iPod adaptive technology possibilities
I recently received an email from Nate Sharpe who’s investigating possible adaptive technology adaptations to improve iPod usability. This is what he told me about his interests:
I’m basically just looking to see what’s out there right now in terms of how people are being creative in being able to use their iPods when they normally could not. After a fairly long time spent trying to google what’s out there I haven’t come up with much so I figured I’d go straight to the people who know the most about the subject.
For those who are using assistive technology with their iPods, what do you use? Do you have any tricks or hacks to make your iPod more accessible? And for those who can’t use an iPod or still find it very difficult, what would you like to see available that would help you access the device?
Nate said he’s happy for people to answer by leaving comments on this post or to email him directly if you prefer.
- Ricky Buchanan
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What I’d most like is some speech output for the menus. My vision isn’t hugely bad but the menus on the nano are TINY. Even if it were pre-recorded samples just playing for the preset menu titles it’d help me get to the correct section.
The other thing is a keyguard-like case with a gap where the circle controls are. I find them not too easy to reliably find with a fingertip - they don’t feel very different to the rest of the ipod to me.
Ricky
inCase sells neoprene (and leather, although I have no personal experience with the leather) cases for iPods that you can still use the circle control through:
http://www.goincase.com/products/detail/neoprene-sleeve-cl56141
I used one of those (but for the iPod fifth-gen, not the nano), and there is a lip around the wheel so you can’t accidentally ‘fall out’ of the wheel, and if I recall correctly, the inner pushbutton also has a raised bit on the case.
@dre: That sounds like it might help a lot. I wonder if others have similar cases - I’ll ask my local Apple reseller. Thanks!
Another teacher and I wrote a grant to look into Video Modeling for use with Autistic students. We are using the Flip camera to develop clips teaching student-specific skills (like standing in line, cutting with scissors, tying shoes, etc.) and then loading the clips onto iPods to be used with students. The iPod will give us the ability to deliver the instruction in the specific situation (hallway, cafeteria) where it needs to be delivered.
I’ve been doing a little research of my own on the iPod Touch (generously loaned to me from Samuel Sennott of Speak Up magazine) and I’ve actually come up with some solutions.
I’m a C4-C5 quadriplegic and have no use of my wrists or fingers. I can move my right arm reasonably well though.
The iPod Touch uses a touchscreen technology that works by sensing the electrical impulses generated by one’s finger. Obviously this is a big problem for people with limited use, or no use at all, of their hands. Fortunately there is a solution to this problem and it comes in the form of the Pogo Stylus (http://www.tenonedesign.com/stylus.php). Ricky recently had a news item about this based on Samuel Sennott’s review of this product. I’ve actually been using one of these for a couple days and it works very well. It does, however, have to touch your skin somewhere for it to function properly. But this is not a huge problem since chances are you should be able to mount it somewhere on your handsplint where it slightly brushes up against the side of your hand or something like that.
The other big problem, at least for me, is where can you mount the iPod Touch on your wheelchair so you can easily reach it and use it. You could just stick it to your armrest with Velcro or in a case that is velcrod to your armrest. But that might be awkward and you wouldn’t be able to rotate the iPod horizontally to widescreen mode for viewing photos, watching videos, or surfing the Internet in widescreen mode. But to my surprise I found a solution for this as well. Well at least what appears to be a solution. It comes in the form of the NAJA King (http://thoughtout.biz/NAJA_King). This is an iPhone/iPod Touch holder attached to a flexible coil that can be formed into any shape imaginable. The holder itself effortlessly rotates 360 degrees for widescreen or portait usage. You have to see this thing to understand so I recommend watching the video on their website. Once you view this video you will understand how useful this thing could be for somebody in a wheelchair. You can attach this than just about anywhere. I haven’t actually tried one of these things myself but hope to in the near future.You’ll notice on their website they make a whole bunch of other useful stands for various iPods.
Finally, I found a nice little speaker called the Kinyo 2.0 Portable Speaker (http://www.theistore.com/kinyo_2_dot_0_portable_speaker?model_id=72). All iPods, including the iPod Touch, have no speakers because Apple assumes that people use earphones, headphones, etc… with them. This might be problematic for people like myself who don’t want to wear headphones, earphones, etc… all day or don’t want to have to ask somebody to put on headphones,earphones, etc… everytime they want to use their iPod. Plus, you just might want everybody around you to hear what’s playing on your iPod. That’s where this nifty little speaker comes in. It’s tiny so would’t take up much space. Should be perfect for wheelchair users.
That’s all I have for now. I was planning to write an article about this when I get my own Touch and get a chance to actually use all of these things but when I saw Nate’s post I thought it was better to get this information out sooner because it might be useful to others. If anybody comes up with other ideas please share.
@Paul: I still want that article when you get to try this stuff out with your own Touch! At least now you’ve already written most of it though
- Ricky
@Marilou: I would very much like to hear about your Flip/iPod modelling project! Would you like to write a little for a guest post? Please email me or comment here and we can organise something.
- Ricky
@Marilou, @Ricky: I’d be interested in hearing more about the project too.
Hello from England, The above link will take you to a pdf of a product just introduced into the UK by a company called Cobolt Systems I have not seen the product myself but there has been quite a lot of interest in the device. It was exhibited at Sight Village in Birmingham, UK a month ago.
Hope this helps?
Regards
Chris
@Christopher: That’s fantastic, thanks! I found a website for the I-Tell too, for those who are interested. It’s a gadget that plugs into an i-pod to output synthesised speech for the menus. If you know anybody who has one, please ask them to do a review for us!
I have ipod nano 4G and can just about manage the wheel, i put it in a case which acts as a guide to help thumb stay in wheel area.
I would have liked ipod touch or iphone but I tried one and the on-screen keyboard was too small for me to manage for text messaging and i struggled to hit the small icons with enough pressure to activate it (I have co-ordination difficulties due to ataxia).
I would like to see something that scanned menu’s and would work on either the ipod nano’s or ipod touch. I have seen something similar for smartphones and PDA’s but I think it works via Bluetooth which I dont think ipods have inside.
I have seen something for the older ipods but I think it was on an American site, it would be good for simple accessibility additions like this to be available in each country and at a reasonable price.
Maybe the ipod software could have accessibility options if it does speech why cant it offer scanning then all person has to do is add a switch that is suitable for them?
The iPod doesn’t generate the speech as it goes, the computer generates the speech in advance and adds the speech files like hidden audio files when the iPod synchronises - the iPod doesn’t have enough CPU power to synchronize speech. I definitely agree that a scanning switch adaption would be fantastic for some users though.