Hi,
This is a list of the menu features I tried out and explored on the
new iPod 4G Nano from the point of view of accessibility
• Menus that are not accessible
Basically, none of the Extras menus are accessible. You may hear some
of the menu entries spoken, but you won't be able to select or set any
of the submenu entries. (Or rather, you may end up pressing something
that changes a setting, but you won't know what you have pressed and
how you have changed things, so either avoid all these menus or
proceed with extreme care and sighted assistance here.
The general rule is that, any item that changes in variably and
dynamically (clocks, battery charge), or that might involve non-
English, non-Latin characters (Contact lists, language list menus), or
customizing menus by eliminating or adding categories won't be
accessible. This means that equalizer presets can be selected, but
you cannot get interactive equalizer adjustment. (Actually, because of
this a better way to deal with this may be to set the equalizer
presets for tracks in iTunes with Get Info on the Options tab for each
song -- maybe by using an Automator action to do this for groups of
selections.) Detailed information (iPod or TV show program
descriptions) are also not accessible. Alerts (iPod charging,
Charged, and Low Battery) will be spoken.
Also, as an aside, the ilounge tests for the 4G nano gave an actual
battery lifetime in excess of Apple's specified lifetime between
recharges of 24 hours for audio playback.
Some of the Settings menu entries are accessible and some are not:
About (reports space usage) is not Accesiible from the iPod menu-- but
this information is given on the device summary page every time you
connect to iTunes
Shuffle Off/On toggle with center button Accessible
Repeat Off/On toggle with center button Accessible
Playback Accessible submenu entries:
EQ (equalizer) -- Off or selected presets
Sound Check -- toggled on or off with center button
Volume limit -- adjustable clicks up or down as you listen to a track
Audio Crossfade -- toggled on or off with center button
Audiobooks -- speed switched between normal, faster, and slower with
center button
Shake -- Shuffle or Off switched with center button
Energy Saver -- toggled on or off with center button
[Comment: please check the user manual for details on what these
functions do, since just writing up the accessibility functions is
fairly time consuming -- there are other people on the list who have
used iPods who can tell you about these functions].
The one genuinely new function here is the ability to shuffle your
music by shaking the nano 4G -- the Shake setting in the Playback menu
gives a new (additional) way to shuffle your music.
General menu (most of the entries are accessible):
Clicker -- Both/Speaker/Headphones/Off cycle through with center
button
Spoken Menus -- On/Off (this should be on to let you hear the iPod
talk -- toggles on/off with center button)
Backlight -- Time settings from 0 to always on with center button
(can be turned to off if you don't need to see
the screen; turn this on if you need sighted help to
inspect the menu)
Brightness -- Clockwise increases, Counterclockwise decreases --
audible clicks (again, you can turn this
down or off, as long as you don't need sighted help)
Font Size -- Standard/Large (may help low-vision users)
Main Menu -- inaccessible (customization to change menus displayed)
Music Menu -- inaccessible (customization to change music menu
submenus displayed)
Sort Contacts -- inaccessible (Contacts on the Extras menu are also
inaccessible)
Date & Time Inaccessible
Language Inaccesible ( but U.S. English should be first entry
(furthest Counterclockwise, and U.K. English the second -- one
click clockwise)
Legal -- Inaccessible (this statement was probably in your software
agreement, though)
Reset Settings -- Accessible -- but resetting will also cause you iPod
to lose speech
• Most Menus are accessible
Just about all the menus on the iPod Nano 4G that one needs to use
are accessible. This includes all the Menus under the Music Menu
((Playlists, Artists, Albums, Songs, Genres, Composers, and
Audiobooks) except for the Search menu at the end of the Music menu
list (you only hear 26 clicks for choosing letters to input for a
"Search") I haven't tried loading photos, rental movies, or music
videos, though.
• Controls when a song, audiobook, or podcast is playing
When a track is playing, moving your finger around the wheel clockwise
will increase the volume. Moving counterclockwise will decrease
volume. You'll hear clicks as this happens.
There are a number of click-select actions that can be executed when a
track is playing. On my 2G nano this click sequence is:
1) normal play
2) fast navigation/scrubbing mode
3) display album cover
4) rating
5) (for audiobooks and podcasts) speed play
and further clicks would cycle again through these modes successively.
A. Music tracks
There are a number of click-select (presses of the center of the
wheel) actions that can be executed when a track is playing. For music
tracks on the 4G nano the sequence is:
1) normal play
2) fast navigation/title announcement mode
3) rating
4) shuffle play
and further clicks would cycle again through these modes successively.
The thing that may be confusing for new users is that if you pause
very long (more than 2 or 3 seconds) between successive presses of the
"Select" function of the center wheel, the iPod will revert to normal
play mode and you'll start again from that point. (So, for example,
clicking the center of the wheel twice to to rate a song is equivalent
to clicking the wheel 6 times or 10 times to reach the rating postion;
but if I click once from the normal play position and wait 5 seconds
without doing anything, the iPod will resume normal play mode, and
I'll still have to click twice quickly in succession to rate a song.)
What I'll hear as I click through a Music track is
1) normal play ("Now Playing" if you've just started the song or just
the music)
2) fast navigation/title announcement mode (the title of the song)
3) rating ("No Stars" -- or however I've rated this)
4) shuffle play ("Shuffle")
In addition, I can use the click wheel to make playing adjustments in
each mode for Music:
1) normal play: volume adjustment by circling my finger clockwise to
make louder or counterclockwise (softer)
rewind (left side of wheel held down)
or fast forward (right side of wheel held down)
play previous track (left side of wheel tapped) or next track
(right side of wheel tapped)
2) fast navigation/title announcement: this is most useful to
announce the name of the current playing track
"scrubbing" - in this mode, moving your finger quickly around
the wheel clockwise moves you
ahead in the track faster than you can move with forward and
reverse buttons in normal play
mode. However, there is no audible click with the 4G Nano, and
the rate of advance/rewind
seems slower than with my 2G Nano and harder to calibrate.
Basically, when you stop
scrubbing you'll hear normal play resume at a point much further
forward or backward.
3) rating: circle your finger clockwise up to 5 clicks to give the
song a "star" rating (0 to 5); circle
counterclockwise to lower the rating.
4) shuffle play: circling your finger clockwise will take you from
the shuffle "off" position to shuffling by "album" and then by
"song", circling counterclockwise moves your through these settings in
the reverse direction
B. Audio Books with Chapter Markers from iTunes or Audible.com
Clickwheel positions when playing Audiobooks with Chapter markers from
iTunes or Audible
0) Chapter menu -- a special menu that has "Resume" (to resume play at
last played position) followed by Chapters 1, 2, etc.
1) normal play
2) fast navigation/title announcement
3) rating
and further clicks would cycle again through modes 1 through 3
successively.
What I'll hear as I click through an Audio Book track, after the
Chapter menu is:
1) normal play ("Now Playing" if you've just started the track or just
the audio book)
2) fast navigation/title announcement mode (the title of the book)
3) rating ("No Stars" -- or however I've rated this)
In addition, I can use the click wheel to make playing adjustments in
each mode for Audio Books:
1) normal play: volume adjustment by circling my finger clockwise to
make louder or counterclockwise (softer)
rewind (left side of wheel held down)
or fast forward (right side of wheel held down)
play previous chapter (left side of wheel tapped) or next
chapter (right side of wheel tapped)
2) fast navigation/title announcement: this is most useful to
announce the name of the current playing track
"scrubbing" - in this mode, moving your finger quickly around
the wheel clockwise moves you
ahead in the track faster than you can move with forward and
reverse buttons in normal play
mode. However, there is no audible click scrubbing with the 4G
Nano. For chapterized audio
books you can combine advance/rewind
by chapter (click right to advance, left to reverse)
with scrubbing (moving your finger around the wheel). Clicks are
audible, but scrubs are not.
3) rating: circle your finger clockwise up to 5 clicks to give the
song a "star" rating (0 to 5); circle
counterclockwise to lower the rating.
C. Audio Books without chapter markers
These behave like chapterized audiobooks, without the 0) level chapter
page
D. Podcasts
Clickwheel positions when playing Podcasts
1) normal play
2) fast navigation/title announcement
3) rating
4) description of program (not accessible -- this is the podcast
descriptive information shown in iTunes)
and further clicks would cycle again through modes 1 through 4
successively.
What I'll hear as I click through a podcast track is:
1) normal play ("Now Playing" if you've just started the track or just
the audio book)
2) fast navigation/title announcement mode (the title of the book)
3) rating ("No Stars" -- or however I've rated this)
4) program description (nothing -- not accessible)
In addition, I can use the click wheel to make playing adjustments in
each mode for podcasts:
1) normal play: volume adjustment by circling my finger clockwise to
make louder or counterclockwise (softer)
rewind (left side of wheel held down)
or fast forward (right side of wheel held down)
play previous chapter (left side of wheel tapped) or next
chapter (right side of wheel tapped)
2) fast navigation/title announcement: this is most useful to
announce the name of the current playing track
"scrubbing" - in this mode, moving your finger quickly around
the wheel clockwise moves you
ahead in the track faster than you can move with forward and
reverse buttons in normal play
mode. However, there is no audible click scrubbing with the 4G
Nano. For chapterized audio
books you can combine advance/rewind
by chapter (click right to advance, left to reverse)
with scrubbing (moving your finger around the wheel). Clicks are
audible, but scrubs are not.
3) rating: circle your finger clockwise up to 5 clicks to give the
song a "star" rating (0 to 5); circle
counterclockwise to lower the rating.
4) program description (no actions)
Podcasts will automatically resume play at the last played position
unless you change this setting for the track.
E. TV programs under Videos
Clickwheel positions when playing TV programs, No voiced information
is given to interrupt the sound track after the program starts
playing. You have to press the menu button if you want to know the
program title (presumably this is a long program and you know what you
selected).
1) normal play (you can adjust volume with the clickwheel -- you'll
hear clicks; holding down the fast forward or rewind buttons will
quickly forward or reverse your position in the track)
2) fast navigation (click center button and "scrub" this mode also
advances or rewinds much faster than scrub mode for audiobooks or
podcasts).
Miscellaneous:
Shaking the iPod to shuffle play music tracks (one of the ways to
"shuffle" play under the Playback menu of "Settings") generates a
burbling sound when the new track is selected. Cover Flow mode is not
accessible (no feedback on albums or clicks when scrolling through the
wheel). Locking the Nano (pushing the lock at the top of the Nano
near the left edge so the switch is moved to the right) will keep the
Nano from entering Cover Flow mode, but you have to unlock the Nano to
use the wheel again. The "Ducking" mode where sound from tracks that
are playing is muted while you navigate and listen to menus is well
implemented. Also, announcements when you quickly scroll through long
menus is handled well (intermediate skimmed tracks are skipped from
the voiced announcements).
Cheers,
Esther
Cheers,
Esther
