Three Steps To A Smarter Phone

There are smart phones (with email, Internet capability), and there are phones that are not smart --- shall we call them dumb? It’s never too late to help your dumb phone get a little smarter.

You may be able to set these features in your phone, but I suggest opting for the easy method, go to the tech desk at your local Verizon Wireless store (or the carrier of your choice), or make an appointment with a “Device Specialist” at a Verizon location, and ask to activate the features (listed below) in your cell phone. It makes a huge difference to ease of use, especially when you cannot see what’s on the screen.

1. Caller ID and Menu Readout:
announces incoming calls, menu names

2. Voice Commands: ask phone to dial contact by name, get messages, get time/date

3. Largest Font, Highest Contrast & Brightness: make screen text readable

My experience has been at Verizon, but I know you can get the same "smarts" at AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile. Go ahead, ask.

Listen To Me

It’s no secret that I love technology that speaks. For me, audible access is the last word. It is, after all, the problem-solver in the evolution of accessible everyday things. A few excellent examples: Talking ATMs, the iPod Nano with spoken menus and the Shuffle’s voice over. I applaud these big moves, and I anxiously await more to come.

At the top of my (soon to be published) Wish List is audible access on the web. Yes, that’s correct. I want websites to talk to me (and you). Why not? Wouldn’t you like the option to listen while the webpage is read to you?

I know how good this could be, because I get a taste of it now using ZoomText speech. Unfortunately, it is not consistent. Way too often, I will ask ZoomText to read a webpage, and it refuses, without explanation.

My wish is, now, your command. Thanks to Odiogo you can experience the beauty of speech, right on this blog. Just click the “Listen Now” button at the top and enjoy!

I’ll say it again--vision- friendly technology is good for everyone!

Thanks for listening --- now talk to me. Do you like this web option as much as I do?

Google Made Even Easier

“Accessible” means: “easy to deal with.” As if Google was not already easy, Google’s Accessible Search (I kid you not) is even easier.

Before I discovered “Google Accessible Web Search, web searching was an activity I seriously considered giving up altogether because I seemed to often end up in a mess of links that led to pages I had tremendous difficulty reading.

Google Labs Accessible Web Search for the Visually Impaired (to some degree, that’s about half the US population, isn’t it?) delivers clean, uncluttered search results that are easy to read, no sponsored links, and pages are ordered by site accessibility (easiest to deal with first).

I know it’s great for me, and having converted many to Google Accessible Search users, I think it could be better for everyone.

The Kindle Too?

So much comment is swirling around Amazon’s Kindle 2, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s all good (yes even the bad). Let’s face it – everyone is talking about it – everyone is aware of the Kindle 2! It’s brilliant.

The controversy stirred by the text-to-speech (tts) feature, which was to allow the Kindle 2 to read any ebook “aloud,” is good, too! It put this topic right out front. It seemed to peak when Roy Blount, the President of the Authors Guild, wrote an Op-Ed in the NY Times in defense of authors getting their fair share of the audio rights being infringed upon by the Kindle’s computerized voice. Amazon agreed to only activate the speech feature when authorized by the publisher.

I remain delighted and excited by the Kindle 2 and the literary experiences it can open to me (and to many millions).

With badly impaired central vision, my reading options have been drastically curtailed over the last few years. I am one of the people using “the software” Mr. Blount referred to, a program called ZoomText, which gives me the choice of magnifying print or having it read aloud. In fact, without it, his NY Times Opinion piece would not have been accessible at all to me. Even still, it would not be my favorite way of reading books.

I am an avid reader (buyer) of audio books. Although I revel in the thought and the reality of text turning to speech electronically, I would never choose a “tts” reader over the voice of the author or that of the professional reader. The voice of the reader can change everything for better, and sometimes not.

While I am quite fond of the voice in my computer, and the voice in my iPod, there are inevitably pronunciation errors, pregnant pauses, and instances where it just refuses to read a word entirely. At times, the lack of intonation and inflection becomes mind-numbing. Far from perfect and I dare say no competition for a human being.

Text-to-speech in the Kindle would solve a problem I’m facing right this minute; a couple of books I must read that are not available in audio version. I’ve attempted to convert “The Huffington Post Complete guide to Blogging” from “tts” with the KNFB Mobile Reader – one tortuous page at a time – I do not recommend it. Also, tried to read it under my video magnifier with print enlarged by 10x, so arduous and laborious that comprehension is extremely diminished. Both exercises left me longing for the mellifluous, Greek-accented voice of Arianna Huffington.
Have no fear, Authors Guild, computerized speech is simply an alternative that technology affords us, they will never replace humans in the business of audio book reading.

How are you reading? What are your thoughts on the Kindle 2?

Giving Credit To The Bank

Giving Credit to the Bank

On my way to work this morning, I stopped at the ATM machine and checked my balance, moved money between accounts, and got cash. So, what’s the big deal, millions of people do this every day; it’s just that I was not one of them, until I discovered Talking ATM’s at Bank of America.

I’d been dreaming of ATM’s that talked, because banking on the fly was out of the question. I could go, only, to the ATM at my (former) bank, push the buttons (as committed to memory), and pray that the machine would spit my requested currency out. Success was like hitting the jackpot!

Then, my dream came true. I learned that most ATM’s today are built to speak, some just are never given a voice. I was shown to the precious earphone jack, at the right of the keypad. Plugged my iPod earphones into the ATM and experienced euphoria!

It was so good, I couldn’t stop. Some mornings, I’d drop in at four or five banks on my way to work…looking for the earphone jack, seeing if they all would talk to me. I was rolling in cash, and racking up the ATM fees (a small price for freedom!).

The conclusion of my ATM Listening Tour: Bank of America, hands down the best in accessibility. (You know, accessibility is one of my favorite words, meaning easy to deal with.) ‘B of A’ definitely does that, and they even call it “Accessible Banking.” Their ATM’s were so consistently good, and their “red” Banking Centers, so easy to find; I, without hesitation, became a Bank of America customer.

I am, certainly, no Talking ATM expert, but an enthusiastic advocate, who recommends everyone give it a whirl. I think you’ll like it. I’ve heard Wells Fargo (now also Wachovia) does a good job. HSBC has the jacks, but, so far, no freedom of speech. People have told me that Chase has talkers, but they, for some reason, will not speak to me.

Go, take your ear buds, and try it. If it’s not available at your bank, ask why? By now they should all have voice, don’t you agree?