apps4android powerpoint presentation

Copyright © 2008-2010 by Apps4Android, Inc. All rights reserved. 1/65

Accessibility ofAndroid Smartphones

by:

Steve Jacobs, CEO

Apps4Android, Inc.

[email protected]

Android Accessibility Project:http://accessibility-android.info


Making Smartphones AccessibleSupply-Push Market Model

1. Is not self-sustainable without an ongoing push from government and society.

2. Supply-push market forces that COMPEL wireless service providers and telecommunications equipment manufacturers to enhance the accessibility of their products and services include:

• Cultural

• Organizational

• Moral

• Political

• Ethical

• Legal


Making Smartphones AccessibleDemand-Pull Market Model

1. Is self-sustainable so long as demand and revenue exist;

2. Demand-pull market forces that INSPIRE wireless service providers and telecommunications equipment manufacturers to enhance the accessibility of their products and services include:

– Income

– New Customers

– Sales

– Profits

– Innovation

– Revenue

– Earnings


Why an Android Accessibility Wizard?

"to make it easy and intuitive for wireless service providers, telecommunications equipment manufacturers, wireless retail store personnel and wireless service provider customers to eyes-free and/or screenreader enable their smartphones"


About Apps4Android, Inc.(1 of 5)

• URL: http://www.apps4android.org/• Mission: to develop low/no cost applications that

enhance the accessibility of Android devices. • Incorporated: January, 2009;• Developed and currently market six applications

with more on the way;


About Apps4Android, Inc.(2 of 5)

• Over one million downloads in the past year;• Over two million downloads if you include Google's

eyes-free applications Apps4Android calls from its applications;

• 550,000+ users in 28 countries; and,• Majority stockholder in Onymous Heroes, another

Android development company.


About Apps4Android, Inc. (3 of 5)

• Major Investors:– IDEAL at NCR Corporation– IDEAL at Teradata

• Better Voices for CupcakeHigh-quality voices for Android Cupcake (V1.5) smartphones. Languages include English (US & UK), Italian, German, French, and Spanish.

• Ask EindroidAsk your Android smartphone a question using your voice and it will speak the answer. Smartphones just got smarter!



• Speaking PadA talking notepad for Android. This notepad speaks what you type.

• iAugCommiDEAL Group's Augmentative Communication application is designed to enhance the communications abilities of people who are unable to speak.

• SMSpeakerReads SMS messages out loud.



• Talking Caller IDSpeaks caller ID information.


Objective of our Android Accessibility Project (1 of 2)

to make it easy and intuitive for wireless service providers, telecommunications equipment manufacturers, wireless retail store personnel and wireless service provider customers to enhance the accessibility of their Android devices


Objective of our Android Accessibility Wizard (2 of 2)

To benefit Android smartphone users who:• are blind/have low vision;• have other types of print disabilities;• are 65+ years of age;• never learned to read;• use English as a second language;• use languages other than English as their native

language; and,• wish to use their smart devices in an eyes-free

environment.


Guidelines and Checklists

• Problems Encountered by Individuals with Disabilities and Members of the Aging Population when using Smartphones

• Checklist (in text format) for Smartphones

The information above was developed by the RNIB Digital Accessibility Team (DAT) and repurposed by IDEAL Group, Inc. Click here to see the original checklist.


Problems Encountered by Individuals with Disabilities and the Aging Population

1. People who are blind, have low-vision and individuals with other print disabilities:

– The decreasing size of handsets has brought advantages to many users but at the expense of small keypads, limited side tones, and small visual displays that people with visual disabilities find inaccessible.

– People with visual impairments often cannot locate or identify controls or input slots or operate controls that require sight.

– Some people are unable to distinguish between certain color combinations used on mobile telephone screens and keypads.



2. People who are deaf and/or have a hearing impairment:

– Users of hearing aids experience disturbances due to electromagnetic interference (EMI) from digital mobile phones. The rapid pulsation of radio signals from digital mobile telephones can give rise to a buzzing, humming, squealing or squelch inside the hearing aid.

– Hearing impaired users cannot locate or identify controls that require hearing (e.g. a voice-based interactive mobile telephone that can be controlled only by listening to menu items and then pressing buttons).



3. People with mobility disabilities:

– With the advent of smaller mobile telephones, people who have physical impairments may find it hard to hold and activate the buttons on a phone.

4. People with speech disabilities:

– Communicating using a mobile telephone in general and speaking clearly to activate functions by voice commands is not always possible.



5. People with cognitive disabilities:

– People with cognitive or learning impairments may experience problems with the operating systems of complicated mobile telephones.

6. People who are aging:

– Older individuals often experience a range of difficulties with mobile telephones, such as those stated above: from the screen being too small to see; incompatibility with a hearing aid and too many complicated specialized functions.

Copyright © 2008-2010 by Apps4Android, Inc. All rights reserved. 17/65 17

Why Mobile UI Design is Important

• Smartphones ≠ Desktop Computers– Smaller screen size– Different usage scenarios – Different use cases– Different input modalities

• Smartphone users are mobile, and multitasking• Wide, and varied, group of smartphone users,

including persons with disabilities

Source: Research In Motion http://www.rim.com


Top 10 Best Practices for Accessible & Usable Mobile User

Interface Design


Description:

– Render screens using UI objects found in the native component set wherever possible/feasible

Benefits:

– Shorter development time

– Feel like a native app

– Interoperate with Assistive Technology

19

1. Use Native UI Components



Description:– Do not create absolute,

application-specific font settings

– Inherit system/user defined settings

Benefits:– ‘Look’ like a native app– Enable use by persons who

may need specific settings

20

2. Inherit Global Font Settings



Description:

– Maximize color contrast levels between background, foreground and adjacent UI objects (7:1 or greater)

Benefits:

– Enable use in high glare scenarios

– Enable use by persons with visual impairments

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3. Manage Color & Contrast Usage



Description:– Maximize interactive target

and hit size parameters for use on touch screen devices

Benefits:– Increase accuracy of

controls activation– Decrease task time– Enable use by persons with

large fingers, multi-taskers, stylus users

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4. Manage Touch Target Sizes



Description:– Enable your users to interact

with your application in a way that is similar to existing platform interaction method

Benefits:– Decrease interaction

discovery and learning– ‘Feel’ like a native

application– Maximize user recall

23

5. Align Interaction Methods



Description– Provide users with explicit

identification of the error, how to resolve, and prompt resolving action

Benefit– Efficient error recovery– Minimized support– Enable use by customers

with cognitive/intellectual difficulties

24

6. Use Effective Error Messages



Description– Communicate information in

multiple presentation modalities (vibration, visual, auditory)

Benefit– Enable one modality to

reinforce another, maximizing recognition

– Support use by the widest possible audience

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7. Leverage Multiple Modalities

“You have new mail”“You have new mail”



Description:– Provide customers with a

consistent user experience across the application

– Align with device conventions where possible

Benefits:– Decrease support calls– Improve utility of application– Decrease orientation time

26

8. Maintain Consistency



Description:– Support multiple information

foraging methods and provide users with multiple ways to complete a task

Benefits:– Efficient error recovery– Decrease task time– Enable users to do more in

less time

27

9. Provide Multiple Ways



Description:– Conduct formative and

summative usability studies with prospective customers, including persons with disabilities

Benefits:– Learn user mental models– Identify opportunities for

improvement– Improve application success

28

10. Get in the Wild!



Variables

Variables make it difficult for end-users to figure out what applications to download and install in order to make their Android smartphones more accessible. For example, the following variables need to be considered when determining which Android smartphone to purchase:

1. User’s personal preferences

2. Version of firmware

3. Hardware configuration

4. Versions of Eyes-Free Applications


1. User's Personal Preferences

• Carrier

• Manufacturer of smartphone

• Model of smartphone

• Features of the smartphone


2. Version of Firmware

• Pre-Cupcake v1.0 • Cupcake v1.5 • Donut v1.6 • Eclair v2.0 • Eclair v2.0.1 • Eclair v2.1• Froyo• Variants of the above


3. Hardware Configuration

• Thumbwheels vs. D-Pads vs. no physical scrolling controls (the touch-screen serves this purpose).

• Physical Call/End Call buttons vs. no physical Call/End Call buttons. (the touch-screen serves this purpose).

• Keyboards vs. no keyboard (onscreen keyboards) • Spacing and ability to differentiate one key from

another on physical smartphone keyboards • Location of touch-screen controls • Different screen sizes


4. Versions of Apps4Android Applications

• Eyes-Free Configuration Manager

• Eyes-Free Shell

• Text-To-Speech Extended

• KickBack

• SoundBack

• Speaking Pad

• TalkBack

• Talking Compass

• Talking Dialer


Eyes-Free Shell(1 of 6)


Talking Dialer and Address Book(1 of 9)


Minimum SetupFor individuals who are blind

• Must have a thumbwheels or a D-Pad somewhere on the device;

• Must have a keyboard

• Firmware Version 1.6 (Donut) or greater

• Current Version TalkBack


Recommended SetupFor individuals who are blind (1 of 2)

• Thumbwheel or a D-Pad accessible without sliding out the KB

• Physical call and hang-up buttons

• Keyboard spacing enable user to differentiate one key from another;

• All buttons should be actual hardware buttons and not capacitive buttons

• KB arranged as a standard QWERTY KB (numbers should have distinct row from letters).


Recommended SetupFor individuals who are blind (2 of 2)

• Firmware Version 1.6 (Donut) or greater • Current Version TalkBack

• Current Version KickBack

• Current Version SoundBack

• Current Version Eyes-Free Apps


Minimum SetupFor individuals who have low vision

• Must have a thumbwheels or a D-Pad somewhere on the device;

• Firmware Version 1.5 (Cupcake) or greater

• Current Version Eyes-Free Apps


Recommended SetupFor individuals who have low vision (1 of 2)

• Thumbwheel or a D-Pad accessible without sliding out the KB

• Physical call and hang-up buttons

• Camera that has a macro-zoom feature (i.e. Nexus)

• Keyboard spacing enable user to differentiate one key from another;

• All buttons should be actual hardware buttons and not capacitive buttons

• Keyboard arranged in standard QWERTY format.

• Numbers should be across a row


Recommended SetupFor individuals who have low vision (2 of 2)

• Firmware Version 1.6 (Donut) or greator

• Current Version of TalkBack

• Current Version of KickBack

• Current Version of SoundBack

• Current Version of Eyes-Free Apps


Text-to-Speech Options(1 of 7)


Text-to-Speech OptionsStandard Google TTS Voices (not high-quality) (5 of 7)

• Afrikaans

• Bosnian

• Chinese (Cantonese)

• Chinese (Mandarin)

• Bulgarian, Croatian

• Czech

• Dutch

• English (American)

• English (British)

• Esperanto

• Finnish

• French

• German

• Greek

• Hindi

• Hungarian

• Icelandic

• Indonesian


Text-to-Speech OptionsStandard Google TTS Voices (not high-quality) (6 of 7)

• Italian• Kurdish• Latin• Macedonian• Norwegian• Polish• Portuguese• Romanian• Russian

• Serbian• Slovak• Spanish• Spanish (Latin America)• Swahili• Swedish• Tamil• Turkish• Vietnamese

• Welsh


Text-to-Speech OptionsPICO Google TTS Voices (high-quality female voices) (7 of 7)

• English (American)

• English (British)

• Italian

• German

• French

• Spanish


Hearing Aid Compatibility

• HAC rating of M3, and if possible, M4

• HAC rating of T3, and if possible, T4


Additional Features and Compatibility

TTY Support

– Full mode

– VCO mode

– HCO mode


Thank You!!


Contact Information

Steve Jacobs, CEO

Apps4Android, Inc.

Phone: (614) 777-0660

E-mail: [email protected]

URL: http://apps4android.org

Android Accessibility Project:http://accessibility-android.info

apps4android powerpoint presentation

Technology

android accessibility

android accessibility

android smartphone users

visual disabilities

aging population people

disabilities andmembersof

mobility disabilities

speech disabilities