Is the iPad the ultimate accessible electronic accessory? Of course not, but it has some serious potential. Right away, iPad 1.0 already wins the accessible tech toy race hands down. With a few small changes, next year’s iPad 2.0 could begin to render many low vision aids obsolete. Out of the gate, the iPad is...
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My new favorite app for writing emails and other documents on my Touch is WriteRoom. It it both accessible and versatile, though it is not free. Despite the rather hefty price tag at $4.99, it is well worth it. For me, accessibility is key and WriteRoom wins hands down here. Not only does it...
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Apple’s new iPad has had me doing some thinking about its potential impact fro the visually impaired, particularly for blind photographers. Reading an article today (thanks, Dad) about a new e-book reader software, Blio, soon to be put out by a company run by Ray Kurzweil, prompted me to consider a new issue, accessible...
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As I followed today’s announcement of the new Apple iPad, I began to imagine how, if at all,  it could make photography easier. I already have its tiny older sibling, the iPod Touch, which I am using to compose this post. The iPad looks to be mostly a jumbo version of the Touch. The...
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The new iPhone update has moved the audio book playback speed controls. In the earlier versions, these controls were hidden away in the Music panel of the Settings App. This was terribly unintuitive as I noted in this post, Variable Speed Playback on the iPhone. Whenever I shared my iPod Touch with my wife,...
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Apparently, Apple has been listening. I have blogged much over the past six months on the iPhone’s missing accessibility features; more zoom, more color contrast and more voice. Today, Apply announced the next iteration of the iPhone, the 3G S, and it has taken a giant step in the right direction. Apple introduces these features...
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More and more, I am finding myself using my iPod Touch as a pocket watch. For those times my watch is not handy, but my iPod is (which is surprisingly often), I find that I turn to it to check to the time. The font is just large enough that I do not need...
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A while back I posted a tip about adding IDs to the iPhone wallpaper. This tip involved adding your contact info manually using an image editing software on your desktop. Too tricky for most, including me. Fortunately, it turns out that ther is an easier way to do this. There are to similar apps,...
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Carl Zeiss’ video headset, the Cinemizer Plus, has received the go-ahead from Apple for release as an iPhone accessory. This could be the most expensive accessible accessory for the iPhone yet (or ever). According to the web site, the Cinemizer Plus’ “image is optically tuned to appear as virtual 45-inch (diagonal) screen, as...
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Following my earlier review of free Twitter apps on the iPhone, Accessing Twitter from the iPhone, a reader suggested I check out his favorite Twitter app, Tweetie. Tweetie is a feature-rich Twitter app that has added a couple of valuable accessibility features in its latest release, making Tweetie worth the $2.99 price tag. If you...
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Speeding up a recording used to make it sound like Alvin & the Chipmunks. Growing up, I had a cassette player for the blind that had a variable speed playback control. Being a kid, I used it mainly for entertainment value. Fun was...
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Recently I wrote about the first accessible iPhone app. BigNames, a large print, high contrast contacts directory app, is due for a review upon its upcoming update release, when it will be available for the Touch. I asked the developer, Jason Moore,  to share a little about himself and developing accessible apps fro the iPhone. ...
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WritePad is a handwriting recognition engine for the iPhone from Phatware. WritePad is the free basic app that powers Phatware’s more functional suite of apps, WritePad Affairs, WritePad Events and WritePad Notes. WritePad Supports iPhone and iPod Touch 2.0 or later WritePad is a new custom editor for iPhone that utilizes handwriting recognition input...
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There is hope! A few days ago, an email popped into my inbox about a new iPhone App. BigNames has been developed with accessibility in mnd. This is a first. BigNames is a contact app for the iPhone.  “BigNames displays your iPhone contacts extra-large and easy to read. Perfect for when you’re on the move...
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Apple previewed the upcoming summer release of the next iteration of its iPhone platform today. A small portion of these features have been documented on the web at the iPhone OS 3.0 Preview.How will iPhone OS 3.0 affect iPhone accessibility? To be honest, it is way too soon to say. Apple’s show today highlighted...
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