I recently had the opportunity to work with a high school student who is blind and had never used the VoiceOver feature of the Apple iOS operating system for the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and iPod nano. For those of you unfamiliar with VoiceOver, it allows a user to be auditorily cued to what is on the screen by way of swiping a finger or guiding a finger across the screen.
We discussed how he could text and email with friends and family. He wanted a good way to know what paper currency he had, LookTel Money Reader to the rescue. We talked about apps like Pandora and Stitcher to listen to music and find interesting podcasts and news. LearningAlly can provide books in accessible formats to be read. For organization and reminders the iOS calendar and clock provide a user friendly interface to stay up to date and quickly set alarms and timers.
As we talked and worked on some of the basic skills, he was already starting to get the hang of using his finger to move around and the VoiceOver to guide him. We continued to talk about the different things he could do and by the time we were done the smile on his face was more than enough to make my day.
Take a look at this video to see how it works:
iPhone VoiceOver Function For People With Disabilities
The Apple family of touch devices with the VoiceOver feature has opened the world to many individuals to participate and thrive in the digital world. Share your stories or links to other videos highlighting the iPad with voice over.