Appy to Help?
I’m predicting that the majority of my blogs will make reference to mobile devices in some way; not all of them (after all, there are plenty of other interesting technologies to talk about) but a significant number all the same. The main reason for this is that I couldn’t do without my smartphone: it’s my alarm clock; my bus timetable; my train ticket; my pedestrian satnav; my electronic magnifier; my web browser; my audiobook; my torch and, lest we forget, my telephone.
The above list is not exhaustive but it gives you a flavour of the number and variety of things that I do with my iPhone. Some of you may shrug and think that it’s nothing out of the ordinary. You would be right, of course, millions of us use our phones in this way throughout our waking day, but how many sighted people could carry on as normal if we turned off their displays? Why would we do this? Well, to replicate a small slice of the world of a visually-impaired or totally-blind technology user!
Fortunately for those with V.I. there is a wide choice of software applications available to enable effective smartphone use. These range from the excellent inbuilt accessibility features of Apple and Android devices through to commercial, third-party applications and hardware specifically designed for this market.
For a visually-impaired user however, a stumbling block to the effective use of a mobile device is that of accessible app design. Apps created by third parties may not be configured in a way to work well with essential accessibility features such as Voice Over (Apple’s native screen-reader) or Talkback (the Android equivalent). For the visually-impaired user this may mean that information may not be read aloud correctly or, in some cases, may not be accessible at all. To explain this in a little more detail, you need to understand that buttons, images and other content need tags – labels behind the scenes that tell the screen-reading software what they are. The tag is what the screen-reader will read aloud to a visually-impaired user. So, on my iPhone’s keypad, the circular green button with the image of the handset on it is described to me as “call”, a highly logical tag. The same goes for the rest of the keypad, with similarly-clear and helpful tags assigned accordingly. But what if the screen-reader just announced “button” for each key? Visually the app would be fine, and a sighted user would not know any different, but the app would be rendered useless to anyone reliant on having the display described to them.
Below is a short video in which I demonstrate using an app with my screen-reader; this should give you a good idea of how technology can be used to give access to those unable to see a smartphone’s display.
To date there appears not to be any enforceable laws to ensure that all apps developed are accessible in the way described above, so visually-impaired consumers are very much at the mercy of the developers. I recently bought a £30 app and the two most essential buttons within the app could not be read by the screen-reader. The buttons were apparently displayed fine, but could not be detected by the assistive software I use to navigate my phone; this rendered the app useless.
I contacted the developer and even sent a short video demonstrating how so many of us use our phones and how his app could not be used by anyone with a visual impairment. The reply? Well, something along the lines of him not wasting his time resolving the issue for a minority of people. Was I unreasonable to ask for this to be fixed? I’m told it isn’t a big or difficult job, but the developer refused.
Enough negativity though, here’s a positive story on the same topic…
Since starting at Beacon I have been fortunate enough to link up with the Birmingham Sight Loss Council- a group of friendly, welcoming and determined individuals working to raise awareness of visual impairment and the need to accommodate those of us with sight-loss into the everyday workings of the world.
The Council has been working alongside a very proactive app developer from Substrakt Health to ensure that a new healthcare –related app is fully accessible. The app has many functions, the main ones allowing you to book an appointment with your GP or practice nurse; order repeat prescriptions; check medication details and view your health records.
What I particularly like about this project is that the app is not purely designed for the visually-impaired community; it’s an app for everyone. Nevertheless, accessibility is being considered from Day 1 and so the final product will be usable by a wider audience than an app where accessibility has been overlooked.
To date the Sight Loss Council has made recommendations regarding the colour contrast of buttons and text; advised on the best layout for certain content, and members have tested the whole functionality with their own preferred phones and assistive technologies.
Below is a photo taken at a recent meeting in which the app developer and Sight Loss Council reviewed the latest developments.
In a perfect world this would not be newsworthy as everybody would be working in the same way; unfortunately this is not yet the case as so credit to Substrakt Health and Birmingham Sight Loss Council for their collaboration.
On a more general note, if you were not aware that the majority of smart devices (such as mobile phones and tablets) could be accessed by the blind and visually-impaired, you may be interested to know that The Beacon Centre offers tuition in this area. We can cater for most people’s needs, regardless of what you want to learn and on which device.
For further information on our Information Technology sessions please contact Matt Harrison on 01902 880111 or via email by clicking this link.