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#iACast 26 – Dial It Up

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Image of Surface Dial on top of a touch screen displaying the time.

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Welcome to episode 26 of the #IACast! This episode was recorded on November 9, 2016. Listen to this podcast to hear Michael, Jessica, Daniel, and Jason discuss the following topics:

  • Accessible VotingAre you over 18 and a United States citizen? If so, we hope you voted in this year’s election. If you did not, because you were afraid of accessibility issues, we have great news for you! Several of us voted, and we have a lot of information for you about what you can expect when voting.
  • Microsoft Surface Studio and 2016 Apple MacBook Pro First ImpressionsMichael recently made his way to the Microsoft store and the Apple Store – check out what he thought of the Surface Studio, Surface Dial, and the MacBook Pro.
  • Google Home Now AvailableThose of us on the podcast this week have not yet seen the recently released Google Home, but someone on the iAccessibility team has! We cannot wait to bring you more information about the Google Home, but here’s what we’ve heard about the device so far.
  • Slack AccessibilitySlack is a service used to communicate with groups of people, in what are called teams. You may need to use this app if you join an organization, beta test, or even work for some companies. Recently, the iOS app was updated to work much better with VoiceOver. We are really happy about this!

As always, if you enjoyed this podcast, please share it with friends! Also, you can reach us on social media, or email us with feedback! Thank you for listening!

#iACast 25 – Fruit or Flop?

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Apple invite for its Hello Again event.

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We apologize for the delay in uploading the podcast, but we hope you will enjoy hearing our coverage of the recent Microsoft and Apple Events. The Microsoft Event took place on Wednesday, October 26, and the Apple Event took place on Thursday, October 27.

For information about what was released at Microsoft’s Windows 10 Event, check out this link from BGR.

Microsoft Event October 2016: Announcement recap – everything unveiled

For detailed coverage of the Apple event, check out this great page from MacRumors.

Apple Shares Full Video of Today’s MacBook Pro Event [Update: iTunes Version Available]

At iAccessibility, we have some useful posts about using the Touch Bar on the new MacBook Pro as low vision or blind users.

VoiceOver at the Bar

Zooming in on the Touch Bar

As always, thank you for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, please share it with others and rate us in your podcast app. For feedback and suggestions, please email feedback@iaccessibility.net

Zooming in on the Touch Bar

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image of MacBook Pro 2016 from iMore.com

We’ve already talked about how VoiceOver works with the Touch Bar on the new MacBooks, but what about low vision users? How could Apple possibly make items on such a tiny screen usable by the visually impaired? It’s called Touch Bar Zoom, and we’re going to tell you all about it.

What’s Touch Bar Zoom?

Much like Zoom on the Mac, Apple TV, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch, Touch Bar Zoom magnifies elements, making them easily accessible to everyone. Since the Touch Bar is small, Apple opted to show a zoomed version on screen whenever it’s needed. Once the user has selected an option, the icons disappear from screen.

How to Enable or Disable Touch Bar Zoom

  1. Click the Apple logo in the menu bar.
  2. Click “System Preferences.”
  3. Click “Accessibility.”
  4. Click “Zoom.”
  5. Click the checkbox next to “Enable Touch Bar Zoom.”

To disable Touch Bar Zoom, follow the steps listed above, and deselect the checkbox.

Note: Touch Bar Zoom is not available while VoiceOver is running, due to conflicting gestures.

How to Use Touch Bar Zoom

To show the Touch Bar on screen, hold one finger on the Touch Bar. Note: Simply tapping it will not work.

If the version of the Touch Bar shown on screen is either too small or too large, you can adjust the zoom level. This is done by holding down the command key, and performing the pinch to zoom gesture on the Touch Bar. Just as it does on iOS, bringing the two fingers closer together (pinching) will zoom out, and spreading the fingers apart will zoom in.

How to Select Items

Holding one finger on the Touch Bar will show it on screen. Then, slide your finger to the item you wish to select. The circle surrounding it on screen will change color, and then you can lift your finger. Alternatively, you may split-tap items to select them. To do this, touch and hold an icon you wish to select, then tap the Touch Bar once with another finger.

Conclusion

When the new Macs were just rumors, we were concerned that low vision users would be left out in the cold. However, we really should have known better. Regardless of what accessibility features a user needs, the Touch Bar is completely accessible. We wish Touch Bar Zoom would work with VoiceOver, but we believe this is a great start. We cannot wait to get our hands on the new MacBooks!

Featured image from iMore

#iACast 24 – Silence!!! I Kill the Internet!

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A map showing that much of Friday's Internet outage was over the US.

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Thanks for checking out the #IACast. This episode was recorded on Tuesday, October 25, 2016, and uploaded on Wednesday, October 26, 2016. Let’s get right down to what happened this week!

Like our show? Let us know by tweeting using the hashtag #IACast, and of course share our podcast with friends! Thank you for listening!

#iACast 23 – Hello Again

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Apple invite for its Hello Again event.

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Thank you for checking out #IACast, episode 23! In this episode, we discuss the following:

Love our podcast? Please share it with friends! Thank you!

Some of My Favorite #macOS Sierra Features

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Image of the macOS Sierra App Store Icon, which is mountains and sky inside of a circle with a border.

Sierra has been out for awhile now, and while I haven’t had the chance to play with it as much as I would like, I have found some interesting new features and changes. If you’ve been following macOS Sierra news, or if you are using the new OS yourself, you’ll probably know about most of these. However, there’s a chance you might find a few mew gems.

Siri

First and foremost, let’s get the big one out of the way! Yes, we now have Siri, Apple’s digital assistant, in macOS Sierra. The functionality is more limited than I would like, and there are a few accessibility issues with it, but it is a great start! I can’t wait to see future improvements made to Siri on the Mac.

For more coverage on Siri in macOS, check out these articles:

Unlock Your Mac with Apple Watch

Another feature we also have covered on iAccessibility is the ability to unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch. This is a huge step for convenience and security, and those who have tried this feature absolutely love it!

However, there are some limitations, such as:

  • You must have a 2013 Mac or newer.
  • You must have two-factor authentication enabled for your Apple ID.
  • You must have watchOS 3 on your Apple Watch.

Some of these limitations may be show stoppers for some users, such as myself. Unfortunately, I own a 2012 MacBook Pro, so I am unable to use this feature.

Picture-in-Picture

One of the great features from the iPad is now available on the Mac! If supported in the app, or if you are watching video in Safari, you will be able to continue watching video while working in other apps. The video will take up a corner of your screen, and you can continue working. Even if you have little or no vision, this is a great feature, because it means your audio will continue as well! Nice!

Tapbacks

Wait, what backs? LOL! Basically, reactions to iMessages is available in macOS. Want to know more about iMessage in iOS 10, check out this article.

In macOS, simply right click on a bubble, choose, tap backs, and then the reaction you want.

This feature is great if you need to reply to a message, but do not want to lose your train of thought and want to return to working quickly.

Rearranging Menu Extras

Yes! Finally! In macOS Sierra, you can now rearrange menu extras. Simply hold down the command key while dragging icons to rearrange them. Note: This feature does not seem to be VoiceOver accessible at this time.

New Notification Shortcut

Now VoiceOver users can quickly access any notifications they have waiting in an easy-to-use VoiceOver menu.

That’s right. Simply press VO+N to access new notifications. Enjoy!

One Row Added?

This is most likely every VoiceOver user’s favorite new feature, especially if they frequent Twitter. One Row Added, One Row Added, One Row Added got annoying very quickly.

Now we have more control over what happens when the number of rows changes under the VoiceOver cursor, and it is awesome! Most users will most likely choose nothing, but you can also have a sound played or have spoken feedback as before. This is great, because there are instances in which you would want to know a row has been added, such as when adding a marker to an audio file.

Related Article: There’s an Activity for That

Simplified Preferences

Take a trip through system preferences and VoiceOver Utility, and you’ll notice that some options appear to be missing, have new locations, or are worded differently. Although it is a subtle change, it is a welcome one. It helps to simplify changing preferences, and remove redundant options.

…and that’s it, at least for me! What do you think? Are there any new features I should have added? Do you think tabbed interfaces for all apps should have made it onto this list? Feel free to share your favorite features in the comments, and thanks for reading!

#iACast 14: Wi-Pi

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Raspberry Pi Logo

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Episode notes

ON this episode of iA Cast we discuss the latest Apple news, and we talk about the new version of the Raspberry Pi, a $35 computer that can fit in your pocket We discuss that Sony is bringing their streaming PlayStation game playing service to the Mac, and the latest in gaming news.

We hope you enjoy iA Cast. Please use our social links to leave us feedback about the podcast, and please rate us in the iTunes Store, or wherever you listen to our podcast.

#iACast 13: Apple Problems

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iPad Classroom iOS 9.3

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Episode Show Notes

On this episode of iA Cast we discuss the following

  • Discussed the Apple VS FBI case. To learn more, visit http://www.apple.com/customer-letter
  • Discussed the Uber driver tragedy and how this could effect Lyft and Uber.
  • Discussed new releases from Mobile World Congress this week.
  • Discussed New betas and features in new Apple beta software which will be released in early march.

We hope you are enjoying iA Cast. Please rate our podcast in iTunes or in your favorite Podcatcher.

#iACast 12 – Digital Accessible Art!

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Image of Apple Pencil being used with iPad Pro on flat surface

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Episode Notes

It has been since December since we recorded a new podcast, so here is what we have covered this week.

  • We discussed the updates that have been made here at iAccessibility concerning the podcast and our website.
  • Review of the new iPhone 6s battery case
  • Discuss the pros and cons of removing the iPhone headphone jack in the iPhone 7
  • Discuss error 53 and what it means. We also touch on the new iOS date bug.
  • We discuss the latest news about iOS 9.3 which will come out to everyone in March
  • Apple is rumored to release the iPhone 5se next month, and we talk about what features it should have and if people want a 4 inch iPhone
  • We discuss the New Apple TV and if people still use it
  • Facebook is a modern name in browsing the web, but do we really need the app on our devices to use their services?
  • We discuss the latest in entertainment news, which include movies, gaming and books
  • The Apple Pencil is a new way to draw on a tablet screen, and you can learn how to pair it and draw with it by listening to this episode

We will continue this podcast each week now and all episodes have been migrated over to this site. If you do not see episodes 11 and 12 in your podcast app of choice then please unsubscribe and re-subscribe to our podcast and you should see the new episodes there.

iAccessibility is on slack at iaccessibildtyslack.slack.com We encourage everyone who wants to communicate on what we discuss to contact us and we can add you to the accessibility Slack community.

Slack is accessible and it will work with all modern screen readers on any platform.

Please email Michael Doise if you have any questions or suggestions for this podcast. You may also find us online at the social links below these show notes.

We hope you have enjoyed this podcast and will listen next week.

#iACast 10 – The Apple Waiting Game

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iAccessibility Logo

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This week on the iA Cast, we discuss the following topics.

  1. Michael’s confusion about the iPhone reservation process
  2. The New Apple TV, and how it works
  3. Release date of iOS 9 and Mac OS X El Capitan
  4. Discussion of BlindSquare and AroundMe apps
  5. Discussion of state of Android accessibility
  6. Apple TV will support MFI game controllers Apple TV to support MFi-based game controllers … – iMore
  7. Destiny The Taken King comes out on September 15
  8. World of Warcraft has new accessibility features for color blind and low vision users
  9. Prime Time shows to return to network television this month you will be able to ask Siri to play that episode on the new Apple TV
  10. Check out Blind Bargains
  11. Check out AppleVis

Upcoming Events

  1. iOS 9 release, September 16
  2. iPhone 6s and 6s Plus launch, September 25
  3. Photography Non-visually, September 26

Speculation: Penciling in OS X?

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Image of Apple Pencil being used with iPad Pro on flat surface

Many writers at iMore have stated that Mac OS X is not designed to be a touch based operating system. This is because the programs are not built to work with a touch interface, but what if a team were to build apps for iOS that did the same as Mac OS X but for iOS? If these apps were built for the iPad, then the user could use the pencil for an easier touch experience in selecting files rather than using their finger. The Apple Pencil offers a very precise tool for manipulating objects on the iPad Pro, and it would be logical to speculate that it would be an essential tool for bringing full Mac OS support to an iPad or iPad Pro near you.

Pairing Apple Pencil with iPad Pro

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Image of Apple Pencil being used with iPad Pro on flat surface

This weekend I received my Apple Pencil, and the first thing I did was get my iPad Pro and pair it with the Apple Pencil. The process is very simple and will take less than a minute. Here is how you pair the two devices.

Pairing the Apple Pencil

The Apple Pencil has a magnetic cap on the end opposite the nib. You will feel a metal ring, and the cap will be above that ring. Simply pull the cap off the back of the pencil and you will see a Lightning connector. You can pair your Pencil by either plugging that lightning connector into the iPad Pro and have it stick out the bottom of your iPad, or by using the adapter that comes with the pencil. This will allow you to plug a lightning cable into the pencil, and then into the iPad. This will make sure you don’t hit the pencil breaking the lightning connector on it. This would be the best for charging, but to pair it is just simple to plug the pencil right into the iPad for a few seconds.

Once you plug the Pencil into the iPad Pro, you just have to wait until a pairing dialog appears. Once it does, double tap on the pair button to pair your Apple Pencil, and you will be ready to write in the Notes app or other apps that work with the device. When the battery gets low on the pencil, the iPad will tell you to charge the pencil by using a method mentioned above.

We will soon have an article here on iAccessibility’s website discussing how to do more with the Apple Pencil with VoiceOver, so keep checking back to learn more about this amazing device. We will discuss how to use it with drawing apps, and how to navigate the iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil.

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