information technology

Recently, Apple implemented a new 14 day no questions asked return policy in many European Union (EU) nations according to 9to5mac. The new policy allows customers to receive a full refund on App Store purchases within 14 days of receipt. While this new policy is an important safeguard for all consumers, it is a major development for App Store customers who rely on accessibility features, such as VoiceOver, in order to use their devices. VoiceOver is a built in screen reader that allows blind and visually impaired users to use iOS devices and Macs . While browsing the App Store, it is extremely difficult for VoiceOver users to determine if the app they are interested in purchasing is accessible. This often leaves the customer playing a guessing game with their money. For example, without the return policy a VoiceOver user who wanted to purchase a $20 app would need to hope that the app was accessible with VoiceOver otherwise their $20 purchase would be useless. Even if the app is i...

The KNFB Reader  is a text recognition app that is shockingly fast. Take a picture of a newspaper article or practically any printed text and within a couple of seconds the app will be reading the text back to you. A "couple of seconds" is no exaggeration, the KNFB Reader app is that fast. For people who are visually impaired or have difficulty reading, the KNFB Reader is perfect for accessing printed text. Once a document is properly framed, only one more step is necessary to start reading the document. Simply press the take picture button and within seconds the app will recognize the text within the document using optical character recognition ( OCR ) and begin reading it with  text-to-speech . No need to crop or adjust the image, once the picture is taken the app does all the work. All recognition is done locally on the device so personal data is never transmitted over the internet. The KNFB Reader app has a number of features that help users capture images of tex...

For people who use sign language to communicate, interacting with people who do not know sign language can be an enormous challenge and create barriers for people who are hearing impaired. Until now, the best alternative might have been writing out notes on a piece of paper. However, an upcoming product from a company called MotionSavvy hopes to offer a better solution. The solution does not look like the advanced piece of assistive technology that it is, but rather looks like a thin tablet with a Leap Motion device attached to the front. The Leap Motion senses the motion of the users hand to recognize signs using multiple cameras. Once the table recognizes the signs it can display the signed phrase as text on screen or even as spoken words with text-to-speech . This allows the other person that does not know sign language to understand what is being signed. Then the other person can speak into the tablet and speech recognition technology will allow the words to appear on the screen f...

Apple's voice activated features have received some new features as part of iOS 8 . Siri is a virtual voice activated personal assistant that can answer your questions, call your friends, check the weather, and much more.  Now it can  be activated hands free by saying, "Hey, Siri." Previously, users would have to press and hold the home button to activate Siri. The new feature will allow people with physical disabilities to easily activate Siri. The hands-free activation feature does have one major caveat: the device must be plugged in and charging. Users who need or want to access this feature on- the- go can purchase a battery case to utilize this feature. It is possible that future iOS devices will not require a power source to use the "Hey, Siri" feature. In addition, when dictating a question to Siri or dictating text into an app the recognized words appear almost instantly after being spoken. To use dictation bring up the keyboard and then press the mic...

iOS 8 includes a new greyscale mode that could benefit people with visual impairments. The new mode is included in addition to inverse color which was previously available. The new option will reduce the bright colors and possibly reduce glare to make the screen easier to see. Greyscale and inverse color can be enabled simultaneously for further visual changes. Even for people without visual impairments greyscale maybe made the screen slightly easier to view outdoors. To enable greyscale navigate to Settings > General > Accessibility > Greyscale. Please note that the above screenshot is an altered colored screenshot.

Guided Access is one of the many iOS features being enhanced in iOS 8 . Guided Access is used to keep a someone on a single app using  a password. For example, if you want your child to read a book and not watch a video you can lock them into the reading app, eliminating the ability to navigate to other apps. With Guided Access enabled, a child or student will need a passcode in order to enter another app. To learn more about Guided Access click here . One of the enhancement allows users to end a Guided Access session with their finger print using Touch ID. Similar to how third-party developers can implement Touch ID authentication, Guided Access will also take advantage of finger print reading technology. Instead of entering a passcode, users with a Touch ID enabled device will be able to end the session simply by placing their finger on the Touch ID sensor. This feature will simplify the processes of ending Guided Access and potentially eliminate the frustrat...

iOS 8 includes enhancements to VoiceOver , the built-in gesture based screen reader for people with visual impairments. One of the improvements is a new built-in Braille Keyboard for Six-Dot input. The new feature is similar to the BrailleTouch app released a few years ago with one major difference; the built-in option can be used to enter text into any app directly. The option can be enabled in the VoiceOver rotor. The Braille keyboard will offer VoiceOver users who are familiar with Braille an alternative, and possibly much faster text entry method. iOS 8 will also offers third-party keyboards such as Fleksy  which could also offer significantly faster text input for VoiceOver users. Once you turn the Braille keyboard on six positions will appear on screen representing the six Braille dots. When the device is held with the screen perpendicular to the floor it automatically enters screen away mode. When using this mode the user faces the screen away allowing three fingers ...