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Jason Earls

Hey there, thanks for stopping by. I hope you're enjoying all of the great content we have here. Things I love: Music? Check. Technology? Check. I started getting into technology a bit later than some. I started using Windows in 2003 or 2004, until 2010. After that, I ended up getting a Mac, and have been using OS 10/macOS ever since. I am also a member of Apple's public macOS and IOS beta programs. I’ve played with Ubuntu, but I haven't really delved into it. One of these days, I'm going to get a box, and start learning it for real. I've also used Android up to Kit-Kat. I love to learn and help people, and just have a good time.

Commentary: Are VoiceOver Actions a Help or a Hindrance?

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Image showing VoiceOver icon. icon is a grey gradient to white with a universal access symbol and a speaker with sound waves going to the right.

Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of iAccessibility.

As I’m sure most VoiceOver users know, there is an “Actions” item in the VoiceOver rotor in iOS. This is a very handy item as it allows for tasks to be accomplished faster without the need to tap through app menus, or perform a passthrough (double tap and hold on an item). An easy example of this would be deleting messages in the Messages app. Simply find a message, set the rotor to “Actions” if it’s not automatically set for you, flick up or down to “Delete,” and double tap. Your message is then deleted. It really does help speed things up.

So what am I complaining about? From time to time, I’ve been in the really neat position of being able to help a sighted person with there iPhone. It’s not neat because I get bragging rights or anything, just that with VoiceOver, I can use the same device and mostly, use it in the same way a sighted person can, all be it with some changed gestures, obviously. But getting back to the topic at hand, let’s say a sighted person asked me how to delete messages from there iPhone. I wouldn’t tell them to turn on VoiceOver, learn the basic gestures so they can navigate the screen, then use actions to delete there message, I’d tell them how to do it without VoiceOver enabled, and that’s where I’ve run into a bit of a problem. You see, as I was writing this article, I realized I had forgotten exactly how one would go about deleting messages from an iPhone without VoiceOver enabled. Because of VoiceOver actions, I no longer had to remember things like that. I could just flick up or down, choose what I wanted and double tap on it. While that’s really great, it doesn’t help me remember how to use an app normally, and that’s a problem.

To make matters worse, you have apps that detect that VoiceOver is enabled, and only allow you to use VoiceOver actions to perform certain tasks. Twitterrific is one such app. I wish we could either unselect “Actions” in the rotor, or add an item to quickly turn actions on or off like you can with Hints, Sounds, and Audio ducking. VoiceOver would behave as it did before they were introduced. I would also want to be able to perform a swipe without having to do a passthrough. I feel that this could be accomplished by allowing the three finger gestures to perform swipes when appropriate. This already happens in the app switcher. A sighted person swipes up on the app they wish to close, and of course a VoiceOver user can do a three finger swipe up which will perform the same action. Again, you can use VoiceOver actions to close apps and switch to them, but I find using the three finger swipe to close an app and double tapping on an app to switch to it is much faster for me.

So what do you think? Do you agree? Am I crazy? Follow us around the web and tell us what you think. We love hearing from you.

My Pick For Best Tech of 2016? Beats Solo 3

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Beats Solo 3 White

When Apple announced the iPhone 7 at it’s keynote last year, they also announced several knew headphones as well. The AirPods that are much loved by the iAccessibility staff that have them, the Powerbeats 3, the BeatsX wireless earphones (not yet available as of this writing,) and the Beats Solo 3 headphones, which I will be focusing on. For more on paring a bluetooth device with W1 chip, we have a great article that does a wonderful job explaining the set up process, and how to connect them to multiple devices.

Battery Life

The Beats Solo 3s will last you up to forty hours on a single charge. I haven’t heard of that kind of battery life from any other bluetooth headphone. Beyond that, these headphones have what Apple calls “Fast Fuel.” This means that with just a five minute charge, the headphones can deliver up to three hours of use.

Can You Hear Me Now?

Okay, so this isn’t a cellphone commercial, but discovering just how far they would reach compared to a pare of headphones without the W1 chip almost felt like one. On my iPhone 6s Plus, I was able, with my phone charging up stairs, talk to a friend of mine outside, and even past the point my other headphones would disconnect. While I haven’t measured that distance, I probably could have walked all the way to the street, but didn’t fancy getting hit by a car.

Sound

Others have said that these headphones aren’t “audiophile grade headphones,” while others say they sound great. To me, they do sound really good for the most part. Music can sound a bit thin through them, depending on what you’re listening to. Wideband audio calls such as HD voice, FaceTime and Skype calls can sound a bit… I can only describe it as metallic, but it’s not something that is a big problem for me. Remember that sound is subjective, so something that might sound thin or metallic to me, might sound fine to you.

Conclusion

While I’ve not been one-hundred percent positive about these headphones, the things I’ve mentioned aren’t showstoppers to me. I think that the battery life and range improvements made possible by the W1 chip definitely give them a place in our best tech of 2016 series.

The Future in Microsoft Accessibility

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A picture of the Windows Logo

A day ahead of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Microsoft highlights improvements planned for it’s products and services for 2017, and the changes seem really exciting.

Windows 10 and Narrator

The Windows 10 Creators Update will include improvements to Narrator. Some of these new changes are already available on Insider builds. Other changes will be available in early 2017. They include:

  • Braille: Microsoft says that the Creators Update will include beta support for braille input and output. There will be support for braille displays from more than 35 manufacturers, and support for over 40 languages. Narrator will support multiple braille variants, including grade 2 contracted braille.
  • Unassisted installation: You will be able to install the Windows 10 Creators Update with Narrator, regardless of weather you are setting up a full installation of Windows, or a portable one.
  • New launching method for Narrator: Microsoft has changed the quick keys used to launch Narrator. Due to feedback from users, you will now launch Narrator by pressing CTRL + Windows + Enter. Narrator can still be launched from Cortana or the Settings Window.
  • New Voices and capabilities: Narrator will gain 10 new voices, and multilingual reading, allowing for seamless switching of languages, as long as you have the corresponding voices installed.
  • Improved audio experiences: Microsoft has implemented something they call “Dynamic ducking,” meaning that Narrator will only reduce the volume of other applications when it is speaking. Microsoft has improved handshaking between Narrator and Cortana. Now, Cortana won’t transcribe what Narrator (or other screen readers) are reading.
  • More general reliability and usability improvements: Microsoft added what it says are “features to make it easier to understand the context of a control with which you are interacting and to make it possible to discover information about objects like the background color of a table cell.” Narrator will maintain your navigation mode across applications. Microsoft has also made some cursor positioning improvements to Narrator. They include “stopping and starting where you expect when reading in scan mode and when reading by line, paragraph and in continuous reading.”
  • Easier web browsing with Edge: The responsiveness of Narrator has been improved. Microsoft has added several new features, including the ability to navigate by forms such as check boxes, text fields or buttons. Heading level navigation is also possible.
  • Improvements across devices: It will be possible to use a controller to “drive Narrator interactions on Xbox.” You will be able to adjust the pitch and speed of the Narrator voice on The Xbox.

Support For Third-party Assistive Technology

Microsoft has said that they are “working closely with partners to ensure that they have what they need to deliver great user experiences with Edge, Office and other Windows apps. And, we continue to offer the Window Eyes screen reader free of charge for customers using Office 365.”

And There’s More

For more information on Microsoft’s other exciting accessibility efforts, check out the Microsoft Accessibility blog at  Making Microsoft Products More Accessible, What to expect in 2017 I might be a Mac guy, but I think what Microsoft is doing with accessibility is amazing, and I’d love to play with it. Maybe one day I might be saying Windows Hello to a Surface. While I can’t see that happening right now, who knows what the future will bring, aside from Narrator? Follow us around the web and let us know what you think. Will you upgrade if you already use Windows? Do Microsoft’s accessibility improvements excite you enough to switch from macOS?

Quick Tip: Initiate Speakerphone Calls Using Siri

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icon showing iOS 10 and macOS icon for Siri

It is now possible to tell Siri to have your calls placed through speakerphone. Just ask Siri. You can ask something like “Hey Siri. Call Mom on speakerphone.” That’s it. Your call should now come through the speaker instead of your iPhone earpiece. It’s great if you need to make a call hands-free and you don’t have a Bluetooth or wired headset handy. Try it out, and let us know what you think. Do you find this feature useful?

#macOS: How to Change VoiceOver’s Grouping Behavior

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Image showing VoiceOver icon. icon is a grey gradient to white with a universal access symbol and a speaker with sound waves going to the right.

I’ve been using VoiceOver for a while now. I use VoiceOver on both Mac and iOS. The more I use VoiceOver on iOS, the more I would think “I wish I didn’t have to interact so much on the Mac. Some apps take it to extremes.” You can! Actually, you’ve been able to do this with the introduction of El Capitan, but it was broken. You would get stuck in certain web tables, like the table found in the “Purchases” category in the App Store. So how do you to it? Read on to find out.

Instructions

  1. Press Command + F 8 to open the VoiceOver utility.
  2. Arrow dow to the “Navigation” category.
  3. Press VO + Right until VoiceOver announces “Grouping behavior”
  4. Press VO + Right again and you should hear “Standard, popup button.”
    Note: The other options are Bookend groups, Announce groups, and Ignore groups.

Before you change anything, let’s talk a bit more about what each option means.

Standard

This is the default setting VoiceOver uses. VoiceOver will announce a group (such as “Web content,”) and you will then have to interact with it to see everything inside.

Bookend Groups

Like the “Standard” option, VoiceOver will announce groups, but you can VO + Right to see the content inside them. Once you reach the end of the group, VoiceOver will announce something like “End of web content.” If the app had more than just the web content, you would then VO + Right to see everything else.

Announce Groups

VoiceOver will read the group title to you and the number of items it has in a lower pitch when you land on the first option that would normally be inside it with the “Standard” setting, but it will read the content first.

Ignore Groups

Like the title suggests, VoiceOver won’t tell you when you’re on a group. Rather, it will just read the content.
For example: If you open System preferences, normally you would have to interact with the “Scroll area” to see the options you have, but with this setting, VoiceOver will just read them when you press VO + Right to get to them.

Notes

  • You will need to turn off cursor rapping for these options to work correctly.
  • With the Announce groups and Ignore groups settings, VoiceOver may still announce “Web content” when a page loads in Safari.
  • In Safari, VoiceOver will sometimes act as if you’re using the “Standard” setting and not let you see what’s inside the web content until you either interact with it, or VO + Left back to the splitter and VO + Right again. Once you do that, VO will respect your group setting.

Questions?

If you have any questions, let us know and we’ll be happy to answer them.

There’s an Activity For That

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Image showing VoiceOver icon. icon is a grey gradient to white with a universal access symbol and a speaker with sound waves going to the right.

Have you ever used an app and thought “You know what? I really seem to slow VoiceOver down a lot when I use this.” Maybe you find you tend to have VO read with more punctuation in some apps more than others. If you’re tired of constantly making changes to your VoiceOver settings, I’ve got some news for you.

Customizing VoiceOver for Different Situations

Yes, you read that correctly! You can set up VoiceOver to automatically change your settings, based on what you’re doing. It’s called Activities, and it’s one of the categories in the VoiceOver Utility.

So how do you accomplish this amazing feet of computer greatness? Read on to find out!

Instructions

  • Step 1: Press VO + F8 (VO + FN + F8 on a portable Macintosh keyboard, if you haven’t changed the behavior of the function keys in the keyboard pain of system preferences.) This will open the VoiceOver utility. VoiceOver should tell you that you are on the “Utility Categories” table.
  • Step 2: Arrow down until you hear VoiceOver announce “Activities.”
    Note: You can also press Command + 0. Pressing Command + 1 through 0 will jump you to each category in the “utility categories” table in sequential order. This means that pressing command + 1 will move you to the “General” category, Command + 2 will move you to the “Verbosity” category and so on.
  • Step 3: VO right until you hear VoiceOver announce “Add” button.
  • Step 4: Press the button with VO Space.
    Note: Once you press the “Add” button, VoiceOver automatically interacts with the “Activities” table.
  • Step 5: You will now be placed on the “Untitled” activity. Press Enter, and VoiceOver should announce “Untitled, contents selected edit text.” This is ware you can name your activity so if you want to edit it later, you can find it without the need to go through the settings for each activity.
  • Step 6: After you give your activity a name, press VO + Shift + Up arrow to stop interacting with the “Activities” table.
  • Step 7: Now, you are able to choose the settings you want to include in the activity. The settings that you check are settings that when changed, will only effect the current activity you are working on. You can set the settings you check now by pressing the “set Setting name” (where setting name is the setting you’ve checked or unchecked,) or set them later. Remember that the settings that you check here are the settings that will only change for the activity you are in the process of setting up. All other VoiceOver settings you change will effect the “VoiceOver settings” activity, which is VoiceOver’s default activity. In other words, if you’ve never looked at VoiceOver’s activities, you’re using the “VoiceOver settings” activity.
    For example: I’ve created an activity called “Test.” If I check the “Verbosity” checkbox, changing any verbosity setting will only effect the “Test” activity, once I tell VoiceOver when to use the settings in this activity, but more on that in step eight.
  • Step 8: If you keep pressing VO + Right arrow, VoiceOver will announce “Use this activity for.” Pressing VO + Right again will place you on the “Apps & Websites…” menu button. Pressing this button will cause a list of apps to be displayed, as well as the choice of setting the activity up to be used with specific websites that you can add if you choose that option.

Need Help?

If you have questions about anything in this post, please don’t hesitate to let us know, and we would be glad to help you.

A Little Less Type, and a lot More Talking

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icon showing iOS 10 and macOS icon for Siri

Want to know the time? Just ask.
Want to know the weather? Just ask.

Now you can harness the power of Apple’s digital assistant, no matter what you’re working on!
From your iPad to your iPod, from your iPhone to your iMac, and everything in between, Siri will always be there, reminding you to bake those cupcakes for auntie Mabel’s birthday, and to always mind your p’s and q’s.

While the mac version of Siri might not be able to control your HomeKit devices, here are some things it can do:
• Control the playback of music in iTunes
• Adjust the system volume
• Toggle on and off accessibility features
• Help you search for files with Spotlight
• Perform web searches in Safari
• Toggle features such as Wi-fi, Bluetooth, and do not disturb
• Give you information about the hardware of your mac, including CPU type and speed, battery level, as well as the amount of storage available
• Place calls with FaceTime
• Send messages and emails
• And so much more…

Notes for VoiceOver Users

Weather: Due to the number of cells in the table and the fact that VoiceOver does not report column headers, the “Details” table can be a bit confusing to navigate.

Notes

iTunes: If you are listening to a song in iTunes and you ask Siri what you are listening to, you will have to read the result with VoiceOver, as Siri won’t speak it, like you might expect from using iOS.
Siri will shuffle songs from artist you request, except for Ellie Goulding. I promise, this is not a joke.
Update: You must preface the request to shuffle Ellie Goulding with the word artist. Example: You might ask something like “shuffle artist Ellie Goulding.”
Mail and Messages: Siri will not read the contents of the messages you dictated as you might expect from using iOS.
Siri will not prompt you for the phone number or email address for the recipient of your message.
FaceTime: Siri will not announce “Making a FaceTime/FaceTime audio call with contact” before the call is placed, like one would expect from using iOS.

P.S. – You are not able to use the Siri voices with VoiceOver in macOS.
The higher pitched tone that is played before Siri answers your request is not allways played in macOS.

Conclusion

Although Siri is not perfect and needs some work, I still think it is a welcome addition to macOS, and I’m excited to see what Apple will do with Siri in the future.

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