Accessibility Archives - Page 3 of 6 - Outlook

GoodMaps develops digital maps for indoor and outdoor use. Founded in 2019 and based in Louisville, KY., American Printing House for the Blind created GoodMaps (previously Access Explorer) with a simple mission: to further the cause of accessible navigation, mainly indoor navigation.

This article will compare some of the most essential features of their Popular GPS apps – GoodMaps Explore and GoodMaps Outdoors. Both apps are free to download and use for Android and iPhone users.

GoodMaps Explore

Explore was developed first primarily for indoor usage through its specialized mapping system. Some of the key features of Explore include:

The ability to navigate both indoors and outdoors.
The ability to save all your favorite destinations in one place.
The ability to search for a location or point of interest and then send it to Google Maps or Apple Maps for turn-by-turn directions.

This app helps you navigate indoor locations. While this form of navigation is still in development, indoor navigation uses geo-referenced images through a camera-based Positioning System to determine a user’s position. GoodMaps Explore can locate where you are in a room within 2-inches to one meter of accuracy. This is a substantial improvement over the accuracy provided by GPS (8-10M outdoors), Bluetooth trilateration (4-5M), and other approaches.

Another advantage to this approach is that venue owners can update and customize their indoor maps, ensuring that point of interest data is always current. You can even virtually go to any location, allowing you to explore the surrounding area without physically being there. This is similar to how a sighted person might use the street view aspects of a mapping program.

Another cool feature of this app is that you can launch Be My Eyes within the app. Be My Eyes is an app that connects a Blind user with a sighted volunteer. Through your phone’s camera and microphone, the volunteer provides access to visual information and additional information when sighted assistance is needed.

Download GoodMaps Explore from the App Store or Google Play Store and try it out.

GoodMaps Outdoors

GoodMaps Outdoors was initially acquired from Aira, previously called Seeing Eye GPS. This outdoor navigation app provides detailed intersection information and turn-by-turn Navigation. Some of the features of Outdoors include:

The ability to record a route using breadcrumbs, called Waypoints. No other accessible app has this. The user can manually add these waypoints with the add button or shake the phone to create a Waypoint location.
The Lookaround Wand in the top right tells you what’s around.
The More Info button gives the altitude and speed.
You can create your own POIs, share them with others, or keep them private with a shortcut on the location page or from the POIs page.
POI categories are announced with search results and make finding a destination easier.
Audio tones and vibrations give feedback throughout the app, informing the user about upcoming turns, critical intersection information, and when a search is loading.
A robust route menu includes multiple methods for choosing a destination, from starting with a POI, an address from your contact list, the route history, and many more!

Outdoors also contains a variety of settings that allow you to customize what items are spoken and how they are displayed. The user can set specific items, such as arrival distance, to provide notifications upon arrival at a destination. For example, options can be selected from fifty to one hundred feet. This may be useful when locating venues not listed on the map, such as kiosks, ATMs, walking paths, etc.

GoodMaps Outdoors also provides various low-vision display settings, such as Black/white, white/black, and yellow/black.

You can download GoodMaps Outdoors from the App Store and the Google Play Store.

Both Explore and Outdoors contain similar items. However, Outdoors focuses on outdoor navigation, such as planning a pedestrian or vehicular route based on a point of interest, street address, or even a wave point, as well as GPS coordinates that the user can create and name. You’ll need to create an account to use Outdoors. GoodMaps automatically saves all the user route information, wave points, and other data to the cloud for ready access.

Contact Enrichment’s adaptive technology trainers for more information or a demonstration of these apps at 531-365-5051.

Staying healthy and well is important to people with visual impairments. Eating nutritious foods, getting adequate sleep, and exercising are all parts of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. But if you have a medical condition requiring accessible medical devices and pharmacies, your ability to stay healthy can be impacted.

Blood pressure monitors, bath scales, thermometers, and diabetic supplies must be adapted to meet the needs of a person with vision loss. Accessible prescription medications must also be available in a way that provides accuracy, control, and privacy.

Additionally, with the continuation of the pandemic, we can now test for COVID-19 from home. Accessing these testing kits is essential for the visually impaired. Learn about accessible medical devices and pharmacies for the blind and visually impaired to stay healthy and maintain a good quality of life.

Talking bath scale

A talking bath scale is best for those monitoring their weight or trying to stay fit. This accessible scale is an excellent tool for keeping track of weight loss goals. These scales are simple to use and operate like traditional scales. Just step on the scale, and your weight will be verbally announced. Some models have a large print screen, ideal for people with low vision.

Talking blood pressure monitor

Knowing your blood pressure numbers is critical to staying healthy, particularly for people with medical conditions like diabetes. Unfortunately, traditional blood pressure monitors are inaccessible because their screens are hard to read and have little contrast. A talking blood pressure monitor gives a visually impaired user access to this information.

Talking thermometer

Knowing your body temperature is important when battling colds, fevers, flu, and COVID-19. A talking thermometer provides that access. To use it, press the button and insert it in the mouth, ear, or under the arm.

Accessible COVID-19 home testing

As we all know, taking your temperature is a big part of checking for COVID-19. But taking a test will better determine if you have the virus. Aira, a visual interpretation service, has partnered with the National Federation of the Blind to make COVID-19 at -home testing accessible for blind and visually impaired people. You can call Aira for professional help with any COVID-19 rapid antigen or PCR home test.

Accessible diabetic supplies

Diabetes is the leading cause of vision loss in the United States for people under 70, primarily due to diabetic retinopathy. One thing people with diabetes and vision loss can do to successfully control their disease is manage their medications. That includes using accessible monitoring and insulin-measuring devices.

Accessible medications and pharmacies

Because of their prescriptions’ accessibility, people with visual impairments are especially at risk for mismanaging them. EErrors like taking the wrong pill, missing refill dates, or taking expired medication are just a few. Typically, prescription information on the bottle and documents is in small print. In 2012, legislation was passed to make prescriptions more accessible. As a result, changes were made to how medications are administered to people with vision loss.

Today, we have multiple options to access medications. Prescription information is provided in braille and large print. There are accessible prescription label options such as ScripTalk and CVS Spoken RX. The pharmacist programs your prescription information, including drug name, dosage, instructions, warnings, pharmacy information, doctor name, prescription number, date, and more. To read the label, download and use the free mobile app to hear the information. Walgreens offers the Talking Pill Reminder if you don’t want to use a smartphone. It is a device attached to your medication bottle that reads your prescription information, recorded by the pharmacist, and reminds you when to take your medication.

Another option is Accessible Pharmacy, which assists with mail-order prescriptions. They offer accessible devices, large print and braille labels, and special packaging options. They also provide education and assistance via telephone or the Be My Eyes app. If you have diabetes, Accessible Pharmacy will provide Prodigy talking glucose meters and supplies along with continuous glucose monitors and supplies. You can call Accessible Pharmacy at 215-799-9900, visit their website, or through the Be My Eyes app.

People with vision loss want to maintain and control their health and wellness. Though we are not medical professionals, Outlook Enrichment staff members can help you find accessible resources to keep you healthy. Contact us with any questions you have.

We are fortunate to be in a time when there are so many different web browser options. However, most of us will only use the browser built into our computer or mobile device. This blog compares the web accessibility features of common computer internet browsers – Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox.

These internet browsers have many similarities. However, based on your vision loss needs, we have a few things for you to consider.

Zoom

With Chrome and Microsoft Edge, you can easily zoom in on a web page to make the print more readable. Both browsers allow you to increase the text size to 500 percent. Each browser allows you to increase the zoom in 25 percent increments until you reach 200 percent zoom. After this, it will jump to 50 percent increments.

Firefox has inconsistent increments – 110 percent, 125 percent, and 135 percent. The maximum zoom is only 300 percent.

The standard zoom key combinations work in all three browsers. Use the CTRL and the plus key to increase the zoom and the CTRL and the minus key to decrease it. Mouse users can hold the CTRL key and use the mouse scroll wheel to increase or decrease the zoom quickly. Specific zoom settings can be completed through the options menu.

Modifications to color and contrast

Previous versions of the Microsoft browser gave you more flexibility in setting your display settings to a wider range in background, foreground and text colors. This function is called inheritability features. These features made color background modifications that crossed over to all of your web pages and Microsoft apps such as Word and Excel. Microsoft has some built-in features but not at the level we saw previously.

High-Contrast Mode can assist with viewing some of those color combinations on hard-to-read pages. To enter this mode:

Press the Left Alt + Left Shift + Print Screen buttons. You will hear an audible beep, and a prompt will appear asking if you want to turn on the High Contrast mode.
Press Enter to access the mode.

Press the Left Alt + Left Shift + Print Screen buttons to exit the High Contrast Mode. You will hear the beep again, and the screen will revert to its previous settings.

While Microsoft Edge has some interesting web accessibility features, it also works on an Immersive Reader that allows users to modify web page colors, line spacing, alignment, and font styles. The downside is that pages must be specifically designed for this feature to work. In testing, we only found one or two pages on the Microsoft site that worked with the Immersive Reader.

Firefox is the best browser for inheritability features and color modifications. Firefox strips away the formatting and replaces it with the desired font size, style, and color combinations you want. So, if the combination that you see best is black with a bright green print, go for it.

To access the Firefox settings menu:

Press Alt + T to access Tools or left-click on Tools
Press S for Settings or click on Settings
Type “font” in the search field to access your font and color settings
Tab through the fields to access settings (Note: To change the color settings, the mouse must be used to access the color picker.)

Screen reading

If you are not using Jaws or NVDA and find your eyes fatigued from eye strain, Microsoft Edge has a feature called Read Allowed. To access this feature, click the Immersive Reader button in the address baricle’s URL next to the art. You can also press F9 on your keyboard.

Keyboard functions

All of the browsers share basic functions. For example, saving, printing, and opening new tabs are similar. The team noticed the difference in how you save bookmarks and favorites and access the browser history.

Outlook Enrichment’s adaptive technology trainers can show you how to use web accessibility features with limited vision efficiently. Anyone with vision loss can come to Enrichment’s open lab every Friday from 2-4 p.m. You can also schedule an appointment at a time that works for you.

Did you know that Google allows you to store all your documents, photos, and more in a way that allows you to access them from anywhere? You can even share them with family members! Below, we’ll discuss Google Drive storage options and where to find adaptive technology training.

Google Drive vs Google One Comparison

Google Drive is a cloud storage service provided by Google. This storage solution allows you to save files online and access them anywhere from any device. You can use up to 15GB of free storage.

Google One is essentially the paid version of Google Drive. It gives you extra storage (beyond the free 15GB) across Drive, Gmail, and Photos. You can share this storage with up to five family members.

Plans begin at 100GB for $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year. If you need to store many photos and videos, Google’s premium plan gives you 2TB for $9.99 a month / $99.99 a year.

If you’re still using a free Google account and don’t want to switch, you can visit the Google One page to take advantage of a tool that may help you free up some extra storage space.

Sharing Cloud Storage with Family Members

If you want to share your storage, you must create a shared family group. Here’s how:

Go to Google’s family plan page and click “Get started.”
Next, click on “Create family group.”

You can invite up to five family members if they have Google accounts. Some suggestions will be listed, but you can type in a name (if they’re in your contacts list) or an email.

The person you invited will be sent an email, and you’ll be emailed when they accept the invitation. The invitation will expire in two weeks.
Once you’ve set up your family account, you can then set up your shared storage:
In your Google One account, click the settings icon on the left.
Look for “Share Google One with family” under the “Manage Family Settings” drop-down and toggle it on.

To enable shared storage, go to settings and look for “Share Google One with family.”

Now, members of your family can also use the additional storage. Once they use up their free 15GB, they will gain access to the additional storage your account gives them—this does not mean you have access to their files unless they share them directly with you.

Checking Your Storage Capacity

If you want to see how much of your storage each family member uses, go to your Google One account, click “Storage” on the left, and select the down arrow next to “Family Storage.”

You can see how much storage you have left by going to your Google Drive page and looking at the Storage statistic at the bottom of the left-hand column.

Now that you know how much space you have left, you can decide what to do next. If you’re getting close to your limit, do you want to pay for more storage space or find a different service to store your photos? It’s up to you.

One word of advice: before you do anything else, try to delete any old, unwanted, or duplicate files hanging around in your Google storage. You’d be amazed at how much space you might save.

Outlook Enrichment’s adaptive technology trainers can show you how to maximize your Google storage. Anyone with vision loss can come to Enrichment’s open lab every Friday from 2 to 4 p.m. You can also schedule an appointment for a one-on-one adaptive technology training session at a time that works for you.

Over the past few years, Apple has made significant progress in its accessibility and adaptive technology updates. Outlook Enrichment would like to share a few of those.

VoiceOver

VoiceOver, the gesture-based screen reader for all iOS devices, has been advanced over the past few years.

VoiceOver Recognition

In version 14, Apple equipped VoiceOver with an additional feature called VoiceOver Recognition. This helps your device recognize images and text in apps and web experiences where VoiceOver support—like alt text or ARIA labels—is missing. This feature uses on-device intelligence by downloading data to the phone, where the device’s artificial intelligence deciphers and determines what an image may be. Keep in mind that it will require some storage space on your phone.

The more you use VoiceOver Recognition, the more accurate it will become. However, while this feature can be helpful for certain apps, it is not one hundred percent accurate. You should also know that you should not use this feature with apps that are already accessible.

Due to the required processor speed, this feature is available only in iPhones X or later.

Here’s how to enable VoiceOver Recognition:

Go to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver. Make sure VoiceOver is turned on.
Tap VoiceOver Recognition.
Then, select any of the available options to turn them on.

VoiceOver Quick Settings

If you’re using VoiceOver, you’re probably already using the rotor to assist with navigation. At times, the Rotor may seem crowded with options you may or may not frequently use. Even though you can add and remove items from your rotor, deciding which items you want to keep on the rotor can be challenging.

In iOS Version 15, Apple introduced Voiceover quick settings. Quick settings allow you to add items you may want to use while decreasing the number of items on your rotor. Here’s how to enable VoiceOver Quick Settings:

Go to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Quick Settings.
Choose the settings you want, or drag the “reorder” button.

Per-App Settings

In the Accessibility settings, you can customize your phone’s and apps’ look. For example, you can set larger text, reduce transparency, increase contrast, and Smart Invert.

Apple included a feature within the Accessibility settings called Per-App. With built-in apps by Apple, accessibility feature settings will be inherited across most Apple apps. However, with downloaded apps, the system accessibility feature does not carry over.

This new feature allows you to pick a third-party app such as Facebook or an existing app like Safari that has limited accessibility features to now be customized. Customizations include display settings such as text size, bolded text, labels, and Smart Invert,

Here’s how to find and use Per-App:

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Per-App Settings.
Add the app of your choice to begin to customize its display settings.

Remember that when you update those particular apps or when there is an iOS update, the Per-App settings may revert to their original default settings.

Magnifier

Apple has an Accessibility feature that will allow you to use the camera on your iOS device to display and magnify what it is pointing at on the screen. In iOS version fifteen, the magnifier is now a separate app.

You can open the Magnifier app by going to your app Library, Launching it from the control center, or asking Siri to open the Magnifier. Some advantages of the magnifier are customization of available features, more use of filters, the ability to increase and decrease the brightness levels, and the ability to take a picture and apply a filter to a still image.

Safari Update

Safari, Apple’s default web browser, has undergone some changes.

Previously, the tabs, including the address bar, were at the top of the screen. Now, the default setting places the tab bar, the address bar, and the toolbar with the “back” and “forward” buttons at the bottom of the screen.

Here’s how to place the tab bar back on top of your screen:

Go to Settings > Safari.
Tap the “single tab” option under the tabs heading.

Outlook Enrichment’s adaptive technology trainers can show you how to use these iOS features and help you become a pro at using your smartphone. Contact us to learn more about our adaptive technology services.

Magnification devices, personal assistants, white canes, signature guides, screen readers, braille displays, and smartphones are all adaptive technologies that help the visually impaired live, work, and play. These low and high-tech gadgets and gizmos have enhanced people’s lives and increased independence. Some technology helps with daily living skills, others with mobility or accessing employment, entertainment, or staying connected to friends and family.

Regardless of the available technology, there is something for everyone. January 6 is National Technology Day, so let’s explore some possibilities for people with vision loss.

Assess your technology needs.

Since there is a lot of technology to choose from, start by assessing your needs. What duties do you need to accomplish daily? What skills are you struggling with the most? What tasks have you quit doing because of vision loss but long to continue? Take some time and think about your life. Set some goals and objectives to help avoid intimidation and fear. Technology is here to help improve your life and enhance your independence.

After your assessment is complete, start investigating the technology available. Talk to experts like Outlook Enrichment’s adaptive technology trainers. They can assist you in weaving out various devices to find the best fit.

Talk to peers who are blind or visually impaired. They can share personal experiences and give recommendations. Attending Outlook Enrichment’s peer support group is a great place to start.

Technology helps you live.

Mastering daily living skills is critical for people with vision loss. This includes cleaning, grocery shopping, home organizing, marking and labeling items, and personal hygiene. For example, many people with vision loss desire to return to the kitchen after a vision impairment. So, when cooking, use low-vision aids like high-contrast cutting boards, measuring cups, and spoons. As your confidence grows, move on to higher technology like smartphone apps to read food labels and call a personal assistant to read recipes.

Travel and mobility are another part of daily living. Whether using a white cane or a guide dog, confidently commuting is important. There are several navigational apps on your smartphone for traveling. Others, like Uber and Lyft, allow you to call for a ride through your smartphone and transport you to your destination.

Technology helps you work.

People with vision impairments want to maintain employment or land that ideal job. Several jobs require skills using a personal computer, and screen readers and magnification software help people access employment opportunities.

Other jobs might require the use of smartphones or tablets. These devices are accessible with magnification and speech output. All of these devices can be connected to braille displays as well. Using adaptive technology is considered a workplace accommodation. Learn the technology tools you need and how to advocate for them to be successful at the job.

Technology helps you play.

People with vision loss want to have fun and access entertainment. Reading audiobooks, watching audio-described movies and TV programs, listening to music, and playing video games can be done with technology. You can tap into all these options using your smartphone, tablet, PC, or personal assistant. One example is video streaming services like Netflix, Apple TV, Prime Video, Max, and Disney Plus. These services are fairly accessible to the blind and provide large volumes of content in audio description.

During the pandemic, people met and socialized via videoconferencing rather than in person. Initially, platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, and Slack were used primarily for work-related meetings, but they have expanded into social activities. Virtual game nights, meet-ups, dinner parties, special celebrations, and cocktail hours are all conducted over videoconferencing, providing a way to stay connected to friends and family.

Technology impacts every area of our lives. People with vision loss must learn and access technology to maintain independence and quality of life. Contact Outlook Enrichment to learn more about how adaptive technology can help you live, work, and play.

GoodMaps: Navigating with Explore and Outdoors