Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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New iPhone for mom, question about answering calls (self.Blind)
submitted by amusingbush23
After much talk with you kind folks here on Reddit, my mom has gotten her very first iPhone. We haven't set it up yet, I'm going to visit in a couple days to help her. She called me last night and asked the most basic question---how do I answer it when it rings?? She can't see the screen to accept a call or to slide it if it's locked. Any ideas?
cae_jones 5 points 5y ago
Two-finger double-tap. She should be sure that her fingers aren't too close together, so the phone can count them more easily. Do the same to hang up, play or pause music/videos, start or stop dictation in a text field, and probably other things I've forgotten / not heard of yet.
usualninja 2 points 5y ago
I'm part of a global whatsapp group that is specifically for voiceover users. Group members cab can ask any question with a voice message and users from across the world will respond with the answer. Let me know if you would like me to add your mother to this group
amusingbush23 [OP] 2 points 5y ago
Thanks to everyone who answered, this is my favorite community, everyone is so nice and helpful. I go tomorrow to help her get it setup!!!
[deleted] 2 points 5y ago
amusingbush23 [OP] 2 points 5y ago
Wow thanks so much!!
[deleted] 1 points 5y ago
Welcome!
AllHarlowsEve 2 points 5y ago
Does she have Voiceover turned on, first of all? It can be turned on just by using Siri, and then you can help her customize settings after that.
amusingbush23 [OP] 1 points 5y ago
Yes we are going to do voiceover--I'm going tomorrow to help her get setup. Thank you for your reply!
saharacanuck 2 points 5y ago
Depending on where you live, some apple stores have an Intro session for VI users. I’ve never used it though.
migalinatx 2 points 5y ago
Apple's "Today at Apple" series offers workshops to help learn about accessibility features in iOS and MacOS. You can find workshops offered near you here: $1
If your local Apple store does not offer "Today at Apple" workshops, I would recommend asking if there are any accessibility specialists working at the store and if they offer one-on-one training sessions.
Hope this helps!
If your local Apple store does not offer "Today at Apple" workshops, I would recommend asking if there are any accessibility specialists working at the store and if they offer one-on-one training sessions.
Hope this helps!
angelcake 1 points 5y ago
They do. I believe it’s $100 and that gives you access to a year of as much training as you want.
saharacanuck 1 points 5y ago
That’s cool. I didn’t know they had that. I was referring to their free one off workshop.
angelcake 2 points 5y ago
I didn’t know they did free workshops so this worked out well for both of us :-)
amusingbush23 [OP] 2 points 5y ago
Thank you!! As soon as I posted this I kicked myself and went to YouTube for a quick tutorial.
Kylexmajus 1 points 5y ago
A two finger double tap will answer calls and play/pause any audio. :)
TheBlindBookLover 1 points 5y ago
Hi. I would recommend checking out the VoiceOver tutorials by the Hadley School for the Blind. I used those tutorials to learn how to use my iPhone. I hope that this helps.
amusingbush23 [OP] 1 points 5y ago
It does help, I will check it out. Thank you!
ArcanaNoir 1 points 5y ago
There is also an option to have all calls automatically answered, but I think it would be rare for a user to want that.
amusingbush23 [OP] 2 points 5y ago
I didn't know that...thanks!
saharacanuck 1 points 5y ago
Lol, yes It did!
vwlsmssng 1 points 5y ago
I found useful setting up the home button so that three presses bring up the menu that will turn VoiceOver on and off. This is useful when I (sighted - don't need VoiceOver) need to do things to the phone and then I can re-enable VoiceOver before I hand it back (and woe betide if I forget.)
The next useful thing to do is to learn VoiceOver yourself. I think it is quicker for a sighted person to learn, you can then teach or provide help over the phone.
Third, you may need much patience with a new user, especially and older person, who will find it frustration at first learning all these complicated gestures and remembering the difference between say : three finger triple tap and three finger swipe. VoiceOver is well designed and works well, just allow three months or more for general fluency to be acquired and focus on priority features (like call answer / end, access contacts, read & write messages).
The next useful thing to do is to learn VoiceOver yourself. I think it is quicker for a sighted person to learn, you can then teach or provide help over the phone.
Third, you may need much patience with a new user, especially and older person, who will find it frustration at first learning all these complicated gestures and remembering the difference between say : three finger triple tap and three finger swipe. VoiceOver is well designed and works well, just allow three months or more for general fluency to be acquired and focus on priority features (like call answer / end, access contacts, read & write messages).
ArcanaNoir 3 points 5y ago
It's also easy to use Siri to turn voiceover on and off with the command "voice over on/off".
vwlsmssng 2 points 5y ago
As this was the user's first iPhone we postponed learning Siri until later. That's just what suited us.
The user still doesn't use Siri much even though they've been shown how to use it to make calls.
The user still doesn't use Siri much even though they've been shown how to use it to make calls.
amusingbush23 [OP] 2 points 5y ago
Thank you friend--very helpful.
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