Are there any apps marketed towards fiction writers and/or screenwriters that are also accessible?
I would love an accessible version of Final Draft and an iOS version of an application I used years ago to keep track of notes, character information and other such things called Treepad. It used a collapseable tree structure to allow nested subdocuments so I could keep whole project notes in the main tree and then notes and other subdocuments pertaining to particular chapters or sections in the branch for the section in question. There might have been more efficient ways to keep track of things, but not in any accessible application that existed at the time. It would be great to have something like that available on iOS devices, particularly if there was an equivalent app for Windows and Mac that could then sync with any devices being used by the writer.
At any rate, I do not have a lot of hope on this topic, such apps would be a very narrow niche, but one can always hope.
Thanks,
chris
Comments
May Not Be Exactly What You're Looking For, But
The closest accessible app I can think of is one called My Writing Spot. It's a very simple app, so it may not provide the organizational tools you're looking for, but it does automatically sync between the web, and the app on your phone, so it might be of some use.
Two others of note are Writing Toolkit, and Writers Lists. These two won't let you write; they're more springboards for ideas. But I thought I'd mention them anyway.
Otherwise, I haven't been very lucky in finding any accessible writing apps.
Hi.
I use scrivener on my mac. I love it, it's great for organising large projects and you can set word count goals and things.
On my iPhone in terms of writing I use write2 which also syncs with dropbox. In terms of organisation there is an app I use called A novel Idea. There is a paid and free version. It gives you templates where you can write about setting, characters, ideas for certain scenes or chapters. In the paid version it syncs with dropbox and you can actually start writing the chapters, but you could always write them in another section and just export if you didn't want to pay. Hope this helps.
Thanks
Thanks for the suggestions. I will check all of them out. I hope that over time, more apps will appear and that their developers will take accessibility into consideration. This is still an issue with writers applications for desktops. I don't know how many times over the years that I checked out the demo of, or even worse spent the money on some new creativity software only to find it completely inaccessible.
I am glad to know that there are any applications available at all. Perhaps I should try to talk some friends I know into creating some apps. I would very much love a word processing app that could do all of the formatting for screenplays, stage plays, novels, game outlines and any other specialized document formats out there.
Thanks again,
chris
I found that there is an iPad
I found that there is an iPad app from the makers of Final Draft called Final Draft Writer, if you search final draft or scrivener you find several apps that look promising, but all of them seem to be paid apps which means one must risk the cost to find out about accessibility. The Final Draft Writer is $19.99, so quite a risk. I wish there was a way to demo these apps before buying. some of them look quite promising.
Regards,
chris
The Guide
I tried getting the Scrivener trial version for PC, particularly since they are supposed to still be working on a version for iOS, but the installer itself is not accessible which does not bode well for the program itself. Perhaps I will get some sighted help installing just to be sure it is not accessible once installed.
I think that there is a Mac version of Treepad Lite which is a great organizational tool for writing. It uses a two pane tree-based system and is pretty good for a free tool. No iOS version and no sign of one coming.
Someone also showed me The Guide 2.0 which is a two pane outliner tool, also free and seems signifigantly more powerful than Treepad Lite. I think that there is a Mac version, though I am not sure since I got the application through Sourceforge and not directly from the developer's site. If there is a Mac version, I highly recommend Mac users try it out. the PC version has the advantage of using rtf format which converts to Word format easily, which is the format most editors, agents and publishers want submissions in theese days. As an old Word percfect fanatic, I found this annoying, but it is pretty much an industry standard by now. I found no signs of an iOS app either in existance or in development. Too bad since it would be a great tool for use on portable devices as well and being able to sync projects automatically would be a real bonus.
I really, really want to try the Final Draft iOS app. I have tried several screenwriting applications from Movie Magic Screenwriter, to plugins/templates for applications like Word and Word Perfect and Final Draft was the best and most accessible one I used. I used it while taking screenwriting courses in film school and it made life so much easier. but the app costs $20 and, being on a tight budget and hating to waste even one dollar on something that turns out to be inaccessible, I am afraid to take the plunge. Has anyone else tried it out? Would be a great app for review.
Regards,
Chris
accessible Screenwriting Apps?
Chris,
I wanted to follow up on the comments above relating to screenwriting, as I've been on the hunt for an accessible screenwriting formatter as well.
1. I've seen that Scrivener for Mac is very accessible, but I saw that you mentioned the Scrivener installer for PC was not accessible. I was just thinking about installing the demo to test it for myself, but before I do - did you get around to the demo and find out if it's accessible with a Windows screen reader?
2. You said Final Draft was the most accessible option you'd tried thus far? I tried the Final Draft demo for PC a while back and found that it was almost 100% inaccessible. Is that no longer the case?
Scrivener for Mac looks very promising (and may help tip me over to a Mac for my next computer, whenever that happens), but I'm definitely interested in what may be available for PC right now, and any further detail on what's available for Mac in terms of Scrivener, Final Draft, etc.
Sorry I haven't responded, i
Sorry I haven't responded, i've been recovering from back surgery and have fallen behind on everything.
I never got the demo of Scrivener to install. The installer itself is not accessible, the screen reader doesn't read any options at all, so it would require sighted help to install and if the installer is that bad, it doesn't give me much hope for the application itself.
On Final Draft,it isn't a matter of no longer being the case, but rather if it is inaccessible that is the new case. I found it to be the most accessible application, but this is not new, this is going back to 2002 through about 2008 or so. I never had any problems with the application nor with using features like autocompleting character names, location names and all of that. If new versions are not accessible using Window eyes, the only screenreader I used with it, then there has been a step backwards and perhaps it is time to get blind writers out there sending them complaints about the loss of accessibility.
I am also considering a Mac for my next computer. I've been told by multiple people now that Windows applications run on a Mac actually run faster and more stable than they run on an equivalent PC. I would just dual boot between the latest Mac OS and Windows 8.2 or 9, whichever is the newest when I finally get the new desktop.
You might want to try The Guide, another application mentioned above. I have been told by many that it is as good or better than Scrivener, though I have not had a chance to test these claims. and thus can't give any real opinion beyond that it might be worth a try.
If you have an iPad, there is a fully functional version of Final Draft available for iPad users. There is also an app for all iOS devices called Final Draft reader, which can open and read Final Draft Documents. I don't know what the full price of the Final Draft Writer for iPad since I got it on a sale for something like $19.99, so I don't know if it is worth trying out at full price. I haven't tried it as of yet because I don't like the virtual keyboard for writing anything longer than a text, so I am looking for a full sized keyboard that could be used with an iPad before I try out these writing apps.
HTH,
chris