Hi Scott,
the new ipod nano 4g is better then I had expected.
The menus talk not all of them but the ones we need do actually
speak. There's no clipping the speech sounds brilliant and it just
keeps up with you when you move your finger around the click wheel.
It's absolutely fantastic a couple of issues i'm reporting to apple
such as no way of obtiining battery status info but other then this
totally usable.
it's hard getting used to the click wheel but after you have all
heard my presentation, you'll all want to disguard your ipods for a
4g nano guaranteed.
i'm really very very impressed and i think we'll have more ipod
users before we no it.
OK, I couldn't resist when I found my local Apple Store had these in.
I agree the 4G nano is really nice. (But I don't want to discard my 2G
nano at all!). The iPod even announces "Charging" and "Charged". It
announces almost all the menus (except for the "extras" and some of
the "settings" (the summary status of your space usage that you get
when connected to the iPod isn't spoken, nor are time settings or
other peripheral items that interactively change -- you get status on
clickers and font size for low-vision users, but you don't get
information on backlight adjustment, for example). This also means
that you get equalzer access, but you have to choose among the
equalizer presets. You also can't interactively configure the menu
displays by deciding to eliminate categories, for example.
However, Scott's right that in what you want to hear the menu design
is beautifully done. If you've used the click wheel before you
probably won't have problems. Some of the functions I'm used to
having on the click wheel have been passed to other menus. For
example, in audiobooks and podcasts, I was used to changing speed (if
I used this) by additional clicks on the center of the wheel. This
function is now settable only in the Playback submenu under settings,
not in the individual audiobook or podcast tracks.
There are a few pointers that would help in the original set up -- for
example, I didn't know how long the first sync would take, and moving
focus to the iTunes player status menu (VO-up arrow twice from the
songs list region or, in this case, where the iPod setup information
is) helped, if you move your VoiceOver cursor off and on this field to
update.
You also need to know that once you've connected your iPod you have to
VO-right arrow twice to the registration field (which is perfectly
accessible, provided you know it's there).
Also, before the iPod starts talking, you have to choose your
language, and these aren't spoken. The top of the list (your default
position) is U.S. English. (There appears to be a UK English setting
as the second item, according to my reading on the web. This is new,
but I have no idea what difference it makes.). So just click the
center of the wheel after making sure you're at the top of the list
(counter clockwise top position). At that point you will hear Alex
announce the top level menu (Music, Videos, Photos, Podcasts, Extras,
Settings, Shuffle Songs). After that, you're golden.
Cheers,
Esther
