iPhone accessibility with VoiceOver
This page contains links to information about using the iPhone 3GS with its built-in screen reader VoiceOver, a huge step for eyes-free mobile accessibility. This is a wiki, please feel free to add more links and content. Don't know how? Read Help:Editing.
- Apple's official iPhone accessibility page
- Apples Accessible HTML version of the iPhone user guide
- Apple video demonstrates eyes-free usage of the iPhone 3GS
- Growing list of VoiceOver compatible iPhone applications, collected by blind community members on Mac-cessibility network.
For developers
Apples Accessibility Programming Guide for iPhone OS: Learn how to make your iPhone applications accessible to VoiceOver users. From the introduction:
"iPhone applications that run in iPhone OS 3.0 and later should be accessible to VoiceOver users."
Apple could perhaps turn following these instructions into another requirement for app store approvals in the future. On September 22, 2009, Mobile Orchard, one of the leading iPhone developer blogs, published the article: Programming the iPhone for accessibility by the visually impaired. Additionally, read also "Developer view on accessibility in third-party iPhone apps with first developer feedback.
Apple's Accessibility Developer Guide:
- Introduction
- Accessibility on iPhone, briefly describes how VoiceOver works and introduces the programming interface and tools you can use to make your application accessible.
- Making your application accessible, provides in-depth guidance.
- Testing the accessibility of your iPhone app, introduces the Accessibility Inspector, and describes how to use it and VoiceOver for testing.
Media coverage
- Making the iPhone icons speak, New York Times, blog post by David Pogue with many comments (July 14, 2009)
- Blind photographers use gadgets to realize artistic vision, Wired (gadgetlab), by Brian X. Chen (July 16, 2009)
- For Apple, accessibility is much more than lip service, Ars Technica, by Chris Foresman, (September 21, 2009)
- iPhone 3GS mit VoiceOver für blinde Menschen nutzbar, German language, by Per Busch, published on August 05, 2009 at Heise Online.
- ... (Know more? Just add.)
Blogs
- Mac-cessibility News, by Josh De Lioncourt (USA), category iPhone
- The Candleshore Blog, by Mark Taylor (USA), category wireless phones
- A load of old Squit, iPhone related entries, by Rachel Andrews (UK)
- My first experience using an accessible touch screen device, post by Mozilla's accessibility "wunderkind" Marco Zehe (Germany) with lots of comments (June 22, 2009)
- Finally an accessible camera, article on blind photographers site, by lodrorigdzin
- ... (add more)
- Twitter search for recent tweets with hash tag #iphoneaccess
- All #iPhoneaccess tweets on one page (Twapper Keeper archive)
Mailing lists
Interesting threads on the Google mailing list
- ... (add more)
Podcasts
- MacVoices #982: Shelly Brisbin discusses the arrival of iPhone 3GS accessibility (June 25th, 2009)
- Mac Cast 2009.07.01 – iPhone 3GS Accessibility, Adam Christianson talks with Shelly Brisbin, Josh De Lioncourt and Shane Jackson
- Round table podcast with the knights of Mac-cessibility (June 23, 2009)
- Three Blind World iPhone podcasts by Shane Jackson (USA), June 21, 2009: Part1 (musings), Part2 (trip to the ATT store), Part3 (first testing, together with other fans)
- SeroTalk podcast 17 discusses and demos the new iPhone 3GS (June 23rd, 2009)
- ... (there are many newer podcasts on the web, find them and add them here)