[vip_students] Knowing What Is Good About the iPhone and What Is Not
- From: "[NCBI] Support" <support@xxxxxxx>
- To: <vip_students@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2014 16:17:50 +0100
by Curtis Chong
From the Editor: The iPhone is unquestionably the most popular cell phone
used by the blind. Apple's revolutionary breakthrough in providing a roadmap
for making the touchscreen usable by the blind has earned it significant
praise from the blind, and their money has followed their words. But even
with its impressive list of features and its accessibility, the iPhone is
not for everyone, including some blind people. In this article Curtis Chong,
who is a technology expert now living in New Mexico, explains the benefits
of cutting-edge technology, but he also knows that the complexity of the
iPhone and the needs of many cell phone users do not make it a good match.
Here is what he has to say:
Many people have hailed the Apple iPhone as one of the first touchscreen
technologies that can be used by the blind without sighted assistance. When
Apple released the iPhone with VoiceOver back in 2009, even the most
skeptical among us recognized that Apple had accomplished a truly phenomenal
feat of design and engineering; for the first time in history a person who
could not see the screen was able to operate all of the controls of a
device, even though those controls were nothing more than icons on a flat
screen.
Today the iPhone's reputation as an accessible technology for the blind is
widespread. People who have never used an accessible cell phone have heard
about the iPhone and dream about taking advantage of its accessibility for
themselves. Well-meaning sons and daughters, hearing about the legendary
accessibility of the iPhone, act to purchase this marvelous piece of
technology for their aging mother or father. Parents who want an accessible
cell phone for their blind youngsters believe that the iPhone is the perfect
solution.
Accessible as the iPhone is, it is important to understand both its
strengths and weaknesses before deciding to spend the money to get it. For
some people it will be the perfect solution. For others it could turn out to
be a very expensive paperweight.
The good and bad points about the iPhone that are listed below are based
solely on my personal experience. In judging the accuracy of this
information for yourself, you should know that I was a relative latecomer to
the iPhone; I waited nearly two years before I decided to abandon my
accessible Nokia cell phone for it, and, because I had talked with a lot of
blind people before I decided to make the purchase, I was not disappointed
in my decision.
The Good Things About the iPhone
1. The iPhone enables you to take advantage of online services-particularly
if they are supported by an iPhone app-for example, banking, news, music,
searching for information, reading books online, email, weather, etc.
2. The iPhone gives you the same technology as many of your blind friends
who have already embraced the iPhone as their technological Swiss Army Knife
of choice. This means that, if you run into trouble, you will probably be
able to find a blind person with the knowledge and experience to help you.
3. The iPhone demonstrates conclusively that the blind can operate a
touchscreen device that has been properly designed for nonvisual use. In
this regard I take great delight in using my iPhone with the screen
completely blank-just to show my sighted colleagues that it can be done.
4. The iPhone can tell you who is calling before you answer the call.
5. The iPhone can help you keep track of recent calls made and/or received,
and you can easily return a missed call.
6. The iPhone offers a dictation system that enables you to make calls to
people in your contact list, call specific phone numbers that you already
know, dictate emails and text messages, and ask questions that may or may
not result in useful answers.
7. The iPhone can run a GPS system that you can use to direct drivers to
where you want to go if you pay for a good GPS app.
8. The iPhone has a free built-in compass which is quite useful in places
where there are no good landmarks.
9. With a ten-dollar app, the iPhone can read paper currency; this app can
even read foreign paper currency.
10. The iPhone is a great music player and also good for streaming radio.
11. With the iPhone you can read digital talking books and electronic
Braille books from the National Library Service of the Library of Congress.
12. The iPhone can be used to read books from Audible.com and Kindle books
from Amazon. It can also read books from a variety of other
sources-including Learning Ally and Bookshare.
13. The iPhone offers access to NFB-NEWSLINER through a free app.
14. You can take pictures with the iPhone. Autofocus gives you a verbal
indication whether there is a face in the picture. Also the camera can, to
some extent, be used with optical character recognition software to read
printed material if you can focus the camera.
15. The iPhone has built-in voice output and screen enlargement available
free. Activating these technologies is fairly straightforward. Moreover, you
will find that a growing number of books and people are available to offer
help and support for new iPhone users.
What Is Not Good About The iPhone
1. If you don't want to pay for a data plan, the iPhone has no option for
that. A data plan will cost you about twenty dollars a month. You need a
data plan for the iPhone to be able to communicate over the Internet.
2. It is very inefficient to make a simple phone call with the iPhone,
particularly if you don't have a person in your contacts list. You can dial
a phone number that you know much more quickly with a keypad that has real,
physical buttons.
3. On the iPhone touch typing for texting and email is very slow as compared
to a regular keyboard; this has been somewhat mitigated by Braille apps, of
which there are now two. However, you should know that research has shown
that, on average, a blind person entering data using the touch-screen QWERTY
keyboard is writing at about three words per minute. By contrast, users of
the built-in Braille apps have been clocked at around 23 words per minute.
4. The iPhone is very much a technology requiring good hand-ear
coordination. People who want real buttons that they can operate silently by
touch will be very disappointed in the iPhone.
5. Battery life for the iPhone is still an issue. You have to charge it at
least once a day-a lot more if you use GPS.
6. The iPhone is not small. It is bigger than a lot of flip phones.
7. For a lot of people the iPhone is a lot more technology than they want.
It is not for someone who just wants a phone to make and receive calls.
8. The iPhone is not cheap. Even with a two-year contract, the basic unit
can cost $200. The full retail price of the iPhone is approximately $650.
9. First-time users of the iPhone have reported initial frustration with
this powerful technology. It is not uncommon for these people to feel as if
they want to throw the phone away during the first month. Answering calls
and hanging up calls seem to be two particularly difficult problems for
beginning iPhone users.
10. The iPhone requires a fair amount of dexterity and the ability to tap
quickly. People who have motor issues or poor dexterity will likely not
benefit from this technology.
Conclusion
The iPhone is simply not for everyone-despite its built-in nonvisual
accessibility. Before you decide to get one, do the research, talk to your
colleagues in the blind community, and decide whether or not you really need
or want the power that the iPhone has to offer. Before you buy, be prepared
to experience some frustration, have a few second thoughts, and expect
initially to find some simple phone functions harder than you think they
should be.
---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection
is active.
http://www.avast.com
Follow us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ncbiworkingforpeoplewithsightloss
Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ncbi_sightloss
Check-out NCBI's Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh appeal on the following link.
http://youtu.be/25P2tiuCi0U
NCBI Group - CRO No 26293 CHY 20902
NCBI Services - CRO No 527862 CHY 4626
NCBI Retail - CRO No 527863 CHY 20619
NCBI Charitable Foundation - CRO No 527864 CHY 12673
Information in this email (including attachments) is confidential. It is
intended for receipt and consideration only by the intended recipient. If you
are not an addressee or intended recipient, any use, dissemination,
distribution, disclosure, publication or copying of information contained in
this email is strictly prohibited. Opinions expressed in this email may be
personal to the author and are not necessarily the opinions of NCBI.
If this email has been received by you in error we would be grateful if you
could immediately notify the IT Service Desk by telephone at +353 1 8821911 or
by email to service.desk@xxxxxxx and thereafter delete this e-mail from your
system.
==========================================================The vip_students
mailing list
Manage account or unsubscribe: //www.freelists.org/list/vip_students
Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/vip_students
Administrative contact: support@xxxxxxx
==========================================================
Other related posts:
- » [vip_students] Knowing What Is Good About the iPhone and What Is Not - [NCBI] Support
