Hi Cheryl,
As for the iPod Shuffle thus far I have found no way to interact with
it and iTunes. In speaking with Saqib a while back he said there was
a way to disengage iTunes from interacting with the Shuffle allowing
one to use a different program for building play lists, and causing
the Shuffle to appear on the desktop. I would suggest looking in the
archives, or trying to find him online through one of the chat
clients for first-hand advise if none other posts here.
As for the native accessibility of the Shuffle itself, it is very
straight forward and easy to use. One end is the removable cap where
the USB connector is. The other end is where the controls reside.
It is a button with a ring around it. If you orientate the Shuffle
so this button is at the right the top of that ring takes you back
one file; the bottom of the ring advances forward one file"; the left
of the ring is volume down, the right is volume up. The button in
the center is for play and pause. At the outer edge of this end of
the Shuffle is the place where headphones or an external speaker
system can be plugged. On the back side of the Shuffle, on the same
end as the controls, is a square slider that is flush with the rest
of the Shuffle. This slider has three positions: the first being
off, the second, play songs in order, the third, shuffle songs.
These settings work nicely together for finding an album. You use
the shuffle feature to rapidly skip through until you find the artist
you want, then switch it to playing straight through and you can hear
the entire album if that is what you desire.
May I also suggest by way of personal experience, if possible it is
of much greater peace of mind to purchase a USB charger as you will
know of a certainty that your Shuffle has been charged. I have had
little to no success trying to do so in any of the ports on my computer.
Speaking of charging, I failed to mention that on the back of the
Shuffle, just underneath the slider, there is a small rectangular
button, which too is flush with the Shuffle, that when depressed will
show the status of your battery via a color of light.
As I believe you mentioned, National Braille Press, www.nbp.org has a
book by Anna Dresner entitled "The iPod Experience", or something
very close to that title. However, according to someone who has
just finished that book it was found to be of very little help. It
spent 3/4 of the time complaining about what cannot be done, and 1/4
of the time dealing with actual solutions.
Thank you list for engaging such a lengthy post.
Warm regards,
Cheryl Stewart
*****
"There's no time like the present, and no present like time."
David Lamotte
On Mar 2, 2006, at 9:06 PM, Cheryl Homiak wrote:
I think there may be information about some of my questions in the
archives but haven't found it yet. I am wanting to know about the
accessibility of the ipod shuffle for setting it up, choosing and
transferring music and audiobooks, and actually playing music. I read
something about this from National Braille Press; it was pretty
detailed but of course was totally Windows/JFW/Window-eyes related.
I'm considering buying one eventually but want to make sure I can set
it up and use it. I'd really like a nano but as far as I know the
shuffle is the only accessible ipod.
Tia.
--
Cheryl
"Where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also".
