Technology Coach seeking tips on how to best help a blind client

By Roland, 24 September, 2017

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Good afternoon,

I am a Technology Coach and next week I will be working with my first blind person and his iPhone 5s to try and enhance his Accessibility experience and I am looking for hints and tips please.

Should he upgrade to an iPhone 7 or 8, will this give him better functionality as a blind person?

Interested in comments.

Many thanks

R

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Comments

By JeffB on Thursday, September 21, 2017 - 20:54

First an upgraded iPhone really isn't all that important. If he is ready for an update that would be different but if he is happy with his 5S there really isn't a reason to update. Also IOS11 seems to be very buggy right now. I think a question that you should ask is what in the terms of accessibility does he want help with? Is it using the phone more effectively? Perhaps it's finding the right app to identify objects, read text, recognize colors, and or a good blind GPS app. There's a lot of areas to cover accessibility wise so it's important to find out what his needs are.

By Roland on Thursday, September 21, 2017 - 20:54

In reply to by JeffB

Thanks Jeff,

Yes you are right, my initial meeting with him next week is an investigatory one to understand what he would like to achieve and then carry out further research from there into Accessibility and Apps etc....

Thank you very much for replying.

Best wishes

R

By AbleTec on Thursday, September 21, 2017 - 20:54

Hello, Roland. Another thing you might consider doing is to activate Voiceover on your own device & experiment w/its use. Voiceover does make the device function somewhat differently than most sighted folks are used to. Specifically, whereas a single tap is required w/o Voiceover, a double tap gesture w/voiceover is required, once for selecting an item & the 2nd for actually choosing it. There is an app in the app store called "Looktel Voiceover tutorial" which may help in this regard. In addition, you'll want to know how Voiceover identifies the various icons, as telling your client to "click on the envelope" for example, is not going to be helpful, since Voiceover does not identify apps in this way. Once you sort of get the hang of it, try closing your eyes. It's a whole different world out there! Lol--or not, as you prefer.

Good luck w/this, really. I think you'll enjoy the new experience. Feel free to ask questions on here--I truly believe most folks will be more than happy to assist you.

By Dawn 👩🏻‍🦯 on Thursday, September 21, 2017 - 20:54

I agree! If you want a free built-in tutorial, just do a 4-finger tripple or double tap (I cannot remember which of the top of my head), to start help. There's also a voiceover practice setting in the voiceover settings. To get there, go to settings, general, accessiblity, vision voiceover and you should see an item that says voiceover practice. Also, for your benafit, I'd also make sure hints are enabled on your device. You can access this setting in the voiceover menu also. Hope this helps you! Good luck with your first blind client, and I am proud of you for accepting the challenge!

By Roland on Saturday, October 21, 2017 - 20:54

In reply to by Dawn 👩🏻‍🦯

Thank you all so much for your advice and encouragement, I do a lot of Technology Coaching but I have never worked with a blind person and feel privileged to have this project, I will let you all know how things go :-)

Have a lovely week!

Best wishes

Roland

By Roland on Saturday, October 21, 2017 - 20:54

Hello all and thank you so much for your feedback.
So I had my initial meeting this week with my client and I am turning on Accessibility functions on my iPhone 6s, on my clients phone I found the finger tapping function quite unreliable and clunky he does have some kind of braille type screen overlay on his phone so maybe this is causing a problem? He would really like to make more use of the calendar is the IOS calendar any good for blind people or is there a better App?
I think Apple technology appears to offer more functionality for people with visual impairment.
I will continue to help my client, this is an exciting and new type of project for me but I know with the help of this community I will be able to make a difference to someone's life.
Any help/suggestions would be very gratefully received.

Enjoy your weekends!

Roland

By Justin on Saturday, October 21, 2017 - 20:54

Hey Roland,
The iOS calendar works great on my end with appointments etc. I would remove the braille overlay, it isn't necessary especially on an apple device, as everything on the iPhone talks with Voiceover. For your benefit as well as your student's benefit, I'd recommend looking at the applevis getting started with your first apple device sections on this site if you haven't done so already. It'll give you a load of info on how to set up, control, and use an iOS device effectively. Like others have said, this site is a great resource for those who are getting started or even an advanced user. All built-in functions work with VoiceOver, it's just the third party apps that you "might" have difficulty on using with VO.

By Roland on Saturday, October 21, 2017 - 20:54

Hi Justin,

Many thanks for your feedback I really appreciate your feedback and so will my client, he is determined to learn and make the most of his Apple Technology.

Thanks again.

Best wishes

Roland

By Jeff on Saturday, October 21, 2017 - 20:54

Roland, I agree with all of Justin's comments and suggestions. The calendar is quite accessible with Voiceover. Also, Ciri works well with the calendar, so you can set up appointments by instructing Ciri to do so. Or you can ask Ciri things like what's on my calendar today, or what is my battery level?

You can likewise set reminders and alarms. The Reminders and Clock apps are both accessible with Voiceover.

Don't hesitate to ask if you have other specific questions.