Eyes-Free Android

Accessible GMail On Android ---- Eyes-Free Email On The Go!

2011-08-10T12:01:00.001-07:00

Accessible GMail On Android — Eyes-Free Email On The Go

1 Accessible GMail On Android — Eyes-Free Email On The Go

I've been using Android as my primary smart phone since late 2008, and the level of email access I've had on Android in the past has always been a source of frustration. About a year ago, I first started accessing my email on Android with K9-Mail — that helped me bridge some of the accessibility gaps on the platform.

Over the last few months, our friends over in GMail Mobile have been adding accessibility support to the GMail client on Android. What is truly exciting is that this support is being added to existing releases of Android including Froyo (Android 2.2) and GingerBread (Android 2.3). This means that GMail on Android is now accessible on existing devices — get the update from Market and give it a spin.

1.1 Typical Usage Pattern

Here is my typical usage pattern when accessing my corporate email at Google. Note that the volume of email I receive on this account is extremely high, and includes many mailing lists that I typically do not read while on a mobile device. To limit how much email I download to the mobile device, and to ensure that I attend to the most pressing email messages while on the go I do the following:

I have defined a GMail filter that assigns label to-mobile to messages I want to access when on the go.
Typically, this includes email addressed directly to me, and other priority items.
I launch GMail to open to this label.
I quickly skim through the list of displayed messages to here the subject and a quick overview of the message.
If I decide to read the complete message, I select that message via the trackball on my Nexus One to hear the message in its entirety.
And finding an email thread I am looking for is just one click away — press the search button, and use up/down to navigate your search history.

See our help center documentation for additional details.

Author: T.V Raman <raman@google.com>

Date: 2011-08-10 Wed

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Leveraging Android Access From Google IO 2011

2011-05-16T17:20:00.001-07:00

You can watch our Google IO2011 on Levarging Android Access APIs. The main take-awaysfrom the talk:

Android Access is easy --- the framework does most of the heavy-lifting.
Implementing Android Access does not mean you take aperformance hit.
Accessibility is really about expanding the reach of yourapplication.

Implementing accessibility within your application and thereby ensuring that it is usable in a wide variety of end-userscenarios will benefit your application --- both in terms ofthe number of users you gain, as well as how often your usersuse your application.

TalkBack Refreshed: Accessible On-Screen Keyboard And More ...

2011-03-21T17:42:00.001-07:00

Android Access: TalkBack Refreshed

1 Android Access: TalkBack Refreshed

The latest enhancements to TalkBack now brings Android Accessibility to devices without a physical keyboard. Many of these enhancements also improve the overall TalkBack experience on all devices.

1.1 Highlights

New TalkBack Keyboard.
On-screen talking keyboard enables text entry via the touch screen.
Text review provides spoken feedback when moving the cursor by character, word, sentence, or paragraph.
Virtual D-Pad for navigating the Android user interface.
Global TalkBack commands enable one-click access to oft-used commands.

1.2 TalkBack Keyboard

The TalkBack Keyboard is an Accessible Input Method (Accessible IME) that when activated enables you to enter and review text via the touch screen. To use this feature, you need to first activate the TalkBack keyboard via the Language and Keyboard option in the Settings menu. Next, customize the TalkBack Keyboard to taste via the TalkBack Keyboard Settings option --- here, you can customize additional features including auditory feedback as you type. Finally, open your favorite editing application, long-press on an edit field, and select TalkBack keyboard as your default IME. Note that you need do this only once; once the TalkBack keyboard has been made the default, it persists across reboots.

1.3 Entering Text On The Touch Screen

TalkBack keyboard is an on-screen keyboard that supports touch exploration along with synchronized spoken and auditory feedback. This means you can now enter text when using devices that don't sport a physical keyboard.

But wait, there's more here than meets the finger at first touch. Once you have activated the TalkBack Keyboard, you can switch the keyboard among three states by long-pressing the volume up/down buttons:

Hidden: The TalkBack keyboard is not displayed.
Navigating: You get access to an on-screen virtual D-Pad, along with Back, Home, Search, and Menu buttons.
Typing: An on-screen qwerty keyboard.

My preferred means of using the keyboard is to turn on auditory feedback from within TalkBack Keyboard Settings, as well as having SoundBack active. In this mode, you hear keys as you explore the keyboard along with an auditory icon; picking up your finger types the last key you explored. Typing produces a distinctive key-click.

The on-screen keyboard occupies the bottom 1/3 of your screen. While entering text, explore and find the top row, then move above it to hear what you have typed so far.

1.4 Reviewing Text By Character, Word, Sentence Or Paragraph

You can now navigate and review text by character, word, sentence or paragraph. Use a two-finger tap to move forward through these navigation levels; a two-finger double tap moves in the reverse direction. Once you have selected your preferred mode of navigation, you can use Up/Down on the physical track-ball/D-Pad, or alternatively, flick up or down on the virtual D-Pad to move forward or backward through the text being reviewed.

Note that text review works when the TalkBack keyboard is in either/navigating/ or typing mode; personally, I find it less error-prone on keyboard-less devices to first switch to navigating mode when reviewing text, since it is easy to inadvertently enter spurious text otherwise.

1.5 Using The On-Screen Virtual D-Pad

Placing the TalkBack keyboard in navigating mode provides an on-screen virtual D-Pad --- this is especially useful on devices that do not have a physical D-Pad or track-ball on the front of the device. When active, the virtual D-Pad occupies the bottom one-third of the screen, and fast-flicks in that area has the same effect as moving with a D-Pad or track-ball. Tapping anywhere within the virtual D-Pad is the same as clicking with the track-ball.

The corners of the virtual D-Pad also provides Back, Home, Search and Menu buttons --- these are especially useful on devices that lack explicit physical or capacitive buttons for these common Android actions. You can explore the virtual D-pad by moving your finger around the D-Pad area; crossing the top-edge of this area provides haptic and auditory feedback that can be used as an orientation aid in finding the virtual buttons on the corners.

1.6 Global Commands

In addition, selecting the TalkBack Keyboard as your default input method enables a set of global commands that can be accessed from your physical keyboard --- eventually, we will make these available via the soft keyboard as well. Here are a list of the current commands:


Command	Description	Key
Battery	Speaks the current battery level	menu + B
Time	Speaks the current date and time	menu + T
Connectivity	Speaks the connectivity state of each connection: WiFi, 3G, etc	menu + O
Repeat	Repeats the last TalkBack utterance	menu + R
Spell	Spells the last TalkBack utterance	menu + S

These shortcuts are listed in the Accessibility Preferences application where they can be edited. You can choose between menu and search for the modifier, and any letter on the keyboard for the letter.

1.7 Summary

All of these features work on Android 2.2 and above. In addition, TalkBack makes WebView accessible in Honeycomb --- look for a separate announcement about accessibility enhancements that are exclusive to the Honeycomb release in the coming weeks.

Author: T.V Raman

Date: 2011-03-16 Wed

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Eyes-Free Shell Refreshed

2011-01-20T14:35:00.001-08:00

We just refreshed Eyes-Free Shell on Android Market with a long-overdue set of improvements that have been waiting to launch. Here is a brief summary of user-visible changes:

User Customizable Home Screen: You can now add additional pages of short-cuts to the home screen. You can flip through these pages of short-cuts by tapping the left or right edge of the screen. Pressing the menu key within a page of shortcuts allows you to customize the short-cuts on that page; it also provides controls for inserting new short-cut pages.
One-Click Uninstall: The default way of managing applications in Android requires many clicks through nested menus --- this is especially true when uninstalling applications. The Eyes-Free Shell now lets you uninstall applications by pressing menu while in the applications list.
I18N: Spanish and Chinese strings for Eyes-Free Shell.

And many more underlying changes too numerous to fit in this margin. Speak, Listen, And Enjoy!

Intersection Explorer --- Now Intersections Sound Even Better

2011-01-13T14:48:00.001-08:00

We just updated Intersection Explorer on Android Market. This version improves on the initial launch by providing more intuitive descriptions for intersections, I'll include some examples below:

T-Intersection

Minor Street ends in Main Street to form a T-Intersection Depending on where you explore from, you hear:

Currently at Minor Street ends in Main Street
Currently at right on to Minor Street from Main Street.
Currently at left on to Minor Street from Main Street.

Plus-Intersection

Given the 4-way intersection of Castro Street and El Camino, you hear one of the following depending on the direction you're exploring:

Currently at Castro Street crosses El Camino
Currently at El Camino crosses Castro Street.

And a lot more than will fit this margin --- explore, share and enjoy!

Walking About With A Talking Android

2010-10-08T14:53:00.001-07:00

Walking About With A Talking Android

1 Walking About With a Talking Android

I have long relied on spoken directions from Google Maps on the desktop. As I access more and more of my online world through my Android phone, Google's recent announcement of GMM4.5 enhanced with walking directions means that I now have superior functionality to what I have enjoyed at my desk --- but now with the added benefit of having it all in my pocket!

Inclusion of step-by-step walking directions on Android now allows me to specify a destination on my TalkBack enabledeyes-free Android device, and have these spoken to me as I walk. But wait, there's more!

We're launching a new member of our Eyes-Free family of programs for Android --- WalkyTalky that goes hand-in-hand with spoken walking directions from Google Maps to better navigate the physical world. In addition,application Intersection Explorer allows me to explore the layout of streets using touch before venturing out with WalkyTalky.

1.1 WalkyTalky

WalkyTalky is an Android application that speaks the address of nearby locations as you pass them. It also provides more direct access to the walking directions component of Google Maps. With WalkyTalky installed, you can:

Launch WalkyTalky to specify a destination,
Either specify the destination by address, or pick from favorites or recently visited locations,
And in addition to spoken walking directions,
Hear street addresses as you walk by.

These spoken updates, in conjunction with the walking directions that are spoken by Google Maps help me navigate the physical world as efficiently as I navigate the Internet.

1.2 Intersection Explorer

Often, I like exploring a neighborhood to learn the layout of the streets before actually venturing out with my trusty companion,Hubbell Labrador, and this is where Intersection Explorer comes into its own. Using this application, I can explore any neighborhood on Google Maps via touch exploration.

1.2.1 How It Works

Intersection Explorer starts off at the user's current location.
One can change the start position by entering an address, to do this, press menu and click on new location.
Once the map has loaded, touching the screen speaks the streets at the nearest intersection.
Moving one's finger along a compass direction, and then tracing a circle speaks each street at that intersection along with the associated compass direction.
Presence of streets is cued by a slight vibration as one traces the circle.
Lifting up the finger when on a street moves in that direction to the next intersection, speaks the distance moved, and finally speaks the newly arrived-at intersection.

1.3 Summary

Together, Intersection Explorer and WalkyTalky, in conjunction with Walking Directions from Google Maps brings a new level ofaccess to my physical world. I use these tools in conjunction with other Maps-based applications such as the Places Directory on Android --- this is another application from the Google Maps team that works fluently with TalkBack on Android to help me find nearby attractions or other locations of interest.

So next time you take your trusty Android out for a walk, make sure to give these new tools a spin --- you can report back on your experience via our Eyes-Free Group.

Applications WalkyTalky and Intersection Explorer can be downloaded from the Android Market.Share And Enjoy, and as usual, remember, The Best Is Yet To Come!

Author: T.V Raman

Date: 2010-09-09 Thu

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QR Code for WalkyTalky:

QR Code for Intersection Explorer:

TalkBack, Eyes-Free Shell Refreshed --- Now With End-User Settings

2010-09-09T08:45:00.001-07:00

We are pushing out a series of updates via Android Market for TalkBack and the Eyes-Free Shell. Here is a brief overview of end-user visible changes.

Accessibility Preferences

Going by the principle of things should just work as expected , we have long resisted giving in to having a complex set of user preference settings for TalkBack and friends --- in my experience, if you introduce such a settings menu early on, we as software engineers tend to punt on all complex decisions by turning each question into a complex user-facing dialog. That said, it is now time to gradually introduce end-user settings for some aspects of the various accessibility tools.

Accessibility Preferences

Welcome new application AccessibilityPreferences to Android. What this application does:

From an end-user perspective, it provides a single place where you will find preference settings corresponding to each accessibility tool you have installed on your phone.
For developers of accessibility tools, it provides a simple means of registering a custom program for managing end-user preferences for that tool.

TalkBack installs its user preferences under this tool. You can tweak a number of settings that affect TalkBack behavior including:

Control whether TalkBack speaks when the screen is off --- useful to silence status messages when you have the phone turned off.
Control whether TalkBack speaks when ringer volume is set to 0, i.e., phone is in silent mode.
Control whether the proximity sensor is used to shut off speech.

Over time, we'll add more settings here as appropriate --- but expect us to be conservative with respect to how many settings show up.

Updates To The Eyes-Free Shell

Here is a summary of updates to the Eyes-Free Shell:

Changes the proximity sensor logic so that it is only active when the shell is active; this should be more battery efficient
Fixes a race condition bug that can trigger when the shell is being exited as an application is being installed/removed

TalkBack

Here is a summary of changes to TalkBack:

TalkBack now includes application-specific speech strategies for some popular applications. This provides context-sensitive spoken feedback.
Applications that have such speech strategies defined include Facebook, Stitcher and GoogleVoice amongst others.
Implements a settings screen that can be used with Accessibility Preferences
Available settings:
1. Ringer Volume (Speak at all ringer volumes, No speech in Silent Mode, No speech in Vibrate and Silent Mode)
2. Screen Status (Allow speech when screen is off, No speech when screen is off)
3. Speak Caller ID (checked/not checked)
4. Proximity Sensor (checked/not checked)

In addition, TalkBack introduces the ability to add application-specific plugins --- expect to see more advancement here in future releases.

AccessibilityPreferences Hints For Developers

If you're a developer of an AccessibilityService, you need to:

Implement a preferences screen for your application.

Implement this with intent filter:

            

            <intent-filter>            

                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />            

                <category android:name="android.accessibilityservice.SERVICE_SETTINGS" />            

            </intent-filter>

Share And Enjoy,

Eyes-Free Review: Droid2 From MOT

2010-08-24T14:47:00.001-07:00

Here is a quick eyes-free access overview of the MOT Droid2.

Hardware

The device has a pull-out keyboard, and the buttons are much more tactile than the original Droid.
The device also has dropped the hard-to-use D-Pad from the original Droid in favor of PC-style arrow keys.
There is once again no dedicated number row at the top.
The capacitive buttons on the front of the device appear in adifferent order from the original Droid --- with the device inportrait mode, reading left to right you have: Menu, home, back, and search.
In addition, MOT ships a voice search application on the devicethat is triggered by pressing a special microphone button --it's worth learning the position of this key, since voice-searchcan be useful --- and more importantly, if you're relying onspoken feedback, hitting this button leads to the phone fallinginexplicably silent.

Software

If you look under accessibility, you'll find an applicationcalled Voice Readouts from MOT. This appears to be a screenreaderanalogous to TalkBack, though in my experience, it did notproduce spoken feedback in many instances. That said, thisapplication collaborates well with TalkBack --- and afterinstalling TalkBack from the Android Market (note: the Droid2does not come with TalkBack bundled) -- you can activate bothTalkBack and VoiceReadout for an optimal experience.

VoiceReadout appears to have a preliminary version oftouch-exploration. With VoiceReadout active, a single tap speaksthe item under the finger; a double-tap activates thatitem. Note that moving the finger around on the display does notappear to trigger touch exploration; also, touch explorationappears to be available in only some contexts.

Instances where touch exploration appears to be active

Settings application.
Portions of Android Market.

In general, touch exploration appears to be available inListView.

In addition, the Droid2 also includes a low-vision accessibilitytool called Zoom Mode ( look for it under Settings ->Accessibility ) this tool provides a magnification lens.

Summary

All in all, the Droid2 appears to be one of the better choicesfor eyes-free use from among the presently available crop ofAndroid phones. Touch exploration, though preliminary, is nice tosee on the platform, and the bundled low-vision magnification aidis a nice touch. Voice Readouts is also a great example of anAndroid accessibility service done right in that it co-existspeacefully with other screenreaders like TalkBack to provide anoptimal end-user experience. To users not familiar with adaptivetechnologies in general, this might not sound like a big deal ---but users of PC screenreders have long been familiar with theneed to have only one screenreader turned on. As we transition tomodern platforms like Android, it's useful to remind ourselvesthat screenreaders can in fact co-exist, with each tool providingsomething useful to create an overall experience that is greaterthan the sum of the parts.

Welcoming Loquendo Susan To Android (FroYo)

2010-07-12T09:55:00.001-07:00

Android 2.2 (AKA FroYo) introduces many platform enhancements,and one that I find particularly relevant is the ability toplug-in additional Text-To-Speech engines. What this means froman end-user point of view:

Android comes with a set of built-in voices since Android 1.6--- these are the Pico voices for English, French, Italian,German and Spanish.
With the Text-ToSpeech plug-in mechanism in place, we can nowadd new engines to the platform.
The first such add-on was ESpeak, which brings support formany of the world's languages.
And now, vendors are able to sell high-quality add-on voicesvia the Android Market.
Loquendo Susan is the first commercially available voice forAndroid. Users running FroYo can buy this voice on the AndroidMarket. Thanks to the plug-in mechanism, once you buy a newvoice, you can switch all your talking applications to use thenewly installed voice --- see instructions below.

Activating And Using Newly Installed Voices

Goto Settings → Voice Input And Output →Text To Speech Settings. First, activate the newlyinstalled voice by clicking the corresponding checkbox item forthat voice. Next, go to Default Engine in theText To Speech Settings menu, and make the newlyinstalled voice your default engine. Finaly, if you want allapplications to use the new voice, check option Always usemy settings

With this in place, my Nexus and Droid both speak usingLoquendo Susan --- thus turning my Android into into a trulypleasant eyes-free device.

Stitcher And TalkBack: The World In My Ears

2010-05-25T08:41:00.001-07:00

Shortwave Radio --- and DXing was one my hobbies growingup--- I spent many hours listening to far-off radio stations---and in the process developed a love for languages. Fastforward to the late 90's, and one could now listen to radiostations from all around the world on the Internet --- but thistime without the hiss and static of shortwave propogation. But there was acatch --- you needed to be at your computer to listen to thesestations. At home, I solved this problem by setting up a set ofliving room speakers connected to the computer in myoffice-bedroom; with a wireless keyboard, this brought Internet radio to my living room.

Fast-forward to the next decade, and I now have the Internetin my pocket in the form of a smart phone. I recently discoveredStitcher on the Android Market --- and it got me the final mile tohaving ubiquitous access to Internet Radio!

Using Stitcher With TalkBack

There is little more to say other than try it out!.Stitcher on Android is a simple Android application thatworksout of the box with TalkBack. Once you install stitcherfromMarket, use the arrow keys or trackball on your phone tobrowse through the various categories. Clicking on stations launchesplayback immediately. Note that for now, the stop buttonin the player is not navigable by the trackball --- Ihave gotten used to hitting it by dead-reckoning since it alwaysappears in afixed position. In the last few weeks, stitcher hasreplaced StreamFuriously, my previous Internet Radio solution on Android.

So here's to happy listening!A brief note on the title of thispost --- The World In My Ears was also the title of abook on DXing by Arthur Cushen fromNew Zealand --- I remember hearing his voice in the 80's on the BBC's World Service.

An Eyes-Free View Of Android At The Google IO Sandbox

2010-05-20T08:10:00.001-07:00

Google IO 2010 is playing home to over 5,000 attendees in SanFrancisco this week. A number of Google Access engineers are atthe conference consuming and producing information --- here is abrief view of some of the exciting bits seen on the Android showfloor from an eyes-free perspective.

Hardware And New Devices From An Eyes Free Perspective

Many of the phone manufacturers were showing off their latestdevices on the show floor --- visit the Android Sandboxat Google IO to see these first hand. Charles and I walkedthrough the various displays Wednesday (May 19) afternoon to testdrive these devices first-hand --- given the large number ofAndroid devices coming out every week, this was a uniqueopportunity to see many of these devices for the firsttime. Here are some highlights:

All devices were running Android 1.6 or later, andconsequently, Settings/Accessibility was available onevery device. Having worked on this for the last2 years, it's extremely gratifying to see phone manufacturersincluding accessibility in their devices.
We found one device from Motorola where we couldn't find theaccessibility setting --- the booth representative promised tocheck after we pointed this out --- waiting to hear back.
My favorite device was the LG Ally --- check this device outif you get a chance.
- Device to be sold by Verizon.
- Device has an elegant tactual feel.
- Front of the device sports hardware answer/hangupbuttons.
- The pull-out qwerty keyboard is a pleasure to use --- I wouldrate this one of the best designed cell phone keyboards I'veseen.
Android devices continue to show up in many shapes and sizes--- re-emphasizing that there is a device for everyone. Thismakes it even more important to choose a device that meets yourparticular needs.

Software --- Android Applications Galore

We also visited the various vendors showing off their latestAndroid applications. What was gratifying was that even thoughmost of these developers had paid little thought to eyes-freeuse --- and were blissfully unaware of the existence of anAndroid Accessibility API, their applications worked for the mostpart with Accessibility enabled. Where there were gaps, we wereable to show developers what they needed to do --- everyone wasextremely receptive. Below is a brief summary of what we saw ---and a shout-out to all the friendly developers wemet:

Where: This is a very accessible application I have been usingfor a while --- the developers were thrilled to hear that it wasaccessible since they had made no special effort.
Aloqua: A competing application to Where with a veryslick visual UI. This application doesn't raise the appropriateAccess Events at present because it's a custom UI. When we firsttalked to their lead developer he was extremely hesitant sayingI dont want to change my custom UI. However, I could hear his face light up when we said You dont need tochange your look and feel --- you just need to set a couple ofcustom Java properties (specifically, property ContentDescription
Pandora: Another favorite of mine that works well with access ---except --- the player controls are unlabeled. I showed them theapplication in action on my Droid --- looking forward to seeingthis application become even more usable.
NPR News: There are many NPR tools on the Android Market --- NPRNews is the official application.The application was originally written by a Googler and OpenSourced --- I have been using it for about 4 months and it'scompletely accessible. It could do with some power-user shortcutkeys to make it even more efficient.
MLB At Bat: I had originally played with this application during lastyear's World Series; at the time, the application was quiteusable with TalkBack. I'm happy to report that nothing hasregressed --- the application still continues to to work well,except for a couple of glitches with unlabled playercontrols.The booth representatives had actually heard of accessibility ---and were receptive to fixing the remaining issues.

Summary: The light-weight design of the Android Access layerhas proven valuable in making sure that it makes it on toevery device. The minimal set ofresponsibilities the API places on developers has meant that alarge number of Android applications are accessible out of the box.

Audio Books On Android --- Thanks Librivox!

2010-05-18T17:38:00.001-07:00

In my previousarticle, I alluded to an Audio Books application forAndroid. I did not go into much detail on the application itselfbecause I felt it deserved an article of its own.So heregoes!

In Praise Of Librivox

If you aren't familiar with the Librivox project, please visitLibrivox.orgto see the wonderful work that that project is doing. Androidapplication AudioBooks brings the wonders of Librivoxto Android --- now, you can carry all 30,000 audio books andcounting in your pocket and access themanywhere.Here are some highlights:

Browse, and quickly play available audio books. You canbrowse by several criteria.
Books you listen to get downloaded to your device and areavailable for offline listening.
All books provide a table of contents, allowing you to jumpto a specific portion of a book.
90% of the application user interface is completelyaccessible with TalkBack --- see below for missing accessfeatures.

The only glitche with using application AudioBookswith the Android Access API is that the player controls withinthe audio-book player are presently missing contentdescriptions --- this is Android-API speak to say that thecontrols are images with missing labels. So the first time youuse this app, you'll need someone to tell you the buttons ---alternatively just experiment to discover theirfunctions. There are pause, play, rewind and forward buttons ---if the friendly folk who developed this application stumble uponthis post, please get in touch, and I can show you what you needto add to your code to make the eyes-free experience evensmoother.

Happy Listening --- And Share And Enjoy!

Using Android Market Eyes-Free

2010-05-17T15:12:00.001-07:00

The Android Market is a treasure-trove of applications ---many of which work out of the box with Android's Access API, andas a result, the freely available screenreaders on theplatform. Working with Market can be initially daunting, giventhe large collection applications; additionally, there are acouple of spots in the workflow that need accessimprovements. While we get those fixes pushed, here is astep-by-step overview of using Android Market with TalkBack,including the work-arounds for moving over some of theafore-mentioned hurdles.

Android Market: A Brief Overview

Rather than giving a detailed explanation of all of AndroidMarket's user interface, I'll sketch my day-to-day mode of usingMarket --- personally, I find task-oriented help guides far moreusable.

Task: Find Application

I typically launch Android Market from within theApplications list in the Eyes-Free shell.On my Droid, I typically do this with the keyboardalready opened since I know I'll be typing very soon.
I press the Search capacitive button on thebottomright of the display to bring up the search tool. Note thatMarket can sometime take a few seconds to launch depending onyour network --- TalkBack should announce Market whenit's ready.
Type a search query --- as an example, try audiobooks
Use the D-Pad arrow keys (up/down) to navigate the list ofresults. TalkBack speaks each entry as you move through thelist.
Find one you like; for this example, we'll use one of myfavorite Market applications --- AudioBooks from projectLibrivox.
Press the Enter key on the keyboard to open thisapplication
This takes you to a screen that lists a short description,and comments from various users on the application. Theinstall button is on the bottom of this screen.
And here comes the sticking point in the Market UI thatwe're working on fixing; when you cursor through this list, youdont always get to the install button.But no fear, youcan still install the application!
While we work on creating and pushing the fix for the above,I typically install applications by tapping the screen where theinstall button appears. The bad news is that Ipresentlydo this by dead reckoning; the good news is that theinstall button always appears at a consistent spot. Theeasiest way to learn to do this is to have someone put yourfinger on the button the first time, and then learn its positionrelative to the pull-out keyboard. While we know that this is notan ideal eyes-free experience, this little trick opens up atreasure-trove of applications.
Tap the install button, and you come to thepermissions screen. Cursor to the OK button,and press Enter Depending on the layout of that screen,you may once again need to use dead-reckoning. At this point, Iroutinely click those on-screen buttons, rather than wasting time attempting to cursor to the button.
And voila, the AudioBooks application shoulddownload and install!

Task: Browse Market

In addition to searching, you can also browse the Market foravailable applications, use the cursor keys on the D-Pad forbrowsing. Once selected, installing an application follows thesame workflow as above.

And The Best Is Yet To Come

Once installed, you can try out the application by pulling down the status bar.Look for the next posting in this series for details on using application AudioBooks --- it is one of my all time Market favorites.

Eyes-Free: TalkBack And Shell Improvements

2010-02-25T15:34:00.001-08:00

Here is a brief summary of updates to Android's eyes-free tools--- including TalkBack, and the Eyes-Free Shell from the last two weeks.

TalkBack

Speech during a phone call is now re-enabled.
Turning the screen on/off is spoken. This announcement includes the ringer mode/volume.
Changes in the the ringer mode - silent, vibrate, and normal are now announced.
Unlocking the phone is announced.
Other Android applications can programmatically discover if TalkBack is enabled.

Eyes-Free Shell

Now that applications can programmatically discover whetherTalkBack has been enabled, configuring Eyes-Free shell to become your default home screen has become a lot easier. In a nutshell,if you are a TalkBack user and install Eyes-Free shell, hitting the Home button will bring up the eyes-free shell, ---no configuration needed. Note that you can always get to the default Android home screen by long-pressing the Back button.

Share And Enjoy

Eyes-Free Updates: Marvin And TalkBack Simplified

2010-02-12T14:24:00.001-08:00

We routinely push updates to our access tools on Android; usersget these updates automatically via Android Market updates. Wejust pushed out updated versions of TalkBack, our Open Sourcescreenreader for Android, and Marvin, the Eyes-Free shell. Hereis a brief summary of these updates:

Android applications can now programmatically discover ifTalkBack is running, thanks to the latest changes inTalkBack. From an end-user perspective, this means that you nolonger need to configure Eyes-Free shell via EyesFreeConfig tobe the default home. If you run TalkBack, and have EyesFreeShell installed, then pressing Home automatically givesyou the EyesFree Shell.Remember, you can always get to the default Android Home bylong-pressing Back.
EyesFree Shell now includes a touch-based shortcutsmanager. Until now, shortcuts needed to be explicitly configuredby editting an XML file on the SDCard. With the recent EyesFreeupdate, you can interactively define short-cuts via a touch-basedShortCuts manager. By default, we have assigned shortcut1 to the ShortCuts manager; so to invoke this newfeature, do:
1. Stroke left (4 using stroke dialer notation) toenter the shortcuts screen.
2. Stroke up and to the left (1 using stroke-dialernotation) to invoke application ShortCuts Manager.
3. Use the trackball/D-Pad to configure each of the 8 availableshortcuts.

Marvin: We hope this gives some minimal relief to the painin all the diodes on your left side.

Silencing Speech With A Wave Of Your Hand On Android 2.0

2010-02-08T14:24:00.001-08:00

Update To Android Access: TalkBack

Smart phones tend to be short on physical buttons --- evendevices like the G1 or MotoRola Droid have very few buttons when thephysical keyboard is not open. This provides interestingchallenges when designing an efficient eyes-free interface ---especially given the old maxim Speech is silvern, but silenceis golden!.Said differently, once you have built a systemthat talks back, the first thing you want to build is anefficient means of silencing spoken feedback.

Early versions of TalkBack on Android skimmed by without astop speech button --- you basically moved from one activity toanother,and the speech produced by the new activity effectivelystopped ongoing spoken output. However, as we make more and moreapplications work seamlessly with our Access APIs, it's alwaysbeen clear to us that we need a global stop speechgesture! Notice that I said gesture --- notkey --- stopping speech is a critical function that we'dlike to enable without having to pull out the physical keyboard,and something we'd like to have devices without a physicalkeyboard.

In the spirit of the dual to every access challenge is an opportunity toinnovate, we recently launched a new experimental TalkBackfeature on devices running Android 2.0. Devices on the Android2.0 platform have a proximity sensor on the top frontleft corner of the phone --- this is typically used to lock thescreen when you're holding the phone up to your ear when on aphone call. As the name implies, the proximitysensorfires when you get close to it --- you can activate itby waving your hand close to the top left corner of the phone. Asan experimental feature, we have configured the latest version ofTalkBack to silence ongoing speech if you wave your hand infront of the proximity sensor.

Note that this is a new, experimental feature --- it'ssomething that we welcome feedback on our public Eyes-Free GoogleGroup. We'd like to know if you accidentally activatestop speechbecause of this new feature. In having usedit for a few weeks, I find that I am not triggering itaccidentally --- but that might well be a function of how I holdthe phone.

What Devices Does This Available On?

Note that at the time of writing, the devices that have aproximity sensor that I have used this on include:

MotoRola Droid from Verizon
Google NexusOne

Note that the G1 and other older Android devices did not havea proximity sensor.

1Vox --- Your Query Is Our Command

2010-01-22T11:30:00.001-08:00

Video: 1Vox --- Your Query Is Our Command

1 Video: 1Vox --- Your Query Is Our Command!

Device Used: Motorola Droid on Verizon

Speech interface designers often express surprize at the the factthat the average blind user rarely if ever uses spoken input. Butwhen you come down to it, this is not too surprizing --- giventhat the eyes-free user has speech output active, the overall system ends up talking to itself!

To show that these conflicts can be avoided by careful user-interface design,we demonstrate 1Vox --- our voice-search wizard for the Marvin Shell.

You activate 1Vox by stroke 9 on the Marvin screen.
You hear a spoekn prompt Search
You hear a little auditory icon when the system is readyfor you.
You speak oft-used queries e.g., Weather Mountain View.
You hear a short spoken snippet in response.

We called this widget 1Vox --- in honor of the Google onebox foundon the Google Results page.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

YouTube And TalkBack --- Entertainment On The Go

2010-01-22T11:28:00.001-08:00

Video: TalkBack And YouTube

1 Video: TalkBack And YouTube

Device: Motorola Droid on Verizon

This video demonstrates searching for and playing YouTube videos with TalkBack providing spoken feedback at each step in the interaction.

Launch YouTube from the Marvin Application launcher.
The trackball can be used here to move through the list of videos.
Pressing down on the trackball launches the selected video.
Press menu key to enter the YouTube application menu.
Click on Search with the trackball.
Type a query into the edit field. TalkBack speaks as you type.
Press Enter to perform the search.
Scroll the results list with the track-ball.
Click a desired result to start playing the video.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Using TalkBack With Google Maps

2010-01-22T11:12:00.001-08:00

Video: TalkBack And Google Maps

1 Video: TalkBack And Google Maps

Device Used: Motorola Droid On Verizon

TalkBack provides spoken feedback as you use Google Maps.In this video, we will demonstrate typical maps tasks such as:

Launch Google Maps using the Marvin application launcher.
From within the Maps application, press the menu key.
Select Search and type a query into the search field.
Notice that I can type a partial query and haveauto-completion based on previous searches.
Press Enter to perform the search.
Bring up the result list in ListView by touching thebottom left of the screen.
Scroll through this list using the D-Pad.
Click with the D-Pad (or enter) to select a business.
Scroll through available options, and click Get Directions.

10.Click the Go button to get directions.

Scroll with the trackball to hear the directions spoken.

In addition, you can also use Google Latitude to locate yourfriends.

Note that other Map tools such as Google Latitude are accessiblefrom within the set of options that appear when you press themenu key.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

TalkBack: An Open Source Android Screenreader

2010-01-22T11:04:00.001-08:00

Video: Introducing TalkBack, An Open Source Screenreader

1 Video: Introducing TalkBack, An Open Source Screenreader

Device Used: Motorola Droid On Verizon

We briefly introduced TalkBack in the previous video while enabling Accessibility from the settings menu.Here, we show off some of this screenreader's features.

TalkBack is designed to be a simple, non-obtrusivescreenreader. What this means in practice is that you interactdirectly with your applications, and not withTalkBack. TalkBack's job is to remain in the background andprovide the spoken feedback that you need.

TalkBack works with all of Android's native user interfacecontrols. This means you can configure all aspects of the Androiduser interface with TalkBack providing appropriate spokenfeedback. What is more, you can use most native Androidapplications --- including those downloaded from the AndroidMarket with TalkBack providing spoken feedback.

Here are some examples of Android applications (both from Google as well as third-party applications available onmarket) that work with TalkBack:

Google Maps: Perform searches, and listen to directions.
YouTube: Search, browse categories and play.
Simple Weather: Listen to local weather forecasts.
Facebook: Moving around on the social Web.

But in this video, we'll demonstrate the use of a very simple butuseful Android application --- the Android Alarm clock.

Launch: I launch the alarm clock from Marvin's eyes-free application launcher.
TalkBack: TalkBack takes over and starts speaking.
Navigate: Navigating with the trackball speaks the alarmunder focus.
Activate: Activating with the trackball produces appropriate feedback.
Navigate: Selected alarm displays its settings in a list-view which speaks as we navigate.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Introducing The Android Access Framework

2010-01-22T11:00:00.001-08:00

Video: Introducing The Android Accessibility Framework

1 Video: Introducing The Android Accessibility Framework

Device Used: MotoRola Droid on Verizon

Starting with Android 1.6 --- fondly known as Donut --- theplatform includes an Accessibility API that makes it easy toimplement adaptive technology such as screenreaders. Android 1.6comes with a built-in screenreader called TalkBack that providesspoken feedback when using Android applications written in Java.

The next few videos will progressively introduce TalkBack,SoundBack and KickBack, a suite of programs that augment theAndroid user interface with alternative output.

All of these special utilities are available through optionAccessibility in the Android Settings menu. Once activated, theaccessibility settings are persistent across reboots, i.e., youneed enable these tools only once.

Notice that because I have accessibility enabled on my phone,all user actions produce relevant auditory feedback. Thus, eachitem is spoken as Imove through the various options in the settings menu. The spokenfeedback also indicates the state of an item as appropriate.

Activating SoundBack produces non-spoken auditory feedback;KickBack produces haptic feedback.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Connecting The Dots: Marvin And Android Access

2010-01-22T10:55:00.001-08:00

Video: Connecting The Dots: Marvin And Android Access

1 Video: Connecting The Dots: Marvin And Android Access

When we first launched project eyes-free in early spring 2009, wepromised to post frequent video updates to the eyes-freechannel. Well, sadly, we have been remiss in keeping that promise --- but all in a good cause --- we were busy building out theneeded accessibility APIs in the core Android framework.

We're now returning with a fresh set of video updates thatdemonstrate the new accessibility framework in Android, and howthese access related tools mesh with the Eyes-Free shell shownearlier.

To summarize:

All of the eyes-free utilities from project Marvin continueto be developed in order to provide fluent eyes-free interaction.
The Marvin shell that we demonstrated last time continues tobe my default home screen.
We have added an application launcher on the Marvin screenthat can be launched by stroking 8.
This launcher uses stroke dialing to quickly navigate andlaunch applications.
With the launch of the Accessibility API in Android1.6, and the accompanying Open Source TalkBack screenreader,I can now launch any Android application, e.g., GoogleMaps or YouTube.
TalkBack provides spoken feedback for native Androidapplications, including the settings menu.
You can use Android Market to install third-partyapplications, many of these work outof the box with TalkBack.

We'll demonstrate these, and a variety of other new coolenhancements in these forthcoming videos, stay tuned!

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Date: 2009-03-30 Mon

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Eyes-Free Home: The Marvin Shell

2010-01-21T17:46:00.001-08:00

Video: Eyes-Free Home: The Marvin Shell

1 Video: Eyes-Free Home: The Marvin Shell

Device Used: T-Mobile G1 from HTC

The Marvin shell pulls together available eyes-free applicationsto provide an integrated user experience. Note that talkingapplications can come from many sources, with project Eyes-Freebeing but one such source. For other exciting talkingapplications that use our open Text To Speech (TTS) APIs, seethe Android Marketplace, where you will find many useful toolsthat integrate seamlessly with Marvin.

when you install the Eyes-Free Shell, you can choose to makeMarvin your default home screen --- this means that pressingthe home button always brings up the Marvin shell. To return tothe default Android home screen, hold down the back button for3 seconds or more.Here is a brief description of the Marvin user interface.

1.1 Single Touch Access To Useful Tools

The Marvin shell uses the Stroke Dialerto provide single touch access to useful tools right from thehome screen. You can explore this interface by moving your finger around the screen --- as you move over the buttons,Marvin speaks the associated action. Lifting up the fingerexecutes the current action. As an example,the top row of the keypad, i.e., 1, 2, and 3provide status information.Stroking to 4 brings up your favorite short-cuts, and 6speaks your current location using geo-location informationobtained from Google Maps. Pressing 7 connects to your voice-mailbox, and pressing9 invokes Voice Search to obtain quick spokenanswers from Google e.g., current weather for your location.Finally, the applications that appear on the shortcuts screencan be customized by editing XML file


/sdcard/eyesfree/shortcuts.xml

on your SD-Card --- as is apparent, this is a power-user feature:-)!

2 Talking Mini-Applications For Single Touch Access

Here, we demonstrate some of the talking mini-applications thatcan be accessed from the Marvin screen.All of these mini-applications speak useful information withoutthe need for the user to do some form of context switch.

2.1 Device State

Available from 1 on the Marvin screen, this mini-applicationannounces useful information such as signal strength, andavailability of WiFi networks.

2.2 Date And Time

Available on 2 on the Marvin screen, this mini-application provides single-touch access to currentdate and time.

2.3 Battery State And Power

Pressing 3 on the Marvin screen speaks the current batterylevel and announces if the phone is presently being charged.

2.4 Knowing Your Location

Available as 6 from the Marvin home screen,this mini-application announces your present location based oninformation acquired via GPS and the cell network. It speaks yourcurrent heading using the built-in magnetic compass, looks up thecurrent location on Google Maps, and announces the location interms of a nearby address and street intersection.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Date: 2009-03-30 Mon

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Talking PhoneBook: Eyes-Free Communication Device

2010-01-21T17:42:00.001-08:00

Video: Talking Phonebook: Eyes-Free Communication Device

1 Video: Talking Phonebook: Eyes-Free Communication Device

Device Used: T-Mobile G1 from HTC

Pressing the menu button while in the Talking Dialer togglesbetween dialing mode and phonebook.When in phonebook, you get eyes-free access to your contactswith the ability to quickly move to the contact that you wishto call.

When in the phonebook, you can scroll through your contacts and press the call button to callthe current contact. In addition, you can use stroke dialingas explained below to quickly move to a specific contact.

1.1 Entering Letters Using Stroke dialing

We covered eyes-free input with the touch screen in the earlier video on stroke dialing--- in that video, we illustrated the concept via a traditionalphone keypad. Here, we extend that techniqueto enable textual input. In the explanation below, we will use compass directions to helpwith orientation.As before, we will use relative positioning i.e., for the rest ofthis explanation, you can start anywhere on the touch-screen--- though we recommend (for reasons that will become evident)that you start somewhere close to the middle of the screen.

1.2 The Eight Compass Directions

Defining the center as where you first touch down on thescreen, notice that you can stroke in any one of the 8 compassdirections, and that opposite pairs of compass directions e.g.,North and South, can be thought of as opposites.So we get 4 pairs. We enumerate these below,associate them with the 4 Google colors, and equate themto their equivalent strokes from the stroke dialer:

Red: North-West and South-east 1 and 9.
Blue: North and South --- 2 and 8.
Green: North-East and South-West --- 3 and 7.
Yellow: East and West --- 4 and 6.

Now, let's place the letters of the alphabet on these 4 circlesas follows:

Red: A ... H
Blue: I ... P
Green: Q ... X
Yellow: Y ... Z.

To input a given letter, we stroke to the circle containing thedesired letter, trace along the circle till we hear the letter wewant, and lift up the finger to make the selection. Letters arespoken in a female voice while moving along the selected circle;lifting up the finger speaks the selected letter in a male voice.

Notice that conceptually, we have defined a fairly simple mappingfrom strokes to letters of the alphabet!

1.3 Skimming The Contact List

So to cut a long story short, you dont need to scroll throughthe contact list. To quickly jump to a contact, use the techniquedescribed above to input the first letter from the contact's name--- the aplication jumps to contacts starting with thatletter. At that point, you can either scroll, or enter additionalletters to further filter the contact list.

1.4 Examples Of Using Strokes For Letters

Notice from the mapping shown earlier that we can enter eachcircle either at the top or bottom. Thus, entering the redcircle at the top gets to A, while entering it at thebottom gets us to E. This means that the 8 letters on anygiven circle are no more than 3 steps away --- for example, toenter C, one needs to trace clockwise from A, orcounter-clockwise from E. As an example, H is only 1 stepfrom A on the red circle. similarly, P is only 1 step fromI on the blue circle.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Date: 2009-03-30 Mon

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Talking Dialer: Eyes-Free Communication Device

2010-01-21T17:40:00.001-08:00

Video: Talking Dialer: Eyes-Free Communication Device

1 Video: Talking Dialer: Eyes-Free Communication Device

Device Used: T-Mobile G1 from HTC

The MotoRola Droid does not have a call button. Instead, Use the search capacitivebutton, i.e. the button on the extreme right, in place of the call button.

So now, let's use the stroke dialer for something practical ---let's make phone calls with our smart phone!Well, we know Marvin would disapprove if we just made phonecalls, so rest assured, we'll do a lot more later!

Pressing the call button on Android phones launches thebuilt-in dialing application. When using the Marvin shell,pressing this button launches the Talking Dialer application--- if you are not using Marvin as your home screen, you canlaunch this dialer as you would launch any Android application.

The Talking Dialer announces dialing mode upon start up.You can start dialing using the technique described in theprevious video on stroke dialer --- if you make a mistake, simplyshake the phone to erase. Once you have finished dialing, pressthe call button to initiate the call. The application speaksthe number you're about to dial, and makes the call once youpress the call button to confirm.But you say


Dialing phone numbers is so passe'!

--- well, there is still hope for the Talking Dialer. Inaddition to dialing mode, the Talking Dialer provides an easyto use Talking Phonebook that provides eyes-free access to yourcontact list --- we will cover this in our video on the talking phonebook.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Date: 2009-03-30 Mon

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Stroke Dialler For Android

2010-01-21T17:36:00.001-08:00

Video: Stroke Dialer For Android

1 Video: Stroke Dialer For Eyes-Free Keypad Input

Device Used: T-Mobile G1 from HTC

The stroke dialer enables one-handed keypad input using thetouch-screen --- and that without having to even look at thescreen. Here is how it works --- we start with a briefdescription of the problem that asks the rightquestion. The answer becomes self-evident as you follow thisvideo.

1.1 The Problem

On-screen keyboards typically show some buttons on the screenthat you activate by touching the screen. To activate suchbuttons, one needs to look at the screen, because the buttons areplaced at specific points on the screen, i.e., they areabsolutely positioned. So what if you want to activate suchbuttons without looking at the screen?From the foregoing description, it's clear that the only reasonone is forced to look at an on-screen keyboard is because thebuttons are absolutely positioned. So let's relax thatconstraint, let's use relative positioning to place thebuttons.

We'll start with a keyboard we're all familiar with, thetelephone keypad. Since we're using relative positioning,let's place the center of the keypad wherever you firsttouch the screen.So, to dial a 5, you just touch the screen.

Now, you know where 5 is --- it's where you first touchdown. But look, since you know the layout of a phone keypad, youcan now find all the other digits relative to the 5. So forexample, 2 is directly above 5 --- so to press 2, youtouch down on the screen, and stroke up before lifting yourfinger.similarly, you stroke down for an 8, or diagonally up for a1.

In real life, we both hear and feel as we press physicalbuttons. This form of synchronized auditory and tactile feedbackis essential for creating user interfaces that feelrealistic. The stroke dialer produces a slight vibration as thefinger moves over the various buttons that is synchronized withan auditory tick to achieve this effect. It also producesspoken feedback to indicate the button that was pressed.

To conclude this video, let's dial a few numbers.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com>

Introducing Marvin --- Eyes-Free Interaction On Android

2010-01-21T17:33:00.001-08:00

Android Eyes-Free Introduction

1 Video: Introducing Project Eyes-Free For Android

Device Used: T-Mobile G1 from HTC

Project Eyes-Free turns your Android into an eyes-freecommunication device with one-handed, single-touch access tocommon tasks. Applications from this project can be usedstand-alone; they can also be used together through the Eyes-Freeshell. This collection of videos will cover the latter scenario.

We will refer to the eyes-free shell as Marvin in honor ofDouglas Adams' famous paranoid android--- our Marvin says


Brain the size of a planet and they expect me to make phone calls?

The Marvin home screen provides single-touch access to useful information via acollection of talking mini-applications. In addition, commonlyused applications can be placed under shortcuts for quickaccess. Finally, the call button automatically launches theeyes-free Talking Dialer --- all of these applications arecovered in detail in subsequent videos.

Author: T.V Raman<raman@google.com >

An Introduction To YouTube Channel EyesFreeAndroid

2010-01-21T17:26:00.001-08:00

The next set of articles on this blog cover the videos we have posted to channel EyesFreeAndroid on YouTube. Each article links to a particular video thathighlights a given aspect of eyes-free interaction on Androidusing the built-in screenreader and related access tools.In thefuture, I'll make sure to post such descriptions as soon as thevideos are uploaded, so watch this space! ( at the time thevideos were posted last year, I did not have this blog)

Eyes-Free G1 --- My First Talking Android!

2010-01-19T08:59:00.001-08:00

In the first article in this series, I'll cover the T-MobileG1 from HTC, my first accessible Android.Note: I've since moved on to the MotoRola Droid, but that is fora future article in this series.

I'll try to use a consistent outline for these articles where possible --- in general, you can expect articles covering a particular Android device have separate sections that address the hardware and software. Note that the softwware bits --- the Eyes-Free Marvin Shell and our free screenreader TalkBack, our common across all all Android devices.

The G1 Device And Eyes-Free Use

Here is a brief summary of my experience with the G1hardware:

The G1's keyboard is easy to use once you get used to thelayout, you can effectively touch-type with two thumbs.
It is possible to do many functions without having to pullout the keyboard, thanks to the track-ball and buttons on thefront panel.
The front panel has 5 buttons and a trackball:left-to-right, these are:Call, Home, Menu, Back, andHangup.
The menu button is something you will use very oftenwith Android applications. When you try out a new application,pressing menu lets you explore the application via the track-ball.
The track-ball takes some getting used to, it can move overmultiple items in lists if one isn't careful.
This was the first time I used a touch-screen, and the G1opened up many user-interface innovations.

Eyes-Free: Marvin Shell And TalkBack On G1

The Marvin Shell is my default home shell on all my Androiddevices. Note that TalkBack works fluently with the defaulthome-shell that comes with Android; however the Marvin Shell hassome nice touches that make it ideal for efficient eyes-free use--- for examples, see YouTubechannel EyesFreeAndroid.Here is a brief summary of my G1 setup, along with examples ofperforming some sample tasks. A word of caution first on whatdoesn't work yet:The browser is not yet TalkBack-enabled, and as aconsequence, browser-based applications such as GMail will notwork (yet).

I have option accessibility checked (see theAndroid settings menu). Within that same menu, I have TalkBack,SoundBack and KickBack enabled.
I also have the Eyes-Free Shell available on the AndroidMarket installed, along with the suite of Eyes-Free applicationsthat accompany it.
Pressing the Home button on the front panel switchesto or restarts the Eyes-Free Shell.
Many common actions can be performed by touch-gestures on theEyes-Free Shell, see the relevant YouTube Video.
You can enter Marvin's application launcher bystroking down on the home screen. Once in that launcher, you canuse the circle dialer to quickly jump to a particularapplication; you can scroll the list with the track ball. Onceyou've found an application, you the call button on thefront panel to launch the application.
Here is the StrokeDialer for keypad input in action. As an example, I strokeright to get a Y and that selects the YouTubeapplication. Launch it by pressing call on the frontpanel.
When you launch the YouTube application, TalkBacktakes over --- as the end-user, you continue to get spokenfeedback and typically are never aware of the transition.
Note that many Android applications use the touch screen forrapid interaction. Taking a few minutes to get oriented with thetouch controls for an application you plan to use often can make task completion more efficient. Caveat: we dont yet have an exploration widget to aid in this --- typically, I've had the user interface described to me. Notice that once you know that the YouTube UI uses a landscape orientation and that the bar for controling playback appears on the bottom, you can easily use your finger to slide along the bottom of the screen to control playback.
TalkBack provides fluent spoken feedback for many commontasks, such as Instant Messaging using Google Talk, or for SMSusing the built-in Messaging application.
Another useful Android feature to leverage is the StatusBar --- here is where applications post notifications,e.g. a missed call, or an upcoming calendar appointment.
You open up status bar by bringing it down--- think of it as pulling down a screen. Place your finger atthe top of the screen and stroke all the waydown.
You can now use the track-ball to scroll through anyavailable notifications and hear them spoken. This isparticularly useful with Google Calendar.

And of course, there is much more to say than will fit in asingle blog article.

Welcome To Eyes-Free Android

2010-01-17T20:01:00.001-08:00

I'll blog about my use of Android phones here.The tools I use are being developed as part of project Eyes-Freeand you can meet up with other users on GoogleGroupEyes-Free.All code developed as part of project Eyes-Free is OpenSource, and the core Access API, and associated adaptivetechnology is part of the Android platform starting with Android1.6.

What You Can Expect To See On This Blog

Android runs on a variety of mobile phones and devices varywith respect to their various hardware features, e.g., keyboards,trackball etc. This blog will focus on tips and tricks forgetting the most out of various Android devices, based on mypersonal experience.