Vision Australia’s national assistive technology adviser David Woodbridge compiles his top 10 accessible games on the iPhone and iPad. Topping his list is an endless running game called Feer, where you dodge zombies in the pursuit of high scores.
Hear David’s full review of the games in this Talking Tech episode: (segment begins at 3:28)
Apple iOS for iPhone and iPad: Considerations for Users with Visual Impairments and Blindness
The Apple iPhone operating system, known as iOS, was the first smartphone to include a complete suite of accessibility features for users with visual impairments, including the Zoom screen magnifier and the VoiceOver screen reader. In this guide, we cannot hope to teach you everything you will wish to know about operating an Apple touchscreen mobile device with accessibility. Even if you have partial sight, you may find it easier to reach the device’s magnification settings by enabling and using VoiceOver.
There is another way to toggle VoiceOver on and off: via the Settings menu, which is also where you will turn on the low-vision accessibility features we will describe in the next section. At the very top of the Accessibility Settings pane you will find the Vision heading, and the first option is VoiceOver. Right now, let’s continue on with the main accessibility settings and show you how to turn on several useful iOS features for users with low vision.
With so much information crowded onto these smaller displays, even people with 20/20 vision can have trouble reading the screen. On any text, map, image, or photograph, place two fingers on the screen next to each other, as though you were trying to pinch the glass.
When you are done, re-position your two fingers on the glass, this time fairly far apart, and pinch them together until the screen has returned to normal size.
Happily, Apple has included a number of additional features in iOS designed to assist low-vision users. Others find it more comfortable to view a screen where different colors have been replaced by varying shades of gray. This option eliminates most of the translucent effects iOS uses for display and makes the backgrounds of Home screen icons and notifications more opaque and thus easier to read.
Darken Colors: This option makes many of the iOS buttons, sliders, and other controls stand out so they are easier to see. It is possible to use VoiceOver selectively—when you are trying to read a long article, say, or when extremely fine print resists your best attempts to enlarge it. Tap the button and VoiceOver will read the text aloud using your chosen voice and speed.
You will probably find yourself using a mix of accessibility features, and the ones you use may vary depending on the way various screen content is formatted, the ambient lighting, and the daily ebbs and flows of your visual acuity. When you press and hold the Home button, Siri, Apple’s digital assistant asks what you would like to know or do. Siri will also start apps, make phone calls, send and read text messages, and a growing number of other tasks.
Enabling the shortcut also makes it a simple matter to share an iPhone or iPad with a friend or family member.
Getting Started on the iPad with Low Vision – Perkins School for the Blind
Back to Resources Article Getting Started on the iPad with Low Vision Excerpts from “Introduction to iPad Accessibility Features for Blind and Low Vision Students Manual” SHARE (Excerpts from “Introduction to iPad Accessibility Features for Blind and Low Vision Students Manual” © 2014 SAS Institute Inc. Cary, NC USA written by Diane Brauner and Ed Summers. Students with low vision often endure eye fatigue and debilitating headaches – especially when reading for periods of time – which may facilitate the need to modify the low vision features on the fly or change to using auditory materials.
Screen background options: Select Invert Colors, Grayscale and Brightness settings General low vision options: Select Contrast, Reduce Motion, Labels and Button Shapes settings Accessibility Shortcut (Triple-Click Home): Select from VoiceOver, Invert Colors, Grayscale and Zoom settings
In the Settings app, go to General > Accessibility to view the low vision options. Mainstream magnification allows you to tap or pinch to magnify within specific apps, such as Mail, Maps and web pages.
1 finger hold on the top, bottom, right or left edge of the screen to quickly scroll in that direction Speak Screen is a command that reads the text starting from the top of the page.
Speaking Rate enables the student to choose the speed of text read aloud. VoiceOver, the iPad’s built-in screen reader, changes the gesture set in order to enable a student to touch the screen, hear what is under his/her fingertip and then interact with the item under his/her fingertip.
Running VoiceOver at 100% is a powerful tool enabling the student with visual impairments to be faster and more efficient reader than his/her peers! Many students with low vision have eye fatigue and severe headaches when attempting to read longer passages of text.
Siri can answer verbal questions, open apps, do Internet queries and perform tasks. With Siri, students can verbally send messages, schedule meetings, place calls, read emails and search the Internet for answers.
Siri is often an efficient way for students to quickly navigate the iPad and perform educational tasks. Dictation is very beneficial for students who do not have efficient keyboarding skills or who have physical disabilities.
Students can access materials being displayed on the whiteboard on their iPad through screen sharing apps. The student can zoom as needed and can take a screen shot that saves the image directly into the Photo app for future reference.
For more information, go to the Paths to Technology Join.Me a Screen Sharing iPad App post. An annotation app enables a student to draw, color or type on top of a picture or PDF document. A student can take a picture of materials on the board (or take a screen shot of the iPad which is using a screen sharing app), or take a picture of a print worksheet; the student then opens the image in the annotation app, completes the assignment and emails the finished assignment back to his/her teacher. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is technology that enables you to convert paper documents, PDF or images captured by a digital camera to text.
For more information, go to the Paths to Technology posts Scanning a Print Document and Filling out a Form on the iPad, Portable Scanner: Last Minute Converting print to Word Document and Google Docs and OCR: Easily Translate Images into Text!
The best Android and iOS mobile apps for blind and partially sighted people 2022
I also help blind people who are just starting to use a mobile phone or switching to a new model. In this list I’ve grouped my recommendations of which mobile apps are most useful for these common situations: This free app offers a service that connects blind and low vision people with sighted volunteers who can describe your surroundings or read text via a live video call.
Uses your iPhones camera to read out short text, e.g. a letter or a longer document.
Also has a fun feature to describe rooms and people – may get ages wrong! Lookout makes it easier to get more information about the world around you and do daily tasks more efficiently like sorting mail, putting away groceries, and more.
Speech Services provides speech-to-text functionality to Google and other third party apps to convert what you say to text. Phone App Call Screen feature to get a real-time transcription of your caller
EasyReader from Dolphin is a free app designed to make reading more accessible for readers who are visually impaired or have a neurodiverse condition such as dyslexia or Parkinson’s Disease. It has nearly 40 libraries with audio books and newspapers, many of which are free to listen to if you are registered blind. LibriVox was recommended to me as an alternative for left-field books and classics which are out of copyright. LibriVox is a group of worldwide volunteers who read and record public domain texts, creating free public domain audiobooks for download
Finally, there is Audible which is a paid service owned by Amazon. This uses a subscription model where you pay to get one credit per month which you can use to listen to any book. Microsoft Soundscape is a research project that explores the use of innovative audio-based technology to enable people, particularly those with blindness or low vision, to build a richer awareness of their surroundings, thus becoming more confident and empowered to get around.
Unlike step-by-step navigation apps, Soundscape uses 3D audio cues to enrich ambient awareness and provide a new way to relate to the environment. It allows you to build a mental map and make personal route choices while being more comfortable within unfamiliar spaces. Lazarillo accessible GPS navigation app for blind people
Lazarillo is a specialized GPS app that brings mobility tools for blind people. This app was designed and implemented with active feedback from blind people. To quickly open Magnifier:On an iPhone X and later, or iPad with Face ID: Triple-click the Side button.
iPad Apps for Blind Children
Have you heard all the hullabaloo about the iPad and its amazing apps for special needs children? Are there apps out there that might help your child communicate, develop finger dexterity, learn about cause and effect or maybe just have fun?
Can we really use iPad apps to facilitate learning in children with low vision and other visual impairments? There are hundreds of thousands of apps available for the iPad and iPhone, so finding the ones that work well for your child is no easy task. With the help of our dedicated iPad app reviewers, Eric Jerman and Mary McDonach, we’ll sort through all the apps out there and bring you the ones that makes sense for your family.
12 Good iPad Apps for Visually Impaired Students
Upon the requests of some of our readers here in EdTech and mLearning we went ahead and curated for you this selection of some very good iPad apps to use with blind and visually impaired students. ‘TapTapSee is designed to help the blind and visually impaired identify objects they encounter in their daily lives. ‘Take a photo, the app reads the text in clear synthetic speech or with a connected Braille display.
‘BlindSquare is a new solution that combines the latest technology to help the blind with their daily lives.
With the free features you can type, edit and send tweets and text messages using contracted or uncontracted English braille.’ ‘NantMobile Money Reader instantly recognizes currency and speaks the denomination, enabling people experiencing visual impairments or blindness to quickly and easily identify and count bills.
‘Seeing Assistant Home allows the users to color recognition, detection of the light source and partially visually impaired people to use electronic loupe. Seeing Assistant Home has been developed in close co-operation visually impaired people in order to address their needs as well as possible.’
BARD contains nearly 80,000 books, magazines, and music scores in audio and braille formats, with new selections added daily.’
Best iOS games for blind/low-vision users?
Last week, I did an article about King Of Dragon Pass and one of the members here, Zack, commented about how its great in terms of accessibility. I pitched an idea for an article to my boss covering accessibility in iOS gaming, and he eagerly agreed that it would be a good topic to write about.
What has followed over the last week have been numerous conversations with Zack, Michael, and around a dozen iOS developers, some of whom have provided excellent accessibility in their titles, and some who have not.
Entertainment Apps For The Blind And Visually Impaired: iPad
From music playing apps to fighting your way out of the dark underworld, our AppList has a fantastic selection for all sorts of hobbies and entertainment. King of Dragon Pass by A Sharp $9.99 More info Do you love adventure and role playing? Fully accessible with VoiceOver, this game gives the player a fantastic storyline that is easy to become addicted to.
Fully accessible with VoiceOver, the developer has ensured that all aspects of the application are available to the visually impaired.
King’s Corner by Springbok $0.99 More info Chess is great, however it requires time and concentration. King’s Corner is a quick and fun card game that works great with VoiceOver.
Each game can be played in under 5 minutes which makes this a great option while waiting in line or for a ride. King’s Corner has a free version that is supported by a splash screen ad as the app loads. For those who enjoy a more lighthearted approach to gaming, Stem Stumper offers 20 levels of fun.
The goal is to find fertilized acorns and create paths for Mimea, a vine, to grow. Zany Touch by Creative Logic Entertainment, Inc. $0.99 More info You have checked out Stem Stumper but it seems a bit too mellow? This thrilling game casts you into the dark underworld of Papa Sangre, where you need to escape by saving the soul of a loved one.
This fun and exciting game has a festive “Day of the Dead” theme and requires headphones to play. In the 1990’s a man named Richard L. De Steno developed six games that were text based and accessible via screen reader to the visually disabled. Now, two decades later, these popular games have been converted into an app that is fully accessible via voiceover. The game play is in a DOS type format, menus asking you to input choices on a keyboard.
iBlink Radio by Serotek Corporation FREE More info After fighting your way out of Papa Sangre’s dark underworld and playing retro poker, you may want to just relax with some music or an informative podcast. While the interface can be a bit clunky, we found this app to be entertaining for both blind and sighted users.
Moxie by Blue Ox Technologies Ltd. $0.99 More info So you are listening to amazing music. On his way home from school he comes across the lair of a mad scientist who has invented amazing things for you to try out!
This is one comic that is fully accessible and virtually ongoing with thousands of plot choices, but only ONE will not end in disaster! Features include verbal coaching, listening to music as you exercise and uploading of data to the RunKeeper web site for later reviewing. If you want an easy to use interface, then check out Facely HD for Facebook + Chat and Photos. by IntoNow FREE More info So you have worked out and now feel like kicking back and watching television.
IntoNow uses identification technology to listen to a television show to accurately identify it. It then brings up interesting related content about the show such as cast and future air dates.
A fun social feature will alert you when your friends are watching a television show that you are viewing and is integrated with Twitter and Facebook. Truly the ultimate baseball app, MLB is accessible and ready for the opening pitch!
You would slowly move through the board, uncovering a square at a time, hoping to avoid the exploding mines? CardsAlone by Iiro Viitanen $0.99 More info If trying to avoid mines is too stressful for you then how about a nice game of solitaire? This classic card game has two unusual formats: Napoleon’s Grave and Hexagon. iFarkle is a highly addictive dice game where you can play against the computer or a friend.
Fun and relaxing, iFarkle Free also has a paid version that removes ads.
10 Apps for Learners Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired – Paths to Literacy
This annotated list of iPad apps for learners who are blind or who have low vision was compiled by Educational Learning and Mobile Technology.
ObjectiveEd Games
-Temple Explorer: 2 New Temples and artifacts to unlock and collect -Monster Cafe: A new game to practice listening skills -Lilymist Valley: An Interactive Fiction story to practice transition skills for BVI students. For older students, the use of a refreshable Braille display blue-toothed to their device enables them to take quizzes and read short articles. Teachers can emboss questions or short quizzes which are used as overlays calibrated to the screen. I give 5 stars because we asked for changes to make the app more accessible for our students and they did it!
The developer, OBJECTIVE ED INC, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below.
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