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Voiceover input. Is it annoying to use? (self.Blind)
submitted by forfudgecake
Good evening, or morning everybody.
I've previously studied Product Design and worked a lot with blind organisations in my area during that time coming up with design briefs and creating products that nobody is ever going to use. I've come to the conclusion a while ago that a lot of the products on the market (or concepts) are over engineered and expensive crap.
I'm meeting up with one of my buddies I made over the years at a blind group next week, but I thought I'd run this past you guys before wasting their time too much.
How do you find the keyboard input on smartphones? Is it annoying to use? Does that voice really grate your ears while using it? Do you misspell a lot? Is it slow?
Basically, I want to give these guys something useful and free that I can make at home. It's a tactile device that correlates braille directly with the keyboard, is super cheap and extremely simple. I believe it would speed up typing, but it doesn't really matter what I believe because I won't be the one using it.
Also, are phone features overly complicated?. I know when I use my phone I use probably 5 apps and maybe a phone call every once and a while. Do you feel like your phone could be simpler and you would get as much use out of it? Kind of like "easy mode" which Samsung's have.
Any input is really helpful as it will allow me to present this to these guys and have it in their hands quicker (they'll printed by me at home)
Thanks!
I've previously studied Product Design and worked a lot with blind organisations in my area during that time coming up with design briefs and creating products that nobody is ever going to use. I've come to the conclusion a while ago that a lot of the products on the market (or concepts) are over engineered and expensive crap.
I'm meeting up with one of my buddies I made over the years at a blind group next week, but I thought I'd run this past you guys before wasting their time too much.
How do you find the keyboard input on smartphones? Is it annoying to use? Does that voice really grate your ears while using it? Do you misspell a lot? Is it slow?
Basically, I want to give these guys something useful and free that I can make at home. It's a tactile device that correlates braille directly with the keyboard, is super cheap and extremely simple. I believe it would speed up typing, but it doesn't really matter what I believe because I won't be the one using it.
Also, are phone features overly complicated?. I know when I use my phone I use probably 5 apps and maybe a phone call every once and a while. Do you feel like your phone could be simpler and you would get as much use out of it? Kind of like "easy mode" which Samsung's have.
Any input is really helpful as it will allow me to present this to these guys and have it in their hands quicker (they'll printed by me at home)
Thanks!
bscross32 3 points 3y ago
I use Braille Screen input to type. It's much quicker because it turns the screen into a braille keyboard. I also use just about every feature on my phone except the stuff dealing with mac and the apple watch because I don't have those.
forfudgecake [OP] 1 points 3y ago
Thank you, do you have any issues with the lack of tactile input when you're using this mode?, Looking at people using it, it looks slow until you master it.
I guess you're right, that probably comes down to differences from person to person and their preferences.
I guess you're right, that probably comes down to differences from person to person and their preferences.
bscross32 2 points 3y ago
I'm guessing you either mean no haptic feedback or no physical keys to press, since physically, you are touching the screen with more than one finger. No, that's not an issue. You calibrate it and just hover your fingers over the screen. You can recalibrate whenever you want but I've only ever had to do it twice.
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There are some people who actually put VO in direct touch mode for typing so it acts just like a sighted person would use it. It still announces the letters as you type. I don't know how the hell they do that, I've tried and just make a mess of everything.
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There are some people who actually put VO in direct touch mode for typing so it acts just like a sighted person would use it. It still announces the letters as you type. I don't know how the hell they do that, I've tried and just make a mess of everything.
forfudgecake [OP] 1 points 3y ago
Looking at a screen myself, I often touch it inaccurately I guess that's what I was getting at. Basically if using a slab of glass do your fingers get disoriented I guess. Would I be right in saying that using that mode is impractical to use while standing/walking , or have you developed some ninja skills? Haha
Yeah I don't know how people can tolerate voice over, even the voice gives me a headache. I guess what I'll be working on with my buddies in the group will be an extremely cheap way of bridging both the braille screen mode and voiceover (without the voice)
Yeah I don't know how people can tolerate voice over, even the voice gives me a headache. I guess what I'll be working on with my buddies in the group will be an extremely cheap way of bridging both the braille screen mode and voiceover (without the voice)
bscross32 1 points 3y ago
I can use it while walking around. I am an explorer, not a flicker. So I will just learn an app by where stuff is on the screen and go right to it rather than flicking 20 times or using item chooser. I don't generally have problems getting to where I want to go on the phone.
CloudyBeep 1 points 3y ago
I know some people find it hard to use, but I love it.
IronDominion 2 points 3y ago
From my experience, many people don’t type with Voiceover, they just use dictation
forfudgecake [OP] 2 points 3y ago
Thanks for the input!
I use dictation in the car, I know dictation can be an absolute pain in the ass sometimes and inaccurate in certain noisy settings, do you ever encounter this?
I've never really used dictation outside of the car, I couldn't imagine doing it publicly without feeling invaded upon by others listening. Any issues around this?
I use dictation in the car, I know dictation can be an absolute pain in the ass sometimes and inaccurate in certain noisy settings, do you ever encounter this?
I've never really used dictation outside of the car, I couldn't imagine doing it publicly without feeling invaded upon by others listening. Any issues around this?
CloudyBeep 2 points 3y ago
This is why I never use dictation.
IronDominion 2 points 3y ago
It can be painfully inaccurate. Some people just give up trying to correct it. It tends to not recognize proper nouns especially. There isn’t a really good solution to using it in public than talking as quietly as the microphone will tolerate. A lot of people I know use headsets with built in mics so that helps, but it isn’t perfect. There’s no real good solution, because typing is painfully slow to tap every character. Like when entering a password on a TV where you have to scroll to get to every letter, imagine that for EVERY text or thing you write on your phone. People would rather deal with dictation inaccuracies then that
devinprater 2 points 3y ago
You don't need to swipe to each letter, just memorize where the keys are and tap them. Also see the "typing styles" rotor item.
IronDominion 2 points 3y ago
Huh, didn’t know that. I don’t use voiceover myself, so I’m going off my friends and clients who do
forfudgecake [OP] 2 points 3y ago
Excellent information! Thank you!
That's pretty much exactly my experience with it. I think what I'm going to put together will help with that really simply (hopefully) by allowing people with sight impairments type similarly to this with sight.
If it works you get a free one on me.
That's pretty much exactly my experience with it. I think what I'm going to put together will help with that really simply (hopefully) by allowing people with sight impairments type similarly to this with sight.
If it works you get a free one on me.
IronDominion 2 points 3y ago
Your welcome! I’m always fascinated by projects for little issues like this because so many services are focused on solving big problems, not little ones like this that just make our lives as VI people easier
devinprater 1 points 3y ago
The main keyboard is slower, but Apple, not Google, have built in an onscreen braille keyboard, where one can type in braille on the phone's screen. For the blind people that do not know braille, there is handwriting mode. So, for those who are willing to learn to use it, input on an iPhone does not have to be slow.
For those Android users for some of whom, Google can do no wrong and typing is a labor of slow love to Google for them, /sarcasm, they won't want your product anyway because Android is perfect and is the fourth member of the Holy Trinity. /sarcasm lol.
For some, though, on either platform, it may be more quick to simply double tap on an edit field, and begin typing, with braille aiding tactilly finding the right key.
No, our phones most certainly should *not* get simpler!!! I have students who only can use their iPhones or iPads, because keyboard commands are hard for them to remember, and they need as *much* functionality out of the device as they can get. There are others who are simply used to using an iPad, and moving from that ... tactile, ironically, experience of feeling the screen to one of going through the more vague interface of the keyboard disorientates them and they spend more time tabbing for things than they could do simply with feeling around the screen.
For those Android users for some of whom, Google can do no wrong and typing is a labor of slow love to Google for them, /sarcasm, they won't want your product anyway because Android is perfect and is the fourth member of the Holy Trinity. /sarcasm lol.
For some, though, on either platform, it may be more quick to simply double tap on an edit field, and begin typing, with braille aiding tactilly finding the right key.
No, our phones most certainly should *not* get simpler!!! I have students who only can use their iPhones or iPads, because keyboard commands are hard for them to remember, and they need as *much* functionality out of the device as they can get. There are others who are simply used to using an iPad, and moving from that ... tactile, ironically, experience of feeling the screen to one of going through the more vague interface of the keyboard disorientates them and they spend more time tabbing for things than they could do simply with feeling around the screen.
drv687 1 points 3y ago
As a partially sighted but still legally blind person I find voiceover slow and cumbersome. Plus it blocks a lot of my phones useful features like the bar that represents the home screen.
sadieragbaby 1 points 3y ago
Hello. I find typing with voiceover very slow and frustrating. So much so that my partner got me a bluetooth keyboard and I can type much faster now. I am interested to see what this device you are making is like. Also, I don’t use dictation as there is no privacy especially when in public. I was looking into getting a braille display for my phone, but they are so expensive. All equipment for the visually impaired seems to be expensive and it’s very frustrating.
RJHand 1 points 3y ago
I personally use braille screen input, one of the features in voiceover that allows you to type as if you were typing on a brailler. I can type pretty quickly with it, but I've never met anyone else who uses it so I often wonder if I'm truly the only one who does lol. Works fine for me though.
Duriello 1 points 3y ago
I use the touch-typing mode and am accurate 90% of the time because I developed muscle memory, but since I'm a perfectionist I tend to wait for VoiceOver to announce the key I'm touching which makes me slower. The swipe keyboard on iOS 13 seems to solve my typing speed problem because it allows me to be inaccurate, but I have to test it properly before judging it.
bradley22 1 points 3y ago
I too use touch typing.
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