How Blind People Use Technology (My Apple Products - An Introduction to Voice Over)
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- Опубліковано 8 лип 2024
- Hello Everyone! I wanted to do a deep dive into how I use technology as a blind person. Most people wonder how blind people type, read, or interact with online content. Truth is, we do it all ourselves! There's some amazing technology and accessible features built right in to some devices that make it easy to use. Today I'll break down and give you a basic intro to how I use my Apple tech (iMac Macbook, iPhone, and Apple Watch) It also serves as a really basic tutorial on how to use these features. Let me know if you want to see more tech reviews, tech tutorials, or other content that's tech related. Hope you enjoy!
Thumbnail Description: Tamara sits in a dark room with the illumination of her monitor lighting up her face. You can see her apple watch on her wrist, her iPhone on her left, and her hands resting on the keybaord as she looks ahead. White text on the right reads: how blind people use tech. There are simple animated rawings of a smart phone, laptop, tablet, and smart watch on the left.
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Filmed on Lumix G8 and iMac - Наука та технологія
I never really comment on youtube videos, but I wanted to say thanks for this video. I'm an iOS developer and I'm working on improving accessibility in my apps. Understanding how folks with limited vision might interact with their devices goes a really long way to identifying how to improve the voice over experience in my apps.
Great to hear! So glad I could help. If you ever need assistance with beta testing an app don’t hesitate to reach out!
UA-cam needs more content like this. Thank you for sharing your ideas with the world. You are helping me understand how I can integrate technology into my blind relatives lives.
Thank you so much for your kind comment. I’m glad you found it helpful. That’s why I do what o do. :)
You have the rarest content on UA-cam which deserve golden buzzer! Mind-blowing!! Keep it up!!
VoiceOver is awesome and while I do have some vision, I prefer to use my Apple products with the screen curtain on. The one thing that can get annoying about using my MacBook Pro is the trackpad sometimes gets in the way when typing. I end up turning on the trackpad commander by mistake lol. VO on the Mac can be tough at first, but when you finally get it the trackpad and mouse almost feels clunky in comparison.
Oh boy! I’ve done that too! I totally agree. Lots of memorization but the key commands and shortcuts make it way easier. I often get frustrated when sighted people are slow and don’t know any commands. Haha
This is an amazing video. It’s clear and it gets at what’s useful to know, especially for beginners. Thank you so much!
This was such a great video! I'm a computer science student and learning how you use touch screens and computers is so helpful as I begin to design and build more accessible software. Thank you for making this!!
Glad it was helpful! Best of luck on your accessible software design journey. If you ever need a alpha/beta tester, I'm always available to share what may need tweaking. :)
@@UnsightlyOpinions Thank you! That's so kind to offer. I'm actually working on a small project now meant to help a group of people find a common time to meet. When I have a version up and running, I'll share a link with you here!
One of my favorite videos! ❤ Super cool and insightful. You didn't show it in this video, but your calculator is awesome. I love the sounds it makes when it reads the graphs haha 😂
Oh my goodness! I completely forgot I showed that on steam. Haha yeah it saved my butt in high school. Thanks so much. I’m really glad you enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun filming it! 😊
Hi, I want to increase my typing speed on my Apple iPhone 13 so please tell me the one finger touch setting in keyboard and you Are a wonderful presenter
good job. i am a deafblind graduate student. i do recognize some of the short cut and a few I was unaware of. thank you
My pleasure. Thank you. :)
It’s really interesting seeing all these accommodations in use I hope they continue to improve upon them but even what is there now is pretty nice
I couldn’t agree more! :)
this is so cool! thank you so much for sharing this! its really amazing
Great video! I'm a software developer currently working on a major public transportation web site, and you helped me take some of the guess work out of how users interact using screen readers. If you have any quick pointers I'd love to hear them, if you don't mind ☺
Thank you! So sorry it took me a while to reply! I'd be happy to help in any way I can. I suppose the most important thing is trying to label every button with text rather than just a button label. trying to create sensible groups or headings for content so screen readers can move around more efficiently, and putting image descriptions for any photos. If it takes a similar feel and layout to other apps that always helps too. back in the top left, help in the bottom right, search in the centre, etc. If you want to pop me an e-mail to discuss things further I'd be happy to do that. unsightlyopinions@gmail.com. I do accessibility testing and universal design as my day gig. I very much appreciate you thinking about the folks who navigate in non-traditional ways. It's awesome to see. :)
@@UnsightlyOpinions thank you for your response! Since I left the comment I’ve been getting more and more into the subject, learning a lot more about the different brands of screen readers and how they work.
The team I’m working in have taken steps to make accessibility a key feature of our work, and we’re planning user tests with with a local (Swedish) association of the visually impaired.
It’s going to be interesting going forward, we’re brainstorming ideas on how to connect digital accessibility with accessibility in the physical space - how to navigate a busy train station, find the most appropriate seating on a train relative to exits at your destination and more.
Just wanted to share, since you were a great source of inspiration!🙂
I like you are making full use of keyboard shortcuts and not mousing. Mousing is inefficient even for a sighted person. When you are using apps that are heavily photo based is there anything that can describe pictures or images to you? Like you are shopping for clothing online. How do you know what it looks like or if you will enjoy it?
Awesome video, thank you very much for making it!
My pleasure. Glad to be of service. :)
Thanks 😊 I wish the people who saw this video if they will make a websites, applications or games , make them accessible for us blind people
It’s something that I work with companies to change all the time. I know it’s frustrating and boy I feel it too, but I think things are improving on all fronts. :)
Yeah excellent video, I plan share with my team at work to help us improve our app to be more accessible
Thank you! If you ever need an accessibility tester for any of your apps, I'm always happy to help out. :)
I love your videos and wish I had found you sooner. I find the more of other blind people I watch I get more ideas to try. Plus my friends watch you too because they find it helpful if I can’t explain
Hi Meg! I’m so glad you are enjoying the content. That’s why I love making videos. It’s always great to pool our collective minds and share ideas about how we do things. :)
@@UnsightlyOpinions hey have any insight on how to better read braille I am terrible at it I have tried several times and with a braille instructor and it didn’t go well. I had a hard time reading print when I was younger took me until 6th grade to finally read large print at any level then I just took off in terms of reading and while I like audio books and audio dramas (Torchwood OMG) I still miss the idea of reading a book.
@@megandmauiguidingpaws my suggestion would be some sensitization training and patience with yourself. It took me months before I was reading with any success. Start small and label things that you will read or need to interact with often. Give yourself opportunities to practice everywhere, whether it’s elevators or room signs. Baby powder works wonders for helping your fingers glide. I have all kinds of things labeled all over my house and it really helps. Also working with double spaced braille helps.
@@UnsightlyOpinions Double spaced? See this is what I mean. I would have never thought about that. I do try to read the signs for like the bathrooms and elevators and numbers I am ok at grade 1 braille but that took me over 2yrs to do at our vision loss resource place with a teacher and she got frustrated with me (I have Asperger’s syndrome a form of autism) Patience I like that. I really appreciate your replies makes me feel less alone also your reply about the airport really helped I talked to my mom about it cause she is going with me and I feel a lot better about taking Maui to the airport with me.
Awesome video your videos are amazing.
Please can you make more videos for beginners on how to use the Mac with VoiceOver.
And could you also please teach more of the advanced features using VoiceOver on the Mac.
That’s a great suggestion! I have a few other videos in the works right now, but I’ll work on starting a series on voice over for sure! So stay tuned!
Hi Tamara, great show!
Would you be able to present a show instructing blind people how to use and navigate Apple Podcast with Siri? Thanks.
Thanks! I'm not quite sure what you mean. Are you looking to play a specific podcast using Siri or select, subscribe, etc.?
Question, do you use brille keyboard? is Ipond better or computer since we can't really see.
I am a touch typer which means I use a regular keyboard with no modifications and orient with the little bumps on the f and j keys. I know braille keyboards exist or at least stickers to add to keyboards are available, but it’s not something I have used. iPad and computer are different and one may be better than the other for you depending on how you like to use technology. If it’s pretty basic an iPad will meet your needs. If you are a “power user” doing more complex things like audio/video editing, lots of word processing, etc. a computer may be better. Either way I prefer to use a physical keyboard with either device as I’m much faster on computer than touch keyboard.
I had no idea you could twist on an iphone screen! also that speech to text is SO fast omg
Needs to be that fast otherwise information takes too long to get across! :)
@@UnsightlyOpinions valid
Yes I have my speech rate set to 100 percent. Sighted people can’t understand what it is saying. Lol! People at my high school cannot understand it at all.
What keyboard that do you use for your iPad?
If it’s just short text I’ll use the built in touch keyboard otherwise an Apple wireless keyboard. Nothing too special. :)
Well I’m blind and I use voice over and I sometimes use dictation type because I can’t type I used a braille display provided by a PH I also use a braille keyboard if I really need to type and I also use Seeing AI Seeing AI because that one well you have Seeing AI too because I heard it anyway so I use Seeing AI too you know so it can describe what around me find objects my iPad and many many more and being blind is awesome I read braille which I said it’s called braille display in that display allows me to connect my iPhone 11 and sometimes I turn on voice or accessible things I sometimes type the camera on my iPhone 11 and I also sometimes triple tap the side button I know my phones required to triple tap the button but I have a side button go home I just swipe up until I feel a second vibration so first and then second if you felt the third then down until the second vibration and I’m never getting voice to talk back but Other android phone broke and I wanted to switch to Apple I also use FaceTime with Voice it’s pretty accessible because it’s easier to navigate thank you goodbye
Can you do a video on the Apple Pencil and Weather being blind as I am, you can use it despite voiceover
Interesting question. I'm actually not sure. I'll check it out with my sister's iPad and let you know.
This was fantastic, thank you. I'm doing some research for a TV show, and this was more than helpful.
Thank you so much but, I want to know how to read scanned books with scanner on MacBook?
I’m not 100% sure what you are asking. Are you asking how to read PDF files with voiceover? Or how to scan images to a Mac? Or both?
@@UnsightlyOpinions I am asking how can I scan hard copy and how to read on Mac it's provide any ocr software like JAWS on windows platform ?
This is the easiest way I can think to explain it. Check out the link. It walks you through navigating any PDF document - which is how most scanned documents are formatted.
www.applevis.com/guides/reading-pdf-documents-mac-voiceover
@@UnsightlyOpinions thank you so much. 👍
Hi dear, I’m new to your channel, & I am a IPhone user. My speech rate is set at 100%. Also, do you have a video on how to use Windows computers?
Thank you very much. I am helping my coworker. Wish me luck.
Glad to be of service. What are you helping your coworker with?
Oh that's interesting. You may already know this but I noticed that when you use the shortcuts on the computer, what is actually happening is the mouse sort of teleports to those positions and the screen reader reads what's under the mouse. The same when you navigated the menus with the arrow keys, the mouse is teleporting to the next menu item. I don't know, I just found it interesting that they've done it that way.
Also, I had to switch keyboard layouts at one point because of pain in my hands, but my physical keyboard was still the qwerty layout. It took about a month or so to get up to normal typing speed, I could probably have done it faster if I hadn't cheated sometimes and switched back to the qwerty layout. The brain is really fast at adapting to new things.
I am completely blind. I have been blind since birth. Anyways, I had a question for you. You said you use your thumbs to type on your phone. I use voiceover as well. My question is: how do you hold your phone? I heard typing with two thumbs is a good way to type, but I can't seem to hold the iPhone in my hands comfortably. Just wondering if you had any suggestions for me. Any would be greatly appreciated! 🥰
What I do is either pinch it between my two hands the front tops or my palms just below my Indic fingers with the thumbs free to type, or I hold it in one hand with my fingers wrapped around the back and my pinky resting below the phone to hold it up freeing up my thumbs on both hands. I hope that helps! It’s an odd thing to try to describe well! If you want more help I’m happy to explain further :)
@@UnsightlyOpinions Thank you for responding to my comment. I really appreciate that. Also, have you heard of an app called Flick Type? It is a keyboard for the visually impaired and the blind. It is very handy for those of us who have our keyboard memorized, but even if some people don't have their keyboard memorized, that is ok, too. If you have the general idea of where the letters are, the app will most likely put in the correct word you wanted to put in. However, if the app guesses incorrectly, you can go through the options to find the word you wanted. Also, there are words the app may not recognize, but you can customize your own vocabulary list in the settings so that the app will recognize the word. I just thought it would be cool to let you know about this app. I love to explore different technology for the blind, and teach other blind people, like my mom. Actually, I was adopted when I was 8. My mom is visually impaired as well. That is actually the reason my family was able to adopt me. I feel so blessed, and finding your UA-cam channel makes me so happy. Thanks again for your suggestions. Sorry if I rambled in my reply. Sometimes, I have too much to say! lol!🤣🥰
That’s a passion we share. Adaptive tech is amazing. I’ve never heard of flick type! I’ll need to check it out. It sounds awesome!
@@UnsightlyOpinions I also noticed that you have the voiceover clicking sound off. Was that just for the video? Or, do you always use it with the sound off? Just curious.
I’m also totally blind, and an iPhone user, I think I can help with this, hold the phone in portrait mode in your left hand, put the phone into your edit field, and use the point or finger of your right hand to type with, no thumbs involved, here, and no awkward positioning for the phone, if you use braille screen input, that’s a whole other ball game, and you’re on your own to figure that one out, I still have trouble with it., I don’t even bother with it. Good luck.
I just got my first MacBook so can you please do voiceover for dummies?
I’ll try to do another tutorial sometime soon!
As someone who isn't blind, this is very entertaining I mean it's so amazing how a blind person does it! But I always have voice control don't ask why 😅
How do I use voice over for face book
Hi Patrick, If you are wondering about some voice over use, the basics are here on this video:
ua-cam.com/video/tzXcktklAaU/v-deo.html
but I will be doing a more specific video on how to use screen readers on the web soon! So stay tuned. It would be a very long, and unhelpful for me to try to squeeze that much info into one comment. :)
Ah the classic 100 speed of voiceover 😂
Is there any other way to Voice Over? Haha
@@UnsightlyOpinions not at all! X
I have a Apple Watch with voiceover
They are really awesome aren’t they! :)
Hi there. When you touch an item on IOS, it automatically selects it. Double tapping it simply opens it up.
HOW DO NLIND PEOPLE RNTER PASSWORDS WHEN THEY CANT BE SPOKEN. NORMALLY I USE THE MICROPHONE FOR EVERYTHING
There’s lots of different ways depending on personal preference. I prefer typing passwords using a keyboard as I have the layout memorized. Often I also use password autofill so I don’t need to type anything in especially on mobile. I’ll also use the braille keyboard on mobile as I find that more reliable than trying to type using the virtual
keyboard.
I will like to join d class
hello
Hi there :)
You're very beautiful
There is something that I wanted to add to this comment that I made that I don’t do at all but a lot of blind people will do this. They have their speech, super fast almost to max, and also, it seems like a lot of blind people that are using an iPhone will have voiceover up loud which is fine, but in addition they have the click of the cursor going on voiceover. For me I look at that and for me it is a bit of an interesting topic cause when I am using my iPhone I go the professional way. You yourself only hear the phone. Why bother other people with the click click click of the voiceover cursor and the dllllllooop sound of the exiting with the sound on. I guess and I. Know that a lot of people are not experienced with the iPhone but in time it is good to learn how to quiet your iPhone so that nobody hears what you are doing. For example. When I am using my phone nobody hears my phone. Only me. Why??? There is a little trick to that. Nobody has to hear your phone. What you do is turn off the sound that that click makes on voiceover. You don’t have to hear that cause voiceover will tell you l you what you are doing and where you are at. That click is really not necessary. But al it of blind people I noticed here in piercer county that will have that on they will use that. What you do is turn off the click sound on voiceover cause you are gonna know where you are at no matter what. The other thing is is get a Bluetooth headset or ear piece. I have one. It just goes in one ear. Bang. Then nobody has to hear the phone. It is not that you are ashamed to have people hear that your phone is talking but it does make it professional. Others around you won’t hear the phone and it will bee just you. And the click sound is not there. So basically the phone is silent so when you want to use it you can use it without basically sticking out like a soar thumb. I don’t know. There are just some things about blind people I don’t get and I am blind myself but I have learned through the years how to do things professionally even using my iPhone. Just by listening to it nobody knows that I am using it. Now they can see if I have the screen curtain on but if I turn it on they won’t see it. Sorry. If I turn it off. They will see it but as far as the phone being quiet that is exactly what will happen. Even here at the house at home. I have a couple of headsets that are Bluetooth and comfortable. So nobody hears my phone. I don’t know why but I observe these things and it is annoying for example to bee around a lot of blind people cause they are sticking out like a soar thumb its almost like they want to bee heard and the phone makes them stick out like a soar thumb almost to say “Oh I am blind hear I am.” If you learn to use your phone professionally then nobody will hear your phone. I can guarantee that. But I have noticed that in pierce county where I live. Blind people that do get on the bus I hear it sometimes, and I sometimes discuss that with the driver hahahahaha. It is just something I observe. Whenever I am using my phone as I said. Nobody hears nothing out of the phone. I have sound off for voiceover and I just hear the voice from voiceover through a Bluetooth headset. The only thing that someone might hear is the click of a Bluetooth keyboard like I am typing on a computer but that is all. Even then, I have a very quiet Bluetooth keyboard. So I don’t know. It is must something that I observe about blind people.
Well I’m blind and I use voice over and I sometimes use dictation type because I can’t type I used a braille display provided by a PH I also use a braille keyboard if I really need to type and I also use Seeing AI Seeing AI because that one well you have Seeing AI too because I heard it anyway so I use Seeing AI too you know so it can describe what around me find objects my iPad and many many more and being blind is awesome I read braille which I said it’s called braille display in that display allows me to connect my iPhone 11 and sometimes I turn on voice or accessible things I sometimes type the camera on my iPhone 11 and I also sometimes triple tap the side button I know my phones required to triple tap the button but I have a side button go home I just swipe up until I feel a second vibration so first and then second if you felt the third then down until the second vibration and I’m never getting voice to talk back but Other android phone broke and I wanted to switch to Apple I also use FaceTime with Voice it’s pretty accessible because it’s easier to navigate thank you goodbye