To be honest, I don't think it was so unfairly written. I do agree with some of the points he made, mainly those pertaining to finding the icon which announces battery status. I quested over to the Pentagon City Mall this weekend to have a look at the iPhone, and that got to me a little; though I didn't try navigation by "flicking," I did like the drag-and-tap model quite nicely. It was annoying to find the "more" or "page 2" buttons when navigating the iPod and Home screens respectively, and though I didn't try and find the battery/date and time icons, from listening to Shane Jackson's podcast it doesn't sound entirely pleasant. The touchscreen model is nice, but tapping around just to get info or move the screen down does seem a little cumbersome. Does navigation by "flick" eliminate the "more" button annoyance? (As if I was arrowing through a table - it doesn't matter what's showing on screen, just what's under the cursor?)
On 7/12/09, Larry Wanger <lsw...@gmail.com> wrote: > This comes up when you do a search for Mosen and iPhone on Google. > Written before the iPhone with VO came to market I might add. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jonathan Mosen" <jmo...@xxxxxxxxx> > To: <blindpho...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Sent: Monday, June 08, 2009 11:15 PM > Subject: iPhone, a Reality Check > > > > There's been some pretty lively discussion on Twitter since the > > announcement > > of the new iPhone, which some are calling accessible. As 140 > characters > > can > > be quite limiting, I thought I would make some extended comment > through > > this > > list. > > > > There seems to be a great deal of excitement over the fact that > Apple have > > put a screen reader into the iPhone. For no extra cost, someone can > go to > > AT&T in the US, or your iPhone carrier in other countries, pick up an > > iPhone, and get speech without installing any additional software. > It can > > be > > made to talk by enabling the feature from the PC, so no sighted > assistance > > is required. At face value, the principle is an enticing one, > although the > > concept is not entirely new. Phones such as some of the LG range have > > offered an out of box experience that has varied in its degree of > > accessibility for some time. There is also the question of how > easily we > > as > > blind people can influence product enhancements. But hats off to > Apple for > > getting this done for sure. > > > > Just because we're blind, doesn't mean we're immune to the latest > trend > > and > > marketing hype. Sighted iPhone devotees love the look of the > iPhone, and > > its > > touch screen. So there are blind people who want an iPhone because > it's > > trendy. There's nothing inherently wrong with this either. If we > want to > > be > > part of the latest big thing, it is wrong for consumers that happen > to be > > blind to be locked out. It is worth baring in mind though that > Nokia still > > well outsells all of its competitors put together in the global > market. > > > > We all use our phones for different purposes, and perhaps it is > true that > > because screen readers have only run on smartphones, some of us are > using > > smartphones when we otherwise wouldn't be. A smartphone is all about > > productivity. Getting information in and out of the device with > ease is > > critical. > > > > There are comments in the Apple documentation, found at > > http://www.apple.com/accessibility/iphone/vision.html that intrigue > me > > with > > respect to reviewing what is on the screen. They say in part: > > > > What makes VoiceOver on iPhone truly remarkable is that you control > it > > using > > simple gestures that let you physically interact with items on > screen. > > It's > > easy to learn and fun to use. Instead of memorizing hundreds of > keyboard > > commands, or endlessly pressing tiny arrow keys to find what you're > > looking > > for, with VoiceOver, you simply touch the screen to hear a > description of > > the item under your finger, then gesture with a double-tap, drag, > or flick > > to control the phone. > > > > VoiceOver delivers an experience unlike any screen reader you've > ever used > > before. Traditional screen readers describe individual elements on > the > > screen, but struggle to communicate where each element is located or > > provide > > information about adjoining objects. This contextual information is > very > > important but typically filtered out by other screen readers. For > example, > > "off-screen" models used by traditional screen readers to represent > > applications and web pages intentionally strip away contextual > information > > and describe web pages as a list or menu of items. But with > VoiceOver on > > iPhone 3G S, you'll experience something entirely new. > > > > > > > > So say the people at Apple. It seems they are indulging in some > serious > > hyperbole here. As a Talks and Mobile Speak user who uses a lot of > the > > screen readers' functionality, it is simply not the case that there > are > > hundreds of commands to remember. Further, are arrow keys and a > keyboard > > or > > number pad really so bad? It would appear to me to be an optimal > interface > > for a blind person to use. > > > > > > > > But the really interesting philosophical point for me relates to > their > > comment about knowing where information appears on the screen. > Apple says > > this is important. But this begs the question, who says that where > > information appears on the screen of a phone is important? Not > many, if > > any, > > blind people. We're not talking about formatting complex documents > here. > > We > > want to get at our information, whether that be reading a message or > > checking our battery status, efficiently. I've used accessible > phones for > > six years now. Never once has it even occurred to me to wonder > where the > > power and battery status appears on the screen of my phone. Why > should it? > > Irrespective of where it appears, I want a foolproof, 100% > guaranteed way > > of > > hearing that information without fuss. The description on the Apple > site > > simply seeks to turn what is a negative for us, the lack of arrow > keys and > > a > > real keyboard, into a positive. In my view, it's a false positive. > We do > > not > > need to know where something appears on the screen. That said, with > > practice, it probably will be straightforward enough to aim at the > right > > part of the screen to get the information you want, although I'd > say not > > as > > reliable as getting there from a keyboard. > > > > > > For input, anyone who has a current smartphone running one of the > other > > operating systems will be taking a step back in terms of ease of > use and > > productivity. > > > > If you want to dial numbers and play music from your library, the > iPhone > > will allow you to do this by speaking to the device. We won't know > how > > well > > this works in noisy environments, but speech recognition is quite > good > > these > > days, so one would expect satisfactory results in most conditions. > > > > The area where the iPhone is especially weak is inputting data, > such as > > texts, e-mail and contacts. The contacts of course could be entered > on a > > desktop device and synchronised, but when on the move, you want to > be able > > to send texts and e-mails speedily. > > > > When you are running Voiceover on the iPhone, a different user > interface > > is > > active for the touch screen from that which is in play for sighted > users. > > Here's what Apple's own documentation says about entering data. > > > > When you're typing text, such as an email message or a note, > VoiceOver > > echoes each character on the keyboard as you touch it, and again to > > confirm > > when you enter it. You can also have VoiceOver speak each completed > word > > instead of and in addition to individual characters as you type > them. A > > flick up or down while typing moves the insertion point cursor left > and > > right within the text so you can edit a word just as easily and > precisely > > as > > typing a new word. > > > > To help you type more quickly and accurately, iPhone features word > > prediction and suggests the correct spelling when you type a word > > incorrectly. With Speak Auto-text enabled, you'll hear a sound > effect and > > the suggested word spoken automatically. You can just keep typing to > > ignore > > it, or press the space key to have iPhone type it for you. > > > > So say Apple. So this sounds fairly similar to the functionality > offered > > on > > Pocket PC touch screen phones by Mobile Speak Pocket, although it is > > considerably more advanced in terms of the various gestures one can > make > > on > > the screen to control a range of functions. My concern is the speed > at > > which > > data entry will be possible. You first have to locate the character > you > > want, on a completely flat surface touch screen, with Voiceover > voicing > > each > > character as you search for the one you want. Once located, you must > > confirm > > the entry of that character. Now with practice, one may get fairly > > accurate > > about guessing where your finger needs to be on the screen in order > to get > > the character you want. However I think one can be more precise, > and more > > importantly, efficient if one uses a qwerty keyboard or number pad. A > > really > > proficient T9 text user is something to be hold in terms of speed. > > > > Efficiency is critical for people who need to process information > quickly > > to > > be as productive on the job as their sighted peers. > > > > It is possible that the word prediction algorithm may substantially > speed > > up > > data entry. However it would seem unlike that even then, data entry > would > > be > > as fast as an accomplished T9 user. > > > > Then there is the question of third party applications, which may > be thin > > on > > the ground for the iPhone, at least initially. Apple says: > > > > VoiceOver works with all of the built-in applications that come with > > iPhone > > 3G S, such as Phone, iPod, iTunes, Mail, Safari, and Maps. So, you > can > > place > > and receive calls, surf the web, text and email your friends, check > your > > stocks and the weather, and much, much more. Apple is also working > with > > iPhone software developers so they can make their applications > VoiceOver > > compatible. > > > > This is, at least in the short term, a lot more limiting than other > > options > > such as Symbian or Windows Mobile. > > > > In the end, it depends on what you're after. Some people believe that > > having > > a "mainstream" device accessible out of the box is so important, > that they > > will sacrifice productivity. And of course, there's no need to buy > any > > additional software. I personally believe that we are a market > deserving > > of > > our needs to be met in the best way that meets our needs. There are > still > > better phones out there. The new Nokia range, such as the N86, has > an 8 MP > > camera, great data speeds, built-in voice over IP, and the > potential to > > run > > the KNFB Reader. If you are willing to put up with access that is > more > > fiddly for a lower price, then maybe the iPhone is an attractive > > proposition. For me, my phone is not a gimmick, nor is it an > experiment. I > > need a phone that will let me manage my data on the move, and get the > > messages out, without hunt and peck. > > > > To those who say that the touch screen is the way of the future, > this is > > clearly not the case. Many, many manufacturers, even those that > dabble in > > some touch screen models, are still producing great new phones with > > keyboards or number pads that have far better specs than the iPhone. > > Further, I watched with interest the hopes being expressed by some > > bloggers > > and tech commentators that maybe Apple would come out today with an > iPhone > > complete with slide-out qwerty keyboard. So even sighted people in > some > > quarters are starting to find the touch screen wearing a bit thin. > > > > In summary, Apple should be congratulated for taking a device that > clearly > > breached Section 255 of the US Telecommunications Act, and having a > go and > > making it compliant. NFB and ACB have been asking for this, and > I've no > > doubt this is a sincere, and commendable effort on Apple's part to > > deliver. > > Whether it can compete with well established offerings in terms of > > productive, efficient access, I am not convinced. I still ask, what > have > > we > > gained in terms of efficient access to the exchange of information. > Had > > Apple come out with the same offering today, but with the addition > of a > > version of the iPhone with a qwerty keyboard, I think they would > have been > > right on the money. > > > > Hopefully we can avoid the knee-jerk reactions of the fanboys out > there, > > and > > have some serious, thoughtful discussion about the appropriateness > of this > > kind of a user interface in meeting Section255 compliance. > > > > Jonathan > > To subscribe or to leave the list, or to set other subscription > options, go to > www.freelists.org/list/real-eyes > > > Follow-Ups: > [real-eyes] Re: Fw: iPhone, a Reality Check > From: Robert Beach > Other related posts: > » [real-eyes] Fw: iPhone, a Reality Check - Jim Fettgather > » [real-eyes] Re: Fw: iPhone, a Reality Check - Robert Beach > All trademarks and copyrights within the FreeLists archives are owned > by their respective owners. 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