Speech-to-text software, sometimes known as dictation software, is something that lets you talk to the computer in some form and have the computer react appropriately to what you are saying. This is totally different to text-to-speech software, which is software can read out text already in the computer.

Command and Control Software

There are two types of speech-to-text software available. One type is called "command and control" and it lets you speak commands to your computer to control it; hence the name. For example, a command that the computer understands might be, "go to the Apple website" or, "tell me the time". Each command is pre-programmed and the computer will only recognise those commands it's been programmed for; you can't use this software to write an email or use iChat for example.

Command and control software for the Mac - known as "Speakable Items" (or sometimes, confusingly, "spoken commands") - is already built into every OS X computer, although most people don't know about it. You don't need to download, buy, or install anything to get this software to work, just a microphone that works with your computer. The main drawback is that the Speakable Items software programmed for English with a standard American accent, and has significant trouble with any other accent. It doesn't function at all with languages other than English.

Some resources for getting you up and running with Speakable Items include:

• Get Siri-like Functionality on your Mac with Speakable Items (video with full transcript available)
• Apple Support Articles about Speakable Items

Dictation Software

The other type of speech-to-text software is usually called "dictation" software. This is the type that lets you write an article like this one, type stuff to your friends in iChat, or type an email. The most common Windows software for speech to text dictation - you've probably heard of it - is Dragon NaturallySpeaking. There is only one dictation-capable speech-to-text software available for OS X which is being updated and developed and it's [msd]. Dictate is the successor to a program named iListen which MacSpeech used to produce.

Like all dictation-capable text-to-speech products, MacSpeech Dictate works very well for some people and very badly for others. Whether it will work for you depends on many things including: how much effort you're willing to put into learning it, how good your microphone is, your age (text to speech usually works less well for children), how much your accent matches what the program expects, and whether your voice changes a lot through the day.

MacSpeech Dictate is also still fairly new software - it was only released on the 15th of February, 2008. In comparison, the premiere speech recognition program for Windows is Dragon NaturallySpeaking which has been in development since the 1980s[1].

When MacSpeech Dictate was originally released it had several major problems which made it unusable for people with disabilities, but most of these have now been resolved:

• There was no good help functions inside the application - this was rectified in Dictate version 1.3
• It didn't learn from corrections - this was rectified in Dictate version 1.2
• Couldn't spell words out by voice - this was rectified in Dictate version 1.2
• Couldn't request individual key presses (such as command-s or command-option-escape) by voice - this was rectified in Dictate version 1.3
• Couldn't be taught new words, such as names or jargon specific to your profession - this was largely rectified in Dictate version 1.2, although some words still resist training
• There was no way to control the mouse by voice - this was finally rectified in Dictate version 2.0.

I tried using the old iListen program a few years ago and could not get results that were useful, an on-screen keyboard was the best solution at the time. Although MacSpeech Dictate is in its early days as a program, its recognition of my particular voice is hugely better than iListen's was. This is not surprising though, as MacSpeech Dictate's speech recognition engine is based on the same engine used by Windows' Dragon NaturallySpeaking - widely recognised as the best consumer speech recognition available.

[msd] requires the requires Intel-based Macintosh hardware and requires Mac OS X 10.5.6 (Leopard) and higher. Thirteen English dialects/accents are supported, and US and UK spelling options. These are:

• US Spelling
  • American
  • American - Inland Northern
  • American - Southern
  • American - Teens
  • Australian
  • British
  • Indian
  • Latino
  • Southeast Asian
• UK Spelling
  • Australian
  
  
  • British
  
  
  • Indian
  
  
  • Southeast Asian

Specialised versions - Dictate Medical and Dictate Legal - are available for dictating in these language areas, and Dictate International is now available and recognises speech in French, German, and Italian. MacSpeech have strongly hinted that Spanish language recognition is next on their agenda.

MacSpeech Dictate is a great program for dictation and some computer control, but it is not something that will let you control the computer completely "hands free". For quadriplegic users and others who need full computer control, you will need to supplement Dictate with use of a mouth stick and keyboard, or a program such as SwitchXS for switch access to functions not available by voice. I highly recommend Dictate though, it's part of my suite of accessibility technology and I use it whenever I am able to.

Website: [msd]

- Ricky Buchanan

[msddisclaim]

[msdbanner]

Most "standard" computer games get harder because they get faster, relying on the player's reflexes and coordination keeping up. For example, in Tetris the blocks appear and drop faster and faster as your level increases:

Untimed games or time-independent games are those where you aren't penalised if you play a game very slowly, have bad reflexes, or don't posses the hand-eye coordination to time your movements accurately. Games like this are "turn-based" where any game actions only occur in response to the player's actions, and don't have any other timers or time-related limitations. One of my favourite time-independent games, Drop7, is another block-dropping game but each block only "falls" once you tell the game where to put it. Drop7 increases the difficulty by changing the mix of blocks which are dropped and by adding a layer of hidden (grey) blocks at the bottom of the screen after a number of moves:

Time independent games share all of these things:

• Game pieces aren't animated in a way that changes where you need to hit them, so taking extra time to initiate a move doesn't cause your target to shift.
• There is no timer limiting the amount of time you can take to play each move or the time taken for the overall game.
• Being fast or slow doesn't change the number of points awarded for each move or for an overall game.
• The app doesn't "reset", losing your position in the game, if the device is turned off.

If you aren't sure if a game fits all these requirements, a good way to check yourself is to open the game and choose exactly where you'll tap the screen to make a move ... then put the device down for 5 minutes before coming back and tapping the screen exactly where you had previously decided. If there's no disadvantage (or advantage) to your 5-minute pause that's time-independent. If you could do the same pausing routine at any point during the game then the whole game is time-independent.

Why would you want to know if a game is time-dependent or not? There are a large number of disabilities that affect timing, most of which come under these general categories:

• Conditions that affect perception (eg vision impairment, conditions affecting how the brain interprets perceptions, sensitivity to animated movement) which may slow down how fast you understand what the game's state is.
• Conditions that affect thinking or memory (eg brain injury, intellectual impairment, memory impairment) which may slow down your decision about which move to make.
• Conditions that affect movement or reactions in the limbs used to control the iPad (eg cerebral palsy, quadriplegia) which may slow down your ability to make the move you've decided to make.

An extra effect of time-independent games is that collaborative gameplay becomes possible. This could be a parent playing with a child, two friends playing together, a therapist playing with a client, or a partner-assisted play scenario where the player indicates their desires by their own methods and the partner physically touches the game devices for them.

A surprisingly small number of games actually fit the requirements for being fully time-independent, so for this list I'm broadening the definition a little. If the game does have some time-dependent elements but these can be adjusted by the player or aren't essential to regular play then I'll make a note of this in the list:

• A Monster Ate My Homework! (one of my favourites!)
• Aqueduct 101
• Arcs Free
• BeeCellsHD/BeeCells Lite (one of my favourites!)
• Blocks
• Boggle (has an overall timer but player can adjust from 1 to 10 minutes)
• Bookworm
• Brain Games 3 IN 1
• The "Choice Of" series of interactive fiction games
• Doodle Fit
• Drop7 (one of my favourites!)
• Geared HD
• PatternSrch
• Sliderz HD
• Solitaire and Spider Solitaire
• Squramble
• Stone Flood (one of my favourites!)
• TradeNations (this is a simulation game of the "Farmville" or "Sims" type)
• Trism (mostly untimed, it requires quick movement of iPad's angle for best multi-move cascades but you can play perfectly well without these)
• Word Abacus (one of my favourites!)
• Words With Friends (like online Scrabble)

These others are games that people have suggested may be time-independent, but which I haven't tested myself:

• Midnight Mysteries: Salem Witch Trials
• Samantha Swift And The Fountains of Fate
• Psychoban HD

What's your favourite time-independent game?

- Ricky Buchanan

There are three hardware-based options of which I'm aware for accessing the music playing functions an an iPod, iPhone, or iPad, as well as customisable software programs. These won't help you to use the programs on an iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad - just to play the music, audiobooks and podcasts you've already put onto the device.

Each option has different features, and of course different things work for different people so I'll let you know as many features as I have knowledge of, and we can go from there:

SpaceKraft's iPod Switcher

This is the simplest controller, with only three buttons. It has a desktop docking unit where the iPod sits plus a wireless controller unit with the three buttons.

Functions it controls: Play/Pause, Next Track, Previous Track.

Switch access: This unit does not allow your own switches to be plugged in, only the unit's own built-in buttons can be used.

Compatibility: The sales page just says "iPod". There's no clear indication of which iPods it will operate with - it looks like the dock part would only fit specific sizes of iPods.

Wireless controller size: 24cm wide, 19cm deep, 7cm tall.

Button size: Unspecified.

Cost: £295

Notes: The switcher control box is battery powered. The page says "Operates on 240v" which implies the dock section needs to be plugged in to operate, however.

RJ Cooper's BIG iPod Remote

Five-button remote with large brightly coloured buttons on the top, separate switches can also be plugged in.

Functions it controls: Play/Pause, Next Track, Previous Track, Volume up, Volume down.

Switch access: The unit's own built-in buttons can be used or any/all of these buttons can be replaced by separate switches.

Compatibility: It should fit any iPod/iPhone/iPad except the iPod Shuffle.

Wireless controller size: 8" wide x 5" deep x 3" tall.

Button size: The large green button is 1-3/4" and the smaller buttons are 1-1/4".

Cost: US$119

Technical Solutions' iScanMP3 (formerly SwitchPod)

Single switch visual/auditory scanning system, including adjustable scan speed.

Functions it controls: Play/Pause, Next Track, Previous Track, Volume up, Volume down, Power on/off.

Switch access: Plug in any standard switch.

Compatibility: It should fit any iPod/iPhone/iPad except the iPod Shuffle.

Cost: AU$190

Other Options

There are some 'easy music controller' programs for the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad which present an interface that's easier to operate for those with limited dexterity. They generally operate by gestures, where a single tap gesture anywhere on the screen will operate either the 'pause/play' function or the 'next song' function. Some are configurable so that you can define what gestures mean what.

These are some cheap options I recommend:

Gesture Player

This is the one I use myself to listen to my audio books. Specially cool things about it:

• Compatible with both iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch. Most seem to be iPhone/iPod Touch only.
• Clearly displays the function you have activated, so you know what's happening.
• You can pick a default playlist to use. Most seem to only have the option to use the full library.
• Can adjust the sensitivity of the gesture recogniser, more sensitive requires the gestures to be more accurate before they're recognised.

About the only thing that isn't perfect about this one is there's no ability to configure which gesture does what!

Swiper Music Player

Swiper has slightly different controls, so a single tap to the screen moves to the next track and a long tap (press-and-hold) is needed to operate the play/pause function. It also displays the music's cover art so you can see pictorially what's playing. Swiper is for the iPhone/iPod Touch only, there's no iPad native version.

LeechTunes

LeechTunes allows some controls to be customised, but basic controls seem fixed, including a single tap operating the play/pause function. There are a bunch of different "skins" to change the appearance and a software function to lock the program in either portrait or landscape mode. It also has iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad versions.

- Ricky Buchanan

There was a special Apple event in Cupertino on the 20th of October entitled "Back To The Mac". We were treated to a plethora of Mac-related announcements which have plenty of fantastic accessibility implications. I'm going to briefly run down what each announcement was, and why it matters for Mac accessibility.

State Of The Mac

Firstly Apple's Chief Operating Officer (COO) Tim Cook told us how the Mac was faring as a platform and the news is very good. There are more Mac users and Mac developers than ever before, and Apple is making plenty of money off all of us. The full information is available in MacLife's article: State of the Mac: "The Momentum Has Never Been More".

Why does this matter for accessibility: Firstly, there's no danger that Macs and OS X will be going away which is of course good! The iDevices and iOS are great but they don't do everything that everybody needs and it wouldn't be good if OS X disappeared at this point.

The fact that Apple as a company is making plenty of profit, despite the world economy, is good news for accessibility because unfortunately accessibility progress is often one of those not-very-visible things which tends to be cut back if a company hurting. This is obviously not something that Apple users need to be worrying about just now!

iLife '11

The newest edition of the iLife suite (including iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand) will be iLife '11, and is available immediately. Improvements to the iLife suite include full screen modes for iPhoto, more ways to create iPhoto slideshows, audio filters and a 'movie trailer' mode for iMovie. GarageBand will sport some timing "fixer" technology knows as GrooveMatching and Flex Time, as well as new amplifiers and instrument lessons for aspiring piano and guitar players.

It wasn't announced on the day of the event, but Maccessibility reports that iLife '11 also sports significant accessibility improvements, especially accessibility improvements in GarageBand. They don't cite their sources but Maccessibility are known for generally being accurate.

iLife '11 requires that you use the Snow Leopard operating system, and is available now for US$49 for an individual installation and US$79 for a family pack.

FaceTime Now Available For Mac

FaceTime, the video phoning application available on the iPhone 4 and newest iPod Touch, is now available for the Mac computer also. The downloadable version is still in beta so it may have a few problems, but it has been reported by members of the MacVoiceover list to be fully accessible to VoiceOver users.

Because FaceTime can be used to call people via a regular mobile phone number as well as via an email address, and is available on the very portable iPhone 4, it has been eagerly used by the Deaf community for video phoning. Having the service available on the Mac will be a huge bonus to Deaf users who don't have access to an iPhone 4 but know people who do, as well as to others who have family and friends with iPhone 4 or the new iPod Touch which also uses FaceTime.

FaceTime is free for Mac users and you can download it right now!

OS X 10.7 Lion Preview

After OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard will be OS X 10.7 Lion, expected to be available in mid 2011.

Lion will import some of iOS's good features back into OS X, including more multitouch gestures, a new Mac App Store, app home screens, full-screen apps with no menu bar at the top, auto save and apps that resume where they left off when relaunched.

Some of these things have accessibility potential for those with neurological impairment: things like auto-save and resuming where you left off when you launch an app make memory problems less of a problem. The simplicity of getting apps via a Mac App Store which takes care of downloading and installing for you means there's one less infrequently-done task to learn and remember, a bonus for those new to the Mac as well as an accessibility boon.

Multi-touch gestures that match those used on the iPad, iPod Touch, and iPhone will be great for some users - I use the mouse extensively myself and find gestures are fantastic. Unfortunately these require a high level of fine motor control in multiple fingers, so multi-touch is generally not very accessible to several groups including those who must use a stylus or a mouth stick, and are completely out for those who can't use a trackpad but need an alternative pointing device such as a joystick or trackball. Hopefully all multi-touch gestures will be implemented with keyboard equivalents so that users aren't left out in the cold.

The Mac App Store could also make it easier to spread the news about accessible apps and apps to aid accessibility, as has happened with the existing App Store. This would undoubtedly be a good thing, but I am concerned that app developers may be the losers in this new scenario - several things about the iOS App Store are very difficult for developers to manage and I wouldn't like to see developers give up on their accessibility apps for the OS X platform because of App Store issues. Hopefully this will not be an issue, but it does concern me. We won't have to wait long to find out: The Mac App Store will be launching for Snow Leopard within 90 days!

Also new to OS X Lion will be Launch Pad: a new way to launch apps from your desktop, similar to how it's already done on the iPad. This means that users can keep commonly used apps right in front of them without cluttering up the dock - another win for easy usability which also helps those with neurological issues.

A final new feature called Mission Control was also described but I can't tell you how easy it is to use because I didn't understand it! It has elements of Spaces, Expos and the Dashboard all mixed together, and I hope it's useful.

New MacBook Air Models

Two new Macbook Air laptops were announced, one 13.3 inch model and one 11.6 inch model. These don't have touch screens but were described by Steve Jobs as what happens when "an iPod hooks up with a MacBook"!

The 13 inch model is a tiny 2.9 pounds, and it shares many great features with the iPad: the ability to instantly start up, offering great battery life (7 hours of use has been quoted), amazing standby time, solid state storage with no optical or hard drives, and it's thinner and lighter than ever. The 11.6 inch model is pretty much the same, but with more of the "smaller and lighter" at only 2.5 pounds, and with a bit less battery life because there's less battery fitting in there.

For those who find the iPad is not accessible due to their disabilities, or those who just don't like typing on an iPad, these new laptops look to be a fantastic option. With instant start-up they will be great for taking notes in class, for use as communication devices, and other situations where waiting a few minutes for your laptop to boot just isn't sensible.

Having only solid state storage ("flash memory" like your iPhone, iPad, or camera has) and no hard drive or CD/DVD drive means the laptops are small and light but also that they have very few moving parts except the keyboard itself - Apple hasn't said so but I strongly suspect they will be more robust because of this. We've seen how much an iPod Touch or iPad can survive being dropped or otherwise battered around in daily use - imagine a laptop that would probably be OK if knocked off a desk or wheelchair tray! And of course smaller and lighter laptops mean less mounting equipment is needed for those with special positioning requirements.

I think that these new laptops will be "the iPad for switch users", and others who need non-standard input devices that the iPads don't cope with yet. I still hope, of course, that the iPad will grow into coping with a wider variety of input devices but these new MacBook Air devices are a "mid point" between the regular MacBooks and the iPads in terms of size and weight. You can get a glimpse of it in MacLife's First Look at the 11.6" MacBook Air article.

The 11.6-inch MacBook Air starts at US$999 with 64GB (US$1199 for 128GB) while the 13.3-inch model starts at US$1299 with 128GB and is also available with 256GB for US$1599. Both models are shipping now.

And so...

All in all, these announcements are a huge win for accessibility for Macs and Mac users in multiple ways. I am thrilled to see that Apple's commitment to accessibility continues unabated, and that their passion for Universal Design rubs off in the direction of accessibility so very often.

Which announcement are you most excited about? I really really wish I could get myself one of those teeny tiny laptops, but in the absence of a spare thousand dollars I'm most excited about OS X 10.7 Lion and the new iLife '11. Those are things I can actually use, and use soon.

Here's to the future!

- Ricky Buchanan

I've been doing some experimenting recently and came across something that I thought might be useful for some people. If you're a digital cable TV subscriber in the United States you may have noticed the FireWire port on the back of your cable box. The most common assumption about this port is that it's something for service technicians only. This is not completely the truth and it's something your cable company doesn't advertise.

Back in 2004 a little-known ruling was made by the FCC that stated any cable customer that requests a FireWire-enabled cable set-top box must be provided with one. Chances are your cable box already has a FireWire port but whether it is enabled or not is another story. If it isn't then you can call your cable company or visit one of their service centers and request one. As stated above, by law they must provide one upon request.

So with a FireWire-enabled set-top box what can you do? The first thing you're going to need is a FireWire cable. You might already have one laying around but if you don't they're pretty cheap. I highly recommend MonoPrice.com for all your cable and adapter needs. You're also going to need to find and download something called "the FireWire SDK". This is the OS X Firewire Software Developer's Kit and is free to anybody who wishes to download it. If you Google this you should be able to easily find it. You can get it for free from the official Apple FireWire software development site but you have to sign up for a free account before downloading it. If you're persistent in your Googling you can find other locations to download it without having to sign up for a developer's account. but signing up only takes a moment. Inside the FireWire SDK are a few applications that will help you access your cable box and hopefully control it to some extent. There's even an application that will record unencrypted video feeds from your cable box!

This tutorial explains how to set this up and get it working so you can watch on your Mac - this is the first stop to using OS X to control your cable box for the TV, so follow the steps in the tutorial then come back here: Watch and Stream Cable TV with your Mac via FireWire!

Now there's some caveats to doing this. You obviously need to have a TV in reasonably close proximity to your Mac, or at least within sight of where you sit when using your Mac. There wouldn't be much point in doing this otherwise. Also, every cable company is different so it's really hit or miss as to whether the "AVCBrowser" OS X software from the SDK you downloaded will even recognize your cable box or not. I'm using a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 4250HD digital cable box. For whatever reason it didn't work in the FireWire 800 port on my late 2006 24" iMac but it did work in the FireWire 400 port. If it does recognize your cable box then it's also hit or miss as to how much control you'll have over it. And if you want to try to get any of the HD video feeds on your Mac and record them that completely depends on how many channels your cable company provides "in the clear". Typically you should at least get all the major broadcast networks (NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, and the CW). As long as your cable box is HD capable, any of those channels you get to successfully appear on your Mac look fantastic!

But the main focus of this article is not about watching and recording video feeds from your cable box on your Mac but rather controlling your cable box. As I alluded to above this is hit or miss meaning what you can do is going to be different with every cable company. In my case the only things that work are the "channel up" and "channel down" buttons, plus the field where you can type the channel number you'd like to go to works as well.

This doesn't sound like much but it's been incredibly convenient for me. Instead of having to reach for a mouth stick to use the cable remote or fumble around with it with my arm I can simply use my Headmaster Plus to do those few things. While it would be nice if the "mute" button worked, I've discovered a workaround for it. Channel "999" on my cable service puts up a silent service screen that actually turns into a screensaver after a short time. So if I get a phone call or something I quickly click over to that channel to mute the TV sound.

Now, if you're lucky you may actually get more functional buttons than I do. But if not you may, like me, find that just a few functional buttons are incredibly useful. And if you discover that nothing works for you at all, or the software doesn't even recognize your cable box, you've only wasted a few bucks on a FireWire cable (or if you already had a FireWire cable it didn't cost you anything at all!).

On a related note, if this kind of thing really interests you and you wouldn't mind spending some money on it then you could always check out something like The ZephIR. This will give you quite a bit more control over electronic devices which use a remote control, including cable boxes, and it's relatively inexpensive.

- Paul Natsch