Talking Email Keyboard for iPhone
— ♣Little by little, we find these individual steps toward accessibility of Apple’s iPhone for the blind and visually impaired. This time, it comes in the form of an iPhone application called Talking Email Keyboard for iPhone from G.P. Imports. The software announces each key you type on the iPhone in a clear and understandable voice, preventing the user from needing to look at the screen while typing. The company claims it is ideal for composing a message while driving, but speech or no speech, that’s probably not a wise activity.
In MacWorld.com’s John Fuller’s article on the app, Mr. Fuller points out that a better use for the software is for visually impaired users, or for those who may have a hard time seeing the screen under some conditions.
While not a solution that will bring true accessibility to the iPhone, it is one more example of ways in which the iPhone platform can be leveraged for the visually impaired. Touch screen technology is the future of computing, and we will need to adapt and encourage development of accessible means to utilize it.