Hi,
I will share what I saved in my files from a previous email. It is really
good and gives you directions how to highlight things which would be vital
for a student. Actually, it works as well as iBooks.
Sherrie
BREAKING: Amazon’s Kindle for iOS Updated with Accessibility
Posted under:
Accessibility
by
Justin Romack
I remember the feeling quite vividly—sitting in my college courses on the
first day of class, staring at a syllabus with books I knew I’d never be
able
to obtain in an accessible format before we were to review them. I attended
a great university and had access to a fabulous disability services office,
but far too many books were simply out of reach in a timely fashion.
I’d talk to peers who would download their books onto a Kindle, and as time
progressed, soon they’d load them on their iPhones and iPads to tote around
wherever they went. But, sadly, Amazon seemed to stubbornly push
inaccessible Kindle products onto the market without any regard to the
blindness community.
That all changed yesterday morning, though, and many have voiced their
excitement for the
newly accessible Kindle for iOS application
(available now through Apple’s App Store). That’s right—the blind, visually
impaired and dyslexic now have full access to Amazon’s catalog of over one
million books, magazines and newspapers, all at the touch of a button in the
Kindle Store.
After playing around with the app, connecting my braille display and
exploring tactilely and buying (more than) a few books to try out, I want to
share
some initial impressions and a general breakdown of what you can expect from
the app.
The Interface
Amazon’s Kindle for iOS has a simple interface upon startup. If you have
purchased books already, you’ll be taken to your cloud bookshelf with an
option
to download each title. If you’ve already downloaded these texts, you can
click and launch them with a single-finger double tap gesture, or a
split-tap
gesture.
While in the book of your choice, Amazon has made the interface incredibly
simple, boasting no buttons, labels or other controls you may expect to see
in an app like this. You are presented with the book’s text—and that’s all.
This is nice because the text fills the entirety of the screen, making it
much
easier to scroll line by line with your finger.
The Reading Experience
I’m not a huge fan of audiobooks. The dramatization of text by some readers
tends to be a turnoff for me, and it’s important that I have access to the
text in a way that I can read character by character if need be. Solid,
intuitive and flexible navigation is imperative for any reading app or
device–and
it’s why I’ve really enjoyed using Apple’s iBooks app the past year or two.
In terms of navigation, Kindle for iOS is absolutely on-par with the iBooks
experience. I can navigate character by character, word by word, and line by
line, which is excellent. In one word—it’s “flawless”.
Since there are no on-screen controls while in the reading view, you can
either interact with the text by a read all from top gesture (which is a
two-finger
swipe downward), navigate via a rotor gesture (use the rotor to select
whether you’ll move by character, word or line), move your finger through
the text
or move between pages (with a three-finger swipe left or right), which
prompts the app to automatically start reading content on the new page. It’s
simple,
easy and very effective.
Making Highlights and Creating Notes
This is easily one of the most exciting features I’ve found in the Kindle
for iOS app—and best of all, it’s very accessible. To highlight a section of
text, or to create a note about something you’ve read, perform a
single-finger, double-tap and hold around the general area in which you’d
like to make
your annotations. Hold your finger in this spot for a moment, and then lift
it. If you’ve done it correctly, VoiceOver will announce “pink highlighter”,
which represents the color used to mark your selected section…but we’re not
done yet.
If you were to flick around the screen at this point, you’d see options to
change the highlighter color, share the selection and various other options,
but here’s the kicker—you can actually adjust the selection (from edge to
edge) using the flick gesture up and down. Flick until you find “left most
edge”
and “right most edge”. By flicking up and down while focusing on either
edge, you’ll move the edge of your mark forward and backward. If you pause
for
a moment after adjusting your selection, voiceOver will announce the
contents of your highlighted section. Wow!
After selecting the text you’d like to mark, you can save it as a mark,
create a note or look up a word in the dictionary. You can also Google your
selection
and search for it on Wikipedia, as well. I think this is leaps and bounds
ahead of anything else out there—and I’ve already used it to annotate
several
of the books I’m currently reading.
Accessing the Menu While Reading a Book
Since there are no controls found on-screen while reading your book, you’re
probably wondering how to perform basic features like bookmarking a page,
navigating
to a specific page or location, etc etc. All of this (and much more) can be
found in the menu, which is accessible by performing a single-finger double
tap (or a split-tap gesture) anywhere on-screen while in the reading view.
VoiceOver will announce “menu On”, and you’re now able to explore the
options
for your book.
Basic Controls inside the Menu
After opening the menu, you will be presented with several options
pertaining to your book. In the top-lefthand corner, you will find a button
labeled
“Home”, which will take you back to your bookshelf. At the center and top of
the screen is a text label which states the name and author of the book you
are currently reading.. Single-finger flicking to the right (or navigating
to the upper-righthand corner of the screen), you’ll find a “Bookmark”
button.
This will bookmark the current page (the page visible when you opened the
menu).
One Note about Bookmarks
Editor’s Note: After posting this review, I discovered it is, in fact,
possible to determine whether the current page is bookmarked through the
button
in the menu. VoiceOver users will need to have “hints” enabled, and the
application will report whether or not a bookmark is already set for the
current
page. Thanks so much to
@arm4r
and
@paras12
for tipping me off to this!
If Amazon could make one improvement about this menu, it would be the
ability to see whether a bookmark is currently present for the page. I
believe they
could accomplish this by having VoiceOver announce “Bookmark selected
button) if a bookmark has already been set for the current page. The trick
here is—if
a bookmark IS already present, pressing this button will remove it without
any indication to the VoiceOver user.
“Return to Book” Option
In the very middle of the screen, there is an option to jump back into your
book. This option remains present in some subpages of the menu—but not
always.
The Bottom Row of Controls
The bottom row of controls holds most of the nitty-gritty details most users
will want to access. From left to right, these controls include:
list of 6 items
? Back: This option appears to always be “dimmed”. Not sure what it does…
? View Options: This menu controls various aspects of the visual
presentation of your book, including font style, font size and brightness.
? Go To: This menu offers a wide variety of locations in which you can be
taken to throughout your book. I’ll discuss this menu in greater detail in a
moment…
? Search: The Kindle for iOS app comes with an insanely powerful search
tool, which allows you to comb the entire contents of your book for a word
or phrase.
I’ll cover this one, too, in a bit more depth a little later.
? Sync: This option will sync the reading position of your current Kindle
device with the furthest point reached on any other device. This could be
quite
handy if you use Kindle for iOS on an iPhone AND an iPad.
? The Progress Slider: The progress slider is located just below this row of
five buttons, and represents your current location as a percentage. You can
adjust this slider with the flicking gesture up or down, or you can do a
single-finger, double-tap and hold to adjust more precisely.
list end
The “Go To” Menu
This menu allows you to jump through your book at varying navigation levels,
such as by page, by bookmark or back to the beginning. Some “go to” options
include:
list of 9 items
? Cover: This option will place you on the cover of your current book.
? Table of Contents: Choosing this option will take you directly to the
table of contents, allowing you to navigate by chapter or section. (NOTE:
The table
of contents DOES work with VoiceOver, but you’ll have to navigate slowly
with your finger because these are not visible as links.)
? Beginning: Selecting this option will take you to the very beginning of
your book, past the cover, table of contents and most introductory content.
? Location: Pressing the “Location” button will allow you to navigate
directly to the page of your choice. Use the keypad to type the page number,
and
then locate an “OK” button toward the middle-right section of the screen.
? Book Extras: Here’s where Kindle shines over most any other options you’ve
likely tried—this section contains crowdsourced selections taken from the
book, which means other readers took the time to select portions of the book
that stood out to them, highlights and memorable moments, and favorite
quotes.
There is also a section which includes notes for parents. One other
interesting thing about this menu is the ability to toggle “spoilers” on and
off, which
will help you avoid any revealing content as you dig through the extra
features of your book.
? My Notes and Marks: This section lists all of the bookmarks and highlights
you’ve made throughout the book. Note that you can remove these by using the
“Edit” button at the top-lefthand corner of the screen.
? Popular Highlights: Keeping with the notion of crowdsourcing, Amazon pulls
in the most popular highlights from all other users reading the currently
selected book. This is one feature I absolutely love! Kindle for iOS tells
you the location of the highlighted section, as well as how many people have
highlighted it.
? X-Ray: X-Ray allows readers to explore “the bones of a book.” Tap on any
page as you read to find chapters and locations that mention ideas,
characters,
and important places, as well as background info, biographies, and more from
Shelfari and Wikipedia.
? Before You Go: This section contains options for you to rate, review and
share the currently selected book. The selections made here will no doubt
factor
into the recommendations Amazon makes to you for future reading.
list end
The Search Feature
The search functionality in Kindle for iOS is by far one of the most
powerful I’ve seen in a reading option. But as impressive as its ability to
search
through your text, I’m in love with the way it displays your results.
After selecting the “Search” option, you’ll be presented with a standard
search/edit field and the iOS keyboard. Type your query and press “Go”. The
app
will process the text and present you with a list of results, with the page
number listed to the left of the section where your word or phrase is
present.
You’ll also notice a count at the bottom of the screen for the tonal number
of instances the app found for your search.
Where Amazon Did It Right
I think it’s often easy for us to assume companies aren’t listening to our
accessibility concerns, or the timetable for accessibility isn’t moving fast
enough, but the Kindle for iOS app is a classic example of patience paying
off. There are no flaws I’ve found in the app’s accessibility, with only one
minor preference issue. There has been extensive beta testing for the
accessibility improvements, as is obvious by the flawless execution made by
Amazon.
The standout feature, and one which Apple can take cues, is the highlighter
found in the reading view. The granularity at which your highlighted
selection
can be edited is remarkable. If you flick around the screen, you’ll notice
VoiceOver report “left most edge” and “right most edge”. Performing a flick
gesture up or down will reposition the respective edges of your highlighted
section (before you approve it). This is highly impressive,a and not present
in iBooks.
Summing It All Up
My allegiance rarely sways between two products. I tend to stay loyal to
solutions that have worked well for me in the past—and I’d assume many
reading
this can relate to that idea. But, given Amazon’s impressive offering and
the affordability of many selections, I could see myself using Kindle for
iOS
more often than the iBooks offering from Apple. It will be intriguing to see
if Amazon continues this stance on accessibility, and extends it to their
other software and hardware offerings.
Want to Enter the #AccessibleKindle Giveaway?
Fedora Outlier is absolutely thrilled about the accessibility of Kindle for
iOS—and so much so that we’re giving away a $25 gift card to Amazon.com to
one lucky winner. for details and a couple ways to enter,
visit this post about the giveaway.
Hurry, giveaway ends on Wednesday, May 8th at 5PM EST!
Let’s Discuss…
What is your take on the Kindle for iOS update? Have you purchased or
downloaded any books yet? What has your experience been like? Take a moment
to share
your thoughts in the comments section!
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23 Comments
Leave a comment
list of 23 items
i. I was thinking about downloading the new kindle app because it is finally
accessible and your overview is extremely helpful in giving me a tour of the
app and it’s great functionality. Thanks for posting this!
Comment by Shannon - May 2, 2013 @
8:51 pm
ii. This is excellent news. It’s unfortunate that Amazon took so long and
made accessibility such a low priority while others like Apple have long
since
proven that it can be done and done very well.
Comment by Matthew - May 2, 2013 @
9:36 pm
iii. I’ve had to resort to using the accessible version of Kindle for PC,
from time to time, and it lacks a lot of important functionality. I’m so
glad
this version has had a little more thought put in to the design. And, as
others have said — still no substitute for making the Kindle accessible out
of
the box. Give A blind consumer by any other name is still a consumer; Apple
has already realized that as the Baby Boomers age, they’ll be looking for
accessible
products. Really glad to have this version for my iPhone, but I’m not really
ready to give Amazon much love until they go the whole distance.
Comment by Lisa L - May 2, 2013 @
10:34 pm
iv. Thank you for such a detailed review. It’s one thing to hear a company
say that an app is more accessible. It’s even nice to update the product and
find it’s true. But it’s better when someone can take the time to go through
the features set and really put it through its paces. I don’t know if I will
use some of the features, like note-taking and highlighting yet, but I’m
glad to see it is there and that those who need it (I a looking at students
here!)
can use it.
One thing you forgot to mention in your review is how the Kindle app works
with a Braille display. Some users find it to be a snap, others (like me)
find
it to be sluggish, but it beats iBooks in reading with Braille on one point.
When you issue the command to turn pages in the Kindle app, you are
immediately
put at the top of the next page, unlike in iBooks where you have to jump to
the top of the page to continue reading.
I won’t go so far and say my allegiance is swaying. I won’t use one format
of e-book over another–there’s no point to that. I will buy from whichever
provider
has the content. I am, however, very glad that such a large competitor in
the e-book market has opened up their content and made it available to us.
iBooks, Read2go, Blio, Nook, Voice Dream Reader, and now Kindle. If Kobo
would fix their app so I can move around in a book, I think I’d be covered
for
all my reading material for e-books.
Comment by Jane Jordan - May 3, 2013 @
7:07 am
v. [...] You can read about some of the crowd-sourcing features of the
Kindle app–as well as directions to highlight sections and create notes
within text–by
clicking this link. [...]
Pingback by
SeroSpectives: This Month in Technology for April, 2013 | SeroTalk
- May 3, 2013 @
4:58 pm
vi. I downloaded the Kindle app yesterday and really love it. I haven’t
explored all the highlighting features yet, but, that will be a bonus.
Kindle has
many many books that you won’t find anywhere else. Also, you have access to
many magazines and newspapers. The magazines and newspapers on ibooks, are,
for the most part inaccessible. this is a great day for all blind book
readers.
Comment by Dan Roy - May 3, 2013 @
9:36 pm
vii. My wife has been reading books on her kindle for years and now, thanks
to Amazon, I can finally join her. I have found the app to be a pleasure to
use and am looking forward to a continued great experience.
Comment by Mike Reed - May 4, 2013 @
11:39 am
viii. I am totally glued to the Kindle app as I have downloaded dozens of
free books, samples of the books I am interested in and have thoroughly
enjoyed
the experience thus far. Look forward to Amazon’s progress on other
platforms and devices!
Comment by Imran Ahmed - May 4, 2013 @
11:41 am
ix. Hi
I downloaded the kindle app the other day and I am really enjoying it.
Amazon finally got it right and made their growing collection accessible to
us blind
and visually impaired.
Comment by Jamie Seeger - May 6, 2013 @
3:24 pm
x. It truly does feel like Christmas has come in May! I have a Kindle
Keyboard, but reading on the iPhone is a better experience by far. I’d also
like
to add that if you have Serotek’s DocuScanPlus, you can email your scanned
documents directly to your phone for reading from within the app:
http://samobile.net/help/scanplus/kindledsp
.
Comment by
Lisa Salinger
- May 7, 2013 @
1:45 pm
xi. I’m absolutely thrilled about this. There is one feature that will make
Kindle more useful than iBooks for me. I can loan books to others, making it
easier to share the experience of reading and discussing the same book. I
just love that both the Nook and Kindle apps are now accessible. I look
forward
to also being able to read Kindle Books on my Mac in a future release of
that software. Also, I can’t wait to test Whisper Sync for voice, syncing my
position
between my Audible and Kindle apps.
Comment by Justin Ekis - May 7, 2013 @
3:20 pm
xii. This is fantastic news. I haven’t read a whole book using the Kindle
app yet, but I previewed one and love how the app handles it. I only
recently
learned that Amazon let’s you borrow Kindle books from friends. That,
combined with Amazon’s limitless selection, all the features Kindle offers,
and this
newly accessible, easy to use app will make Amazon my go-to source for
purchasing books. Thank you, Amazon.
Comment by Ana Jacob - May 7, 2013 @
7:26 pm
xiii. Well, I downloaded the Kindle app yesterday, and to my surprise, its
much better than what I expected from Amazon. I haven’t downloaded any books
yet, but I’ve looked at a few sample books which I found, and I think the
interface is really good. It reminds me of iBooks in a way.
Comment by
Santiago Hernandez
- May 7, 2013 @
7:55 pm
xiv. [...] a link to a different take on how Amazon did with implementing
accessibility features. This review is much more positive, and [...]
Pingback by
The BudCast » Amazon Kindle Accessibility: What?!
- May 7, 2013 @
8:51 pm
xv. This is a really exhaustive review, thanks. I’ve linked to it in my own
blog post about the NFB press release, for a balanced picture.
Comment by
Buddy Brannan
- May 7, 2013 @
9:41 pm
xvi. Excellent review! One note re bookmarks: If hints are enabled, the app
will announce whether double-tapping will add or remove a bookmark.
Comment by Angela Matney - May 7, 2013 @
11:30 pm
xvii. Glad that this finally happened. I need to really give it a try now.
Comment by Mike Wassel - May 8, 2013 @
8:14 am
xviii. To be fair Amazon did try to include text to speech in a lot of their
Kindle devices. It was the publishers and authors Guild who cried and moan
until it was locked out on most of the books. Or at least the publishers had
the choice to lock it out. So it’s not like they been ignoring us on
purpose.
Comment by jmnlman - May 8, 2013 @
10:54 am
xix. What a great review. Thanks for sharing some details about the app that
I hadn’t explored yet.
Comment by Alena - May 8, 2013 @
12:49 pm
xx. This review is very well written!
I’d like to thank you for explaining how to bookmark and define words in the
app.
Comment by Katie Pleva - May 8, 2013 @
2:32 pm
xxi. [...] Amazon Kindle for iOS Now Accessible to VoiceOver Users by Justin
Romack [...]
Pingback by
SeroTalk Podcast 153: Scan My Brain | SeroTalk
- May 8, 2013 @
4:20 pm
xxii. great review– getting my Iphone tomorrow and will be downloading the
kindle ap. I agree with someone else though I’d value your (or anyones)
thoughts
on using the kindle ap with a braille display
Comment by S Morris - June 23, 2013 @
11:03 am
xxiii. We stumbled over here by a different page and thought I might as well
check
things out. I like what I see so now i am following you.
Look forward to looking over your web page for a second time.
Comment by
Fannie
- June 29, 2013 @
6:25 am
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-----Original Message-----
From: May and Noah
Sent: Wednesday, January 08, 2014 5:02 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: kindle
Thanks very much.
Are there podcast or anything of the kind to tell how to use it?
or can you give me some basic getting started steps? This will be fun to
figure out while in class, lol.
May and Prince Noah
www.canadianlynx.ca
On Jan 8, 2014, at 4:23 PM, Amy Billman <[email protected]> wrote:
Hello,
I cannot speak for how well it functions one way or the other on the Mac.
I
sort of wonder as there's been no fan fair so-to-speak around it.
That being said, the Kindle App on the iPhone and iPad works quite well!
I hope that helps!
Amy Billman
SpeedDots: your leader for cell phone accessories, and the makers of the
tactile screen protector
http://www.SpeedDots.com
Follow us on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/SpeedDots
Like us on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/SpeedDots
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf
Of May and Noah
Sent: Wednesday, January 08, 2014 12:58 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: kindle
Good afternoon.
Does anyone know of kindle works well with voice over?
There was a last minute change with a text book of mine for class and the
only Etext I can find is for kindle. Thanks for any help.
May and Prince Noah
www.canadianlynx.ca
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