In Android Accessibility Part Three, the Tech Doctor interviews four Nexus 7 users. Each person discusses their unique experiences with the device including getting started with accessibility and accessing favorite applications.
Thanks Chris Grabowski, Ricky Enger, Pratik Patel and Allison Hartley for sharing your insights and expertise with the Tech Doctor listeners.
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In Android Accessibility Part two, the Tech Doctor described using the Android screen reader called TalkBack to search for, purchase, configure and begin using six popular apps. He made some comparisons with using similar apps with VoiceOver on the Apple platform.
The six apps are: gmail, iBlink Radio, a Twitter client called Plume, Google Play Books, a podcasting app called DoggCatcher and an app called Presto which gives DoggCatcher the ability to speed up playback.
In Android Accessibility Part Three, the Tech Doctor will interview four people who are also using TalkBack to access Android on the Nexus 7.
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In this episode, the Tech Doctor begins a series on Android Accessibility. With no prior Android experience, the Tech Doctor explains how he went about purchasing, unboxing and setting up his Nexus 7 tablet.
He used the
Nexus 7 accessibility documentation
from the google website as his guide.
Along the way, he discovered an excellent podcast about the Nexus 7. It is
Episode 13 of That Android Show
Another excellent podcast about Android Accessibility was recently done by Mike Arrigo and is available at
The Blind Geek Zone
The Tech Doctor hopes that you find this information helpful and that you will stay tuned for the next episode in this series.
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In this podcast, the Tech Doctor discusses his recent trip to AntArctica where he was part of a National Geographic expedition.
The podcast comes alive with 22 sound clips featuring National Geographic scientist, underwater photographers and other expedition participants as we explored Antarctica together.
The sounds of the animals, the ice, the wind and water are best experienced when headphones are used to listen to this podcast.
Enjoy this virtual exploration of Antarctica. There is no other place like it on this earth.
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In this final podcast of 2012, the Tech Doctor expresses his sincere appreciation for all who have participated by either listening to or appearing on the podcast over the last year.
The Tech Doctor asks the podcast listeners to let him know whether or not they are interested in him doing a detailed review of the state of Android accessibility on the Nexus 7 tablet.
The primary topic of this episode is a discussion of where we are with accessible electronic books in December of 2012.
At the time of this recording, the Tech Doctor uses four iOS apps on the iPhone 5, the Braille Sense, Book Sense and Amazon Kindle for reading Electronic books. The ability to access books in paperless braille, with synthetic speech and human narrators opens up a world of books that have never before been available to people who are blind.
Here is a list of links to the apps and resources that are discussed in the podcast.
Podcast demonstrating Nook app with VoiceOver
National Library Service BARD site
The Tech Doctor hopes you enjoy this final podcast of 2012. See you in 2013.
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In this podcast, the Tech Doctor speaks to the congregation of the Unitarian Church in College Station, Texas.
Dr. Carter discusses the importance of both his family and accessible technology in providing him with access to information, education, transportation, his vocation and most importantly human connections.
Dr. Carter mentions the important work of
Dr. Brene Brown
He explains the significance of
Apple
making all of its products accessible to people who are blind at no additional cost to the consumer.
Finally, the Tech Doctor describes the concept of universal design and explains how it is being utilized in his local Cinemark movie theater. He finishes the talk with a brief discussion of what self-driving automobiles will mean for all of us.
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In this Tech Doctor podcast, Darcy Burnard describes how he and Holly Anderson began podcasting in 2005 with The Darcy and Holly Show. When they both got Macs in 2006, they started
The Screenless Switchers podcast
where they continue to teach us all how to get the most from our Apple products with VoiceOver.
After discussing the early days, Darcy and Robert express their appreciation for the Apple developers who make sure to incorporate VoiceOver accessibility in to their software. They discuss the new social network
App.net
They encourage the Tech Doctor listeners to check out a
blog called
Marco’s Accessibility Blog
to learn about accessible app.net clients.
Darcy and Robert next explore the current line of Apple laptops and explain how one goes about selecting, customizing and purchasing a new Apple computer.
Finally, they talk about the new iPads and speculate briefly about the future of iOS.
It was a pleasure to have Darcy on the podcast. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
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The Tech Doctor is pleased to welcome back Lisa Salinger and Allison Hartley to the podcast.
Both Allison and Lisa recently purchased the Amazon Kindle Keyboard. This is the only model of the Kindle that is accessible to a blind person.
As Lisa and Allison describe their experiences with the Kindle, it becomes clear that while we all wish that Amazon would do more to make all Kindles accessible, the Kindle Keyboard is accessible enough to allow a blind person to independently operate the Kindle Keyboard to successfully read the extensive library of Kindle books that have the text to speech flag enabled.
While we do not have any inside information, we don’t know how long the Kindle Keyboard will be around as it is not a current model. I was unable to find one at my local Best Buy but was able to purchase a Kindle Keyboard online directly from Amazon.
In 2010, Ricky Enger of Serotek did a comprehensive review of the accessible Kindle. The information is still accurate. Here is a link to the review.
An Accessibility Review of the Amazon Kindle 3
Another excellent resource is
The Kindle Accessibility Blog
Finally, Accessible World has published two excellent podcasts on using the Kindle Keyboard.
Accessible World Kindle Podcasts
Thanks to Lisa and Allison for sharing their Kindle experiences. I am confident that you will enjoy this podcast.
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In this podcast, Robert shares his impressions and experiences with Apples
iPhone 5
He discusses some
benchmark performance data
and describes what working with the phone is like from the perspective of a VoiceOver user.
Robert then moves on to discuss the major features of iOS 6. He thanks David Woodbridge for providing some excellent podcasts on iOS 6.David’s iOS 6 podcasts can be found on his
Apple and Other Accessible Technology
website.
It is always lots of fun to explore new technology from Apple. Grab some good headphones, a cool drink and enjoy the ride.
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In this Tech Doctor podcast, Robert describes the 1Password password manager and demonstrates how to use 1Password with VoiceOver. To find out all about 1Password, go to the
AgileBits
website.
Robert finishes up the podcast by talking about his approach to Mac security. The Tech Doctor hopes you will develop your own protocol for keeping your passwords and your Mac safe and secure.
If you have questions or comments, feel free to email them to
The Tech Doctor
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