

Accessibility and the iPhone - a tale of woe - AndrewDucker
http://theweaselking.livejournal.com/3497947.html

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hellotoby
Regarding the keypad issue:

 _9\. It's almost impossible to get the right letter without being able to see
the screen. Because you have to place your finger, listen for the right
letter, then "lift it off" and place it again. Trying to slide your finger
inevitably results in it thinking you're "holding" the wrong character and
"pressing" the one next to it.... which then causes the phone to input that
first character. Of course, you don't "know" whether it just inputted the
wrong character, or whether it just announced that you'd re-selected the same
wrong character, because there's absolutely no difference in the audio cues._

Is there a market for making some sort of Braille screen overlay for the
iphone, similar to something like [http://appadvice.com/appnn/2009/11/your-
iphone-can-also-feat...](http://appadvice.com/appnn/2009/11/your-iphone-can-
also-feature-a-physical-keyboard-sorta/) ??

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thwarted
_You can't even put in a fucking server name without giving it an email
address, a password, and letting it fly off to the internet and bang on things
it_ thinks* might be your mail server. Once you've got that, you can put in an
incoming server and username, and an outgoing server, and then you wait while
it _fails to connect, automatically_ because it hasn't got the right port. And
then you have to go back in to set your outgoing server's authentication. It
takes a 3-minute process (laboriously hunt-and-peck your name, email address,
password, and mail server settings) into a 15-minute process as it repeatedly
"helpfully" tries things that you _know_ are going to fail, but can't
interrupt and can't cancel. So you wait for several minutes before it realises
you really do need to use an alternate port and enable SSL.*

While this instance may be specific to the iPhone with screen reader and
setting up wireless, this kind of make-it-easy-by-removing-options-and-
attempt-to-probe-for-everything is especially frustrating when you know what
the options are but the device or UI wants to do something itself in the name
of helping you. I find these kinds of things especially frustrating because
it's often difficult to verify the settings after it's been automatically set
up.

 _No, you need to leave the Mail app, then find Settings, scroll down (see 2),
select mail and other things, select mail, select this account, select this
account, find the password field (without it reading the field names, I remind
you), and put in the password, then save the settings and restart the mail
app._

Finally, an example of "having all the settings in one place", but divorced
from the place the setting is used is a bad idea. I never really understood
the mindset that this is supposed to be easier. I know that the app needs the
settings, I can find the app no problem, but its settings are some where else,
with navigation totally separate from the app. I guess it makes accessing the
settings consistent across apps, but this is a weird thing to optimize since
you should rarely be messing with app specific settings, and when you do,
you're already in the app.

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geoffpado
Considering that the guy goes on to slam everything Apple in the comments
(including saying you have to buy a peripheral to use more than one mouse
button), I'm taking this whole thing with a grain of salt.

~~~
lanaer
“(including saying you have to buy a peripheral to use more than one mouse
button)”

Seriously? People still say this? This hasn’t been true since Apple
standardized on the Mighty Mouse (horrible mouse that it was). That was a long
time ago (in internet time, anyway), and now the Mighty Mouse is dead.

------
jsz0
Apple is the only company I know of even _trying_ to make an accessible modern
SmartPhone. It's been less than 6 months since accessibility features were
introduced. I think patience is reasonable in this case. Apple is almost
certainly developing these accessibility features at a financial loss.

------
ephermata
Trying to find the source of this: someone recently observed (maybe here on
HN?) that a number of communications methods we take for granted in our
everyday lives started as accessibility options. The example that struck me
was text messaging, which allegedly began as a way for deaf people to use cell
phones. Anyone know the reference?

~~~
gaius
Not true:
[http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/05/invented-...](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/05/invented-
text-messaging.html)

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forensic
Hyperbole much?

~~~
threepointone
much. I'm sure he has problems, but he seems also to not suggest what he
believes to be the right way to do a couple of things.

also, he might be a bit misinformed. sure, itunes makes you install apple
software update, but safari and bonjour and all that? I don't think so. power
user customization that Linux, Windows users expect? I think he hasn't
discovered the terminal.

and the "1 button unless you buy a peripheral" er, no. two finger tap on the
mousepad, better than sliced bread.

------
pwmanagerdied
That's unfortunate, but I don't think the appeals of the iPhone are really
that applicable to blind persons for reasons like this. A touch interface
isn't going to work very well without visual feedback, even if the mentioned
issues are fixed; it would be better to search for a device more well-suited.

~~~
stcredzero
Android is well positioned to dominate in this niche. I can imagine an Android
distro optimized for accessibility. Someone should make it their business to
provide smartphone hardware and software for the blind.

~~~
rabidsnail
According to wikipedia there are an estimated 40 million blind people in the
entire world. If we assume a global population of 6 billion, that's 0.007% of
people. And a large portion of those people live in a state of poverty. So,
not a very big market. Doesn't seem worthwhile unless you can get governments
or private charities to give you money to develop it.

~~~
fungi
aging population throughout the developed world == rich blind old ppl.

i've seen simplified mobiles (look and work like a cordless home phone) in
japan aimed squarely at this growing market.

~~~
sunir
A key point buried here: the aging population cannot use iPhones because the
fonts are too small. Give an iPhone to someone older who needs reading
glasses, as I have (with my parents, in-laws). I find they understand the
natural affordances of the iPhone interface pretty quickly, which is a
testament to the good job Apple did there, but they often just cannot read the
screen.

~~~
rabidsnail
That's a separate problem from adding accessibility for blind people. The
obvious ways to make touchscreen phones easier for old people are larger
buttons and text, and exaggerated visual cues, which help blind people not at
all.

