Hi Mark, M AUSTEN wrote:
> > I am registered Blind and have been asked to investigate the > accessibility of the iPod Touch for Blind and Partially sighted > visitors to museums in the UK. > > So the question is has anyone with sight loss had any success using > the iPod Touch and are there any downloadable Apps? > > Many thanks, > > Mark > Audio Guide Auditor > Alternative Design > You could probably get more extensive responses from the roughly 350 members of the VIPhone list: http://groups.google.com/group/viphone However, the answer to your question is that the iPod Touch is usable by the visually impaired. For more background specifically on the iPod Touch, you can check the most recent Screenless Switchers podcast and the Serotalk podcasts from mid-September and mid-October, or the latest Mac-cessibility podcast. Also, check the archived list post on Podcasts and resources about VoiceOver on the iPhone and iPod Touch: http://www.mail-archive.com/macvisionaries%40googlegroups.com/msg10679.html Incidentally, Serotek released an iPhone/iPod touch app aimed at the visaully impaired (i Blink Radio), and reported over a thousand downloads. You don't mention what type of museums you're targeting (art museums?, the British Museum?) or whether the type of envisioned use is similar to simple podcast downloads. The most extensive effort I'm aware of by art museums to offer work for the blind was by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which released several downloadable podcasts describing artwork in their collection some years ago. See, for example, the description in this article on "Art for the Blind": http://www.artagogo.com/commentary/artforblind/artforblind.htm Since your question I checked a few museum apps on the iPod Touch. (These are limited to apps that either are currently free, or were free earlier and downloaded to an iPod Touch that I could check; download links at iTunes app store follow each entry): • Love Art: National Gallery, London by Antenna Audio, Inc. (was free, currently $2.99) http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=314566159&mt=8 This seems to be entirely accessible. Note that if you want to interrupt the spoken dialogs midstream you have to double-tap anywhere on the screen to get the "back arrow", and you may need to actually touch the back arrow at the upper left with split tap or double tap to navigate back to the previous screen. (Not necessary if the dialog has finished speaking - just double-tap anywhere if the "Back arrow" has focus). • Yours, Vincent The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh by Antenna Audio, Inc. (free) http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=334681106&mt=8 This app is also entirely accessible. Since it provides biographical information about the life of Vincent van Gogh, including dramatic readings of his letters, that is meant to supplement the information in the exhibits of the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, this works better as an app for the visually impaired than the National Gallery app, which talks about the subject of artwork without descriptive context. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's older podcasts were the only ones that I felt were truly designed for the totally blind -- explaining theme, layout, the unique qualities of the artist, etc. • Rick Steves' Orsay Museum Tour by Ubermind, Inc. (was free, now $4.99) http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=318764321&mt=8 The Info button (General information, museum hours, how to get there, free entry times, museum pass, etc.) is a simple list, and the pages of info are accessible. The main tour entry for this app is not accessible. The app opens on a page labeled "Points of Interest" with two buttons (Info and List View). The List View just "boinks" (no response), even with a pass-through gesture. If you toggle VoiceOver off, you can touch the screen and select from the list view, but you wont know which entry is being selected. These pages are read by VoiceOver , but there appear to be embedded recording buttons which are not found when you flick through. Also, the button to return to previous screen is announced as "map view", which suggests the navigation is designed for a visual interface. • I couldn't find a free app for the British Museum. There's one for $4.99 by Way2GoGuides (London: British Museum Guide & Audio). I tried out the free app: "London Highlights" by the same company. It's only partly accessible. Movie/audio links work, but selecting a link, like "The Rosetta Stone" just gave a page with no VoiceOver readable content. The embedded links are just announced as "link" as you flick through, but they do play if you double-tap them. http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=317452154&mt=8 (link is for the free "London Highlights" -- I assume Way2GoGuides excerpted parts from their "British Museum" app). As you probably know, there's a distressing tendency for museums (and other institutions) to use inaccessible flash web page designs. (For example, although I know this isn't a UK museum, consider the National Library of Ireland's William Butler Yeats exhibit, which was entirely in flash -- the only way to listen to their description of the poet's work, "Sailing to Byzantium", is to find the YouTube video.) You could probably do something nice and accessible with a good iPod Touch/iPhone app. HTH Cheers, Esther --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. 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