Welcome to the September 2015 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, our monthly series which aims to highlight what's new and noteworthy in the accessible app landscape. Below, you'll find a recap of the best content posted to AppleVis - from new app entries, to app updates, to podcasts and blogs. For easier navigation, the major sections of this post are at heading level 3, and each individual item is at heading level 4.
iOS
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Welcome to the September 2016 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, our monthly series which aims to highlight what's new and noteworthy in the accessible app landscape. Below, you'll find a recap of the best content posted to AppleVis - from new app entries, to app updates, to podcasts and blogs. For easier navigation, the major sections of this post are at heading level 3, and each individual item is at heading level 4.
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Recently, Clara Van Gerven published an article on the National Federation of the Blind website entitled, “The Sighted Guide to VoiceOver”. In the article, the author, a sighted assistive technology specialist, undertook an experiment to use only VoiceOver on her iPhone for forty days.
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In this post I would like to discuss my experience of recently beginning an online course of study. Before beginning this course, I had heard about online courses, but I had never explored the area.
Signing Up
In my case, signing up to an online course was as straight forward as completing any online purchase. It was just a case of providing my personal details and payment information.
I completed the sign-up process on my iPhone in a matter of minutes. Soon after I was sent confirmation of my payment, and the following day I was emailed login credentials.
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When I heard the news of the recently released $0.99 Bluetooth OnOff app, an application which allows iOS users to turn bluetooth on and off quickly without going to Settings/General/Bluetooth, some thoughts came to my mind. First and foremost, I hope Apple doesn't remove this app from the App Store as it's quite easier to alter a feature like Bluetooth this way without delving into Settings. I also hope to see the same official apps for the WiFi and the Airplane mode switch.
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We are pleased and excited to announce that voting for the AppleVis Golden Apple Awards of 2013 is now open.
The shortlist for each Award has been compiled from the nominations that were submitted by members of our community.
Voting will close at midnight on 12 January 2014. You are not required to vote for each award. Only registered users of this site will be able to vote. So, if you are not registered and logged in, you will not see the voting form that follows the list of nominees below.
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Intro
Have you ever thought about making the switch from braille notetaker to iOS device? Are you unsure which one you should choose? Do you have both, and can't decide which one to invest in moving forward? I made the switch from a BrailleNote Apex to an iPhone, quite slowly and mostly by accident, and I'm here to tell you why a notetaker is the only way to go, and why that metal and glass frisbee in your hand is nothing but trouble. Then, I'll explain why you should ditch that outdated hunk of plastic they call a notetaker right away.
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Today is the Eighth Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). This day has been set aside "to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital (web, software, mobile, etc.) access/inclusion and people with different disabilities." This according to the above linked web page on GAAD.
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When I’m not listening to punk rock, helping my dad set the thermostat, or reading audiobooks, I do occasionally make an attempt to contribute to society. I talk at local blind support groups about using technology.
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A new feature for VoiceOver users called "Accessibility Events" was introduced in iOS 12.2 and macOS 10.14.4 without any announcement or documentation. I cannot find any info about this feature on Apple's website. Even the installed Help files say nothing about it, so far. The only information given is a short description label in the Mac Preferences and IOS settings, shown below. To the best of my knowledge, which is quite limited at this time, leaving it turned on allows webmasters and anyone else who cares to know to discover if you have VoiceOver running.
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Epigram
'Hope' is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—
And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—
And sore must be the storm—
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm—
I've heard it in the chillest land—
And on the strangest Sea—
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb—of Me.
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Intro
Apple has just concluded its annual September media event. This year's, which it titled "By Innovation Only", gave us new iPhones, the Series 5 Apple Watch, and more details on the company's new Apple Arcade and Apple TV Plus subscription services. Innovation, though, wasn't exactly the word I first thought of when I considered how to sum up the announcements. Don't get me wrong: the new iPhones have some great new features, and it will be interesting to see where the new subscription services go.
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With the public release of iOS 8 now just two days away, we wanted to let you all know that we have lots of information and resources ready to share with you as soon as Apple makes its new version of iOS available for download.
This will include a number of Blog posts and Guides with information on what you will find in iOS 8, along with podcast demonstrations of some new and changed features.
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With the public release of iOS 7 now just a few days away, we wanted to let you all know that we have lots of information and resources ready to share on the AppleVis website as soon as Apple makes its new version of iOS available for download.
This includes a number of Blog posts and Guides which will provide information on what you will find in iOS 7, along with many podcast demonstrations of new and changed features.
Some of our Editorial Team have been involved in beta testing of iOS 7, so have been able to compile a list of existi
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If you’re like me, there’s no way you can resist reading an article with a title like 5 TECH STANDARDS APPLE MURDERED AND 5 MORE ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK.
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An incredible bit of news just hit the wire today--so huge that we wanted to let you know about it ASAP.
The incredible folks that created the biggest innovation to come to touch-typing for the visually impaired community--Fleksy - Happy Typing--released a statement today announcing that the app is now FREE.
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Hi all,
Its great to see a specific accessibility app (keyboard word prediction app for use with VoiceOver) get recognised in this way. Raises the awareness of accessibility just that bit more.
If you want to find out more about Fleksy or download it, go to:
https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/fleksy-happy-typing/id520337246?mt=8
David
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What does it mean to make a truly accessible app? How can you go beyond meeting minimum accessibility standards and make something that VoiceOver users will find intuitive and enjoy using? In this post, I want to try to answer those questions from a user's perspective. I will not be covering the code you should use; instead, I am trying to describe what makes an app easy to use for me, as a VoiceOver user, and I encourage members of the community to add their own views in the comments.
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Introduction
For many of us -- hard-core internet surfers, RSS is a familiar term. By the same token, the phrase "RSS reader" isn't esoteric at all. But let me talk a bit about RSS and RSS readers before moving on to the main focus of this post. According to the Pro Blogger website:
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***Note: This post was written in 2012. Unfortunately American Heritage Dictionary 5th Edition became totally inaccessible in July 2016. So what you read below is no longer valid and only reflects history. To see what happened to this invaluable app and how it became inaccessible again, please visit this page. Thanks.