Apple To Hold Special Event On October 23

Apple issued invitations to select members of the media for an October 23 special event. The event will begin at 10 AM pacific. Apple is rumored to announce a new smaller iPad dubbed iPad Mini and possibly updated Macs. If the rumors are to be believed an iPad Mini could be a great device for education because of its smaller size and rumored lower price point. No matter what Apple announces on the 23rd chances are that it will have accessibility features to make it usable for those with disabilities. Check back on the 23rd to learn about Apple's announcement and the accessibility implications.

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Assistive Touch Improvements in iOS 6

Apple's iOS 6 improves on the Assistive Touch feature that was originally introduced in iOS 5. Assistive Touch allows people with physical disabilities  to use an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. People with physical disabilities may not be able to use two fingers to pinch or to zoom, or may not be able to double tap a button, but Assistive Touch makes these tasks easier. Among the improvements are quick access to Siri, multitasking and screenshots. Assistive Touch still gives users the ability to make custom gesture. Assistive Touch now is compatible with VoiceOver so you can use both features at the same time. To activate Assistive Touch go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Assistive Touch. Click here to learn more about Assistive Touch. Watch the above video to learn more. Click read more below to view screen shots.

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Kurzweil 3000-Firefly for iPad Released

Today the Kurzweil 3000 firefly app was released for the iPad. Click here to download the free app. The app, firefly, is the iPad version of Kurzweil's cloud-based reader and file storage product. If you have a firefly account all of your saved documents will be available to read on the iPad as well as any Mac or PC. Watch the video above to see firefly in action. Click here to learn more about firefly.

Firefly has many useful reading features, but will not replace the full desktop version of Kurzweil. Similar to the desktop version of Kurzweil, firefly highlights words as they are read, which makes following along easier. Firefly includes high quality text-to-speech voices. Users can adjust the text-to-speech rate and highlighting options with ease. The interface is extremely clean and simple to learn. The app can read documents with images and rich text formatting. Firefly is a simple and easy way for teachers to distribute accessible instructional materials to their students with dyslexia or physical disabilities. While firefly is ideal for reading documents, it does not offer any annotation features such as highlighting, text entry, note taking or speech notes. Also, documents cannot be added to the firefly app directly from the iPad using the "open in" feature. It would be very cool if firefly offered the ability to scan documents using the iPad's camera and then read the document using optical character recognition (OCR).

The firefly iPad app is a must have for current firefly web users. If you do not have a web account you can still try out sample documents from within the app. For people who do not want to be tied to a computer all of the time the iPad app is also very useful. If you are not a current Kurzweil 3000 user but do not have firefly the new app may be a compelling reason to get a firefly web license. Click read more below to view screen shots of firefly.

   

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Apple to Introduce New Software with Accessibility Features Built-In

Apple recently announced that they will hold their World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC). At the conference apple is expected to announce iOS 6 the operating system for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Last year at WWDC Apple announced  iOS 5 which included features such as AssistiveTouch, reader, speak selection, custom vibrations, reminders, Siri and more. If Apple continues its habit of making its mobile devices accessible to a wide variety of users, iOS 6 should have a lot in store.

What accessibility features are you hoping for in iOS 6? Let us know in the comments.

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iOS 5 Tips: Use Assistive Touch to Replace a Broken Home Button, Lock Button or Volume Button

Assistive Touch is a new feature in iOS 5 that allows people with physical disabilities to better use their iOS device. To learn more about AssistiveTouch click here. To enable Assistive Touch go to Settings>General> Accessibility>Assistive Touch and then turn on Assistive Touch. A small round white button will then appear on your screen. When you touch the white button a list of commands will appear including a software home button, lock button and volume up and down button. You can now use these software buttons to replace your broken home button or any other broken buttons. You can drag the white button to different places on the screen for your convenience. Watch the video below to learn more.

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iOS 5 Released with Many New Accessibility Features

Today, Apple released iOS 5 to the public. The update is available free though iTunes. iOS 5 includes over 200 new features along with numerous accessibility improvements. To learn more about iOS 5 accessibility click here. To read more about iPhone 4S accessibility click here. iOS 5 is compatible with iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad, iPad 2, iPod Touch 4th generation and iPod Touch 3rd generation. Some lesser known accessiblity features include a system-wide dictionary, the option to speak a selected body of text, a reader mode which filters out all distractions on the web and only leaves important content. The new update includes features to help people with visual impairments, hearing impairments, physical disabilities and learning disabilities. Below is Apple's take on iOS 5 accessiblity.

"iOS 5 comes with innovative new features that make it easier for people with mobility, hearing, vision, and cognitive disabilities to get the most from their iOS devices. iOS 5 works with specialized hardware accessories. The LED flash and custom vibration settings let you see and feel when someone’s calling. And improvements to VoiceOver include custom element labeling. These are just a few of the ways iOS 5 continues making advances in the field of accessibility."

Click read more below to see more pictures and videos of iOS 5.

    

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Todays "Let's Talk iPhone" Event Accessibility Implications

Today Apple is set to announce the next version of the iPhone along with iOS 5. The announcement will have major effects on iOS users with disabilities. iOS 5, the next version of iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch operating system, will include many major accessibility enhancements. To learn more about iOS 5 accessibility click here. The hardware announced tomorrow will also effect the assistive technology world. Click here to learn more about the next iPhone's impact on accessibility. What ever Apple announces tomorrow check back on the assistive technology blog for the accessibility angle of the new products.      

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Accessible Combination Locks

Many combination locks are hard to use for people who are blind or have cognitive challenges. Master Lock has a few locks that are more accessible then conventional combination locks.

The first is the 1500iD lock which can be opened without looking at the lock. Conventional combination locks use a number dial that makes it impossible for blind users to open the lock. The 1500iD also only requires one hand to open so people with physical disabilities can more easily open the lock.

The 1525EZRC lock is designed for people with cognitive disabilities. The 1525EZRC lock features easy to remember combinations. The 1525EZRC lock looks identical to other locks so your valuables will be kept safe.

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Control Your Computer With No Hands

For people with limited uses of their hands using a mouse can be difficult if not impossible. People who do not have hands or who are paralyzed can not use a mouse. Camera Mouse solves this problem. Camera Mouse is a free application for Windows computers. Camera Mouse uses a web camera to track the users head and move the mouse on the screen. Camera Mouse requires small head movements to move the mouse around the screen with out using their hands. To click with Camera Mouse the users blinks their left eye for a left click and blinks their right eye for a right click. To download Camera Mouse click here. Camera Mouse makes Windows computers accessible for users that can not use a mouse.

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Android Voice Search

Android phones are becoming more and more popular. Android phones do not have built-in accessibility features like the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. iOS devices have many built-in accessibility features but Android phones do not. One feature that Android phones do include is voice input. With voice input you can touch the microphone next to the space bar and speak your text. A similar feature is a available with Google Chrome (click here). Voice input is a helpful feature for people who struggle to spell or have physical disabilities that makes typing difficult. You can access voice input wherever there is a keyboard on Android by pressing the microphone button next to the space bar. iOS does not have system wide voice input but it is rumored to be coming in the upcoming iOS 5 this fall. If you have an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch you can use the Dragon Go! app to get similar features.   

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What is Assistive Touch?

Apple's mobile operating system iOS is gold standard for accessibility on mobile devices. In the fall Apple with release iOS 5 with a host of new accessibility features. Some of the new features are assistive touch, LED flash indicator light and custom vibrations. This post will outline the assistive touch feature built into iOS 5. Assistive touch is meant to help people with physical disabilities use their iOS devices more effectively. For example if a user is unable to press the home button because of a physical disability they could use assistive touch to activate the home button with out actually pressing the physical home button. Assistive touch can replace all hardware buttons with software equivalents to make the device easier to use. Another great use of assistive touch is programing custom gestures to use later. For example you could program a two finger swipe down and add the button to assistive touch. Then whenever you need to do a two finger swipe down you can press the button to activate the gesture. (see video for farther explanation) Assistive touch makes navigating and using an iOS device much easier for someone with a physical disability. The assistive touch feature will debut with iOS 5 this fall. For more on accessibility features in iOS 5 click here

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