Acessibility for disability

[kenhgaixinh]

1) Open the Settings app on your device.

2) Touch Sounds or Sounds & Haptics in the list.

3) Now tap on any sound in the list.

4) If you’ve purchased ringtones from iTunes in the past and they’re still available on the store, you should see the option labeled Download All Purchased Tones at the top of the page.

Tap it and iOS will redownload all ringtones and alert tones purchased from iTunes using your Apple ID account and make them available right away through Settings → Sounds & Haptics.

And just like that, I got that Jessie J ringtone back that I bought years ago!

Apple cautions that you might not be able to redownload some of your purchased tones, which usually happens if the owner has pulled them from iTunes Store for whatever reason.
You can use these tones to customize your ringtone, text tone, new mail alert sound, calendar alerts and more, as well as set a ringtone or text tone for a specific contact to know who’s messaging or calling you even when an iPhone is in your pocket.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by kenhgaixinh

hi,
can the group please advise me about which formats for views will work with a screenreader thanks. I am physically disabled as well as dyslexic.

[Links deleted - MODERATOR]

Accessibility will be a function of the device, not the ebook format.
If only tts is of interest you'll be wanting a tablet or android eink reader.
Depending on disability, you might prefer a Windows-based tablet or convertible laptop.

[meeera]

You can use Speak Screen with a variety of apps:

http://www.apple.com/accessibility/ios/

Or you can use a specialised screen reader app like Voice Dream Reader. If you go this route I believe you'll need to strip DRM from any DRM-encumbered books. Apprentice Alf's blog will tell you how to do that. So format doesn't really matter much, so long as it's not iBooks - you can buy from Kindle, Kobo, Google Play, wherever, then strip and convert to the appropriate format (usually epub).

[HarryT]

Moved to the "Which One Should I Buy?" forum.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Moved to the "Which One Should I Buy?" forum.

The OP has an iPad already - I think they're asking about formats for TTS apps.

[HarryT]

If the original poster can clarify what the intent was, we can then move the thread to the most appropriate forum for it.

[MarjaE]

Everyone has different accessibility needs. I have sensory processing issues, and coordination problems, so fancy tablets with animation and touchscreen gestures are impossible for me. But they are accessible for some other people.

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by kenhgaixinh

can the group please advise me about which formats for views will work with a screenreader thanks.

With screenreaders, there are two potential hurdles:

• The ebook reading program;
• The construction of the ebook;

• If the built-in accessibility functions are turned on, then most ebook readers on the iPhone and iPad are functional, when using a screen-reader.
• On Android devices, even with built-in accessibility functions turned on, whether or not a specific program works, is a hit or miss affair. There are third party apps that enhance Android accessibility by several orders of magnitude.

I'll skip reviewing the various ebook readers, and their accessibility, or lack thereof, here.

Which leaves ebook construction.
This is more a function of how much care the content creator puts into their work, than the format that is used. Nonetheless, file format can be useful guideline, as to how screen-readable the specific book will be.

Plain text is the hardest file format to mess up so badly, that a screen-reader can't read it.

File formats that have been DRMd are probably going to be unreadable with your screen reader. Study the writing of Apprentice Alf, to learn how to solve that problem.
Note: Apprentice ALF does not cover DRM for file formats distributed by BARD.

DAISY was specifically designed for individuals with accessibility issues. That said, BARD is the only vendor whose content in this format is readable --- if you have the appropriate key.

Both LBR and KWB should be readable by screen-readers, but I wouldn't count on it. Other than BARD, content in either of those file formats is hard to find.

CHM is screen-readable. When I've had issues with material in this file format, the cause has been the compiler ignored CHM specifications.

ePub that has no DRM, is probably the most common rich text format, that screen-readers usually will correctly handle. The major problem one runs into, is when the ePub was not created according to the published specifications (which is extremely common) and "confuses" the screen-reader.

LIT usually will be screen-reader readable, but ebook readers no longer support it.

RB is screen-readable. Change the file extension to ".txt", to avoid either the screen-reader, or more commonly, the operating system, from treating it as a ruby file.

MOBI, assuming DRM has been removed, is readable by most screen-readers.

AZW4 is not readable by screen-readers, even if the ebook reader supports the file format.

AZW3 is hit or miss, as far as screen-reading goes. If Calibre can convert it, then the screen-reader can read it, and vice-versus.

Done properly, PDF is arguably the most screen-reader friendly rich text file format for ebook reading. However, for all practical purposes, PDF and screen-reading are mutually exclusively concepts.

CBZ & CBR are not readable by screen-readers, because this is more of an image presentation format, than a text presentation format.

PDB: I've never tried using this with a screen-reader. In theory, there shouldn't be an issue.

EPB & EPC: These seem to be readable with screen-readers. The major issue is finding an ebook reader that correctly handles them.

[DaleDe]

Good comments but ePub is not an RTF format. It is actually a zipped XHTML format.