Hi Brian, I'm a full-blown sudoku addict. I want to look all your info over more thoroughly in the morning, but for now thought I'd share what I look for when playing.
To have the grid is not only unnecessary, if you're using braille, it's downright annoying. I actually have a book of braille sudokus with all the squares and grids represented, and I never play them, because the extra clutter just makes it too hard to keep track of what's what. So, when I play I do the following. I represent all spaces (empty squares) with a dash. I then essentially create a grid that has 9 lines with 9 characters devided into groups of three. Each square has a blank space around it, represented either by spaces separating squares on the same line,, or by blank lines.. this sounds like a pain, but you can actually set up a macro to do this from the websudoku site. I know it probably sounds confusing, so I'll include a sample puzzle. The thing I think is key is that there be just the right amount of verbal feedback. Maybe that should even be an adjustable setting, because the level of feedback you would want from VO would definitely depend on whether or not you are paired with a braille display. for instance, to hear "Grid 1, square 2, 7" could be confusing because of all the numbers you have to keep track of. So I think you would want voiceover to simply announce the number or say blank for each square. If it simply said "blank line" you would know that you are between two groups of three squares without having additional numbers thrown at you. I'm really tired, so I hope this makes sense. I'd love to see an accessible sudoku app, so let me know if I can help in any way. There's also a blind sudoku list, so let me know if you want that info. Meanwhile, here's a sample puzzle of the type I and those on the blind sudoku list typically play. Note: As I'm looking at this puzzle, I'm also thinking that I'd have a really hard time doing this without braille. Best, Donna --8 --- 265 2-- 9-- --- --- --- 9-- --9 -5- 746 5-6 -4- 3-1 347 -6- 5-- --3 --- --- --- --4 --7 654 --- 1-- Sudoku-X Medium Puzzle 255,046,287 On Feb 9, 2011, at 8:50 PM, Bryan Jones wrote: > Greetings All, > > For those Sudoku players on the list, I'd like to pick your brains a bit. > I've been evaluating IOS Sudoku Apps (more details at the bottom of this > email) and have found a good one whose developer is very receptive to making > the App accessible and would like some input from the List as to how to best > handle the Sudoku Grid. Again, I don't consider myself to be a very creative > thinker in this kind of task so I'm hoping some of you can throw out some > good ideas. > > As you probably know, the standard Sudoku grid consists of 9x9 squares, > subdivided into 9 smaller 3x3 squares. How do you think VO could best tell us > about these squares? Do you want to hear coordinates as in Chess-wise (A1 to > H8)? Would you rather hear each 3x3 grid identified uniquely? How would you > expect to hear status of pencil marks? Most of these Apps have a separate > Number Pad that you use to select the number you want to place on the Grid. > Would you expect to first select the number and then select the destination > square, or would it make more sense to select the square first and then tap > the number pad? Would you want to hear entire rows and columns read? > > That is the end of the questions for now, but if you're interested in more > info, here are some more details regarding my evaluations and these two Apps. > I've been evaluating the various free Sudoku Apps and am of course running > into the same issue we had with chess prior to Chess-wise being updated; that > is, the Sudoku Grid is inaccessible even if the rest of the game has been > properly labeled for VO. While I found one app, "Tap Sudoku" that has a > semi-accessible grid, the rest of the App needs lots of work. I've been > unsuccessful in my attempts to contact the Developer of Tap Sudoku and, in > fact, the developer website appears to be just a marketing site. > > Prior to starting my search I had asked Marcel Nijman if he was interested in > developing an accessible Sudoku App, since he has been so good to work with > through the process of making his other Apps accessible. Marcel respectfully > declined saying he wanted to focus on upgrading his current group of Apps. He > did however suggest trying the "Sudoku Tablet" App as he said it looks like a > well-designed App. I've tested "Sudoku Tablet" for the iPad and it's sister > App, "iSudoku" for all IOS devices. While their grids are not accessible, > they both have excellent labeling and navigation for VO. I contacted the > Developer, Wolfgang Tumler, and like Marcel, he is very receptive to the idea > of making these two Apps fully accessible. In fact, between emails this > morning and afternoon Wolfgang tells me he's already added labels to the > Number Pad and has begun planning how to best number the Grid and to account > for pencil marks, etc on the Grid. He is reviewing the various IOS > accessibility programming resources we've been handing out, and he is waiting > to hear our ideas before fully implementing the accessible Grid. > > Link to Sudoku Tablet in the US App Store (for ipads only; Current languages: > English, Spanish, German): > http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sudoku-tablet/id362562850?mt=8 > > Link to iSudoku Lite in the US App Store (for all IOS devices; Current > languages: English, German, French): > http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/isudoku-light/id287792786?mt=8 > > My written evaluation of Sudoku Tablet: > :BEGIN VO accessibility notes for Sudoku Tablet 2.0.2. > The following information applies to the free version of Sudoku Tablet 2.0.2, > English language, running on 3G iPad 64GB. with IOS 4.2.1. > Highlights: > Highlight 1. The Grid is completely inaccessible to VoiceOver, and there is > no accessible alternate method to navigate the grid. > Highlight 2. The Number Pad is completely inaccessible to VoiceOver, and > there is no accessible alternative method to navigate the number pad. > Highlight 3: Almost all of the App's buttons and controls appear to be > properly and thoroughly labeled. > Highlight 4. With the exception of the grid and number pad, the app can be > easily navigated with VO via both swipes and fingertip searching. > Highlight 5: The paid version of Sudoku Tablet includes 5 difficulty levels, > 4 styles of play and the ability to save games in progress. > > Here is an overview of the User interface elements as read by VO. Most of the > buttons are correctly labeled and self-explanatory. The support website has > an excellent and accessible description of the game's various elements. Here > I will give a few details of each button and some info on it's accessibility. > The main screen consists of the following elements listed in order when > swiping right from the top left corner: > 1, A button properly labelled "Menu." I'll describe this in detail below. > 2. A button properly labeled "Restart." This simply asks you if you'd like to > restart your current game. > 3. A button properly labeled "Settings." This presents an accessible and > well-described popup menu of six switch buttons to adjust a few features. > 4. A button labeled "Purchase Tag." This button takes you to the In-App > Purchase screen asking if you'd like to purchase the Unlimited version of > Sudoku Tablet for US $2.99. I did not make the purchase at this time, so I > don't know if the final step(s) of making the purchase are fully accessible, > but all steps up to this point were fully accessible and well described.. > > Here are more details of the Menu button and the game interface. > Double-tapping the Menu button takes you to an accessible screen where you > can select the version of the game you would like to play, either Traditional > Sudoku, Sudoku X, Sudoku Newspaper, Sudoku Plus or Sudoku Samurai. There is > also a button on this screen which will take you back to your current game. > When you double-tap one of the game buttons you are presented with a fully > accessible pick list to choose your preferred level of difficulty: Simple, > Easy or Normal. VO then asks you to wait while the game is being generated, > and you are then presented with the inaccessible Grid and Number Pad to play > the game. While those two critical elements are not accessible, it is > important to note that several important controls on this screen are already > fully accessible: The timer, the pause / play button, the Pencil button, the > Hint button and the Undo button. > :END VO accessibility notes for Sudoku Tablet 2.0.2. > > TIA for any thoughts and suggestions, > Bryan > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "VIPhone" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. 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