobile Accessibility for
both the UK and US. If you decide to purchase Mobile Accessibility, you
must uninstall the demo package before installing the purchased package.
For those not acquainted with touch screen phones, use of these devices
will require some time and effort to learn. This is not the type of
phone to just pick up and start making calls with. The documentation
uses the term button. In this case, button is a spot on a touch screen
and not a physical button. The terms portrait and landscape are also
used. These refer to the orientation of the phone. The phone is in
portrait mode when the phone is being used as a phone for making calls.
The phone is in landscape mode when it is open and the keyboard is in
use. This is critical to understand because the buttons on the screen
change locations relative to the edges of the phone. There is a setting
to lock the buttons in place.
Mobile Accessibility has a home screen that lists 10 applications. These
are:
1. Phone
2. Contacts
3. SMS messaging
4. Alarm Clock
5. Calendar
6. Email
7. Web browser
8. Where am I
9. Applications
10. Settings
Using the track pad, the user can scroll through the applications.
Pressing the track pad will select the desired application. Space does
not permit a full description of all the applications.
The phone has the usual controls associated with a phone. The user can
with practice touch the buttons on the screen or use the track pad to
select a button to make calls.
A note about the keyboard is in order.
The top row contains the at-sign, Q to P, and ends with backspace.
The second row contains the .com/www key, A to L, and ends with enter.
The F and J keys have nibs on the lower middle edges.
The bottom row starts with alt, menu, Z to M, and ends with question
mark, Search, and alt.
Below the typing keys is the spacebar row. From left to right, the keys
are shift, Quick Key- 1, comma, spacebar, period, Quick Key-2, Quick
Key-3, and shift.
The Shift and Alt keys allow for entering punctuation and numbers. For
example, holding down the Alt key turns the keys q, w, e, r...p into the
numbers 1, 2, 3, 4...0.
The keyboard is not usable when making a phone call unless the Alt key
is held down.
Web Browser
The Web Browser allows users to browse the web. Navigating the web is
accomplished by one of the following actions: swiping one finger left to
right, swiping two fingers up or down, using the menu key, double
tapping the screen and triple tapping the screen. Swiping one finger
from left to right advances the page by link, table, heading, paragraph
etc. You change the effect of swiping by repeatedly pressing the menu
key which sequences through a list of options. Double tapping the screen
selects a link. Triple tapping the screen activates a menu giving more
options for adding favorites, selecting from a favorite, reading etc.
Were Am I?
This simple application will tell you roughly where you are within a
block. No points of interest are indicated.
Applications
Applications
The applications button on the home screen opens a list of all the
applications available on the phone. Swiping two fingers down the screen
goes to the end of the list while swiping two fingers goes to the
beginning of the list. A quick swipe down with one finger moves to the
next application in the list. The applications are visually listed in
columns, so swiping to the right or left with one finger moves to
different sections of the list. Double tapping the screen selects the
application. Mobile Accessibility will announce that you are about to
leave Mobile Accessibility and that the application you have selected
may not speak. Swipe left to select the ok button. The list of
applications depends on what you have installed. It should be noted that
within this list of applications is an application name settings. This
accesses the phone settings, so use care when in this application. Two
interesting applications are the Talking Compass which announces the
direction the phone is facing every two seconds. The other application
is TuneIn Radio. TuneIn Radio is an Internet radio application for
tuning in a wide variety of stations.
Conclusion
If you want an Android phone, then Mobile Accessibility will make it
accessible. If at all possible, try a phone with Mobile Accessibility
before buying it.
Robert Jaquiss
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