29 August 2010 Interview with Sarah Pulis
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| 29 August 2010 Interview with Sarah Pulis
(I: Interviewer P: Participant) I: A recent new story by the online news website Mashable, reported the Android is now the top selling smart phone operating system. Given the rise in popularity of Android, now is a good time for us to have a chat to Sarah Pulis, New Media Manager for Media Access Australia to find out the accessibility of android and compare it to main rival Apple iPhone. Hello Sarah. P: Hello Roberta. I: Now let’s start by saying what is Android? P: Well, you know it could be a robot but in this case it’s actually an operating system that Google has created for mobile phones. So just like your computer runs an operating system such as Microsoft Windows or if you’re an Apple user, Mac OSX, your mobile phone runs an operating system such as Android. I: So, when people talk about an Android smart phone, what does that mean? P: Well Android can actually run on different smart phones, so these phones that run the Android operating system are collectively referred to as Android smart phones, but each smart phone is actually a different model of phone, such as the HTC Desire or Sony Ericsson Expedia X10. This fact can actually explain the recent report that Android is now the top selling smart phone operating system. Unlike Apple’s operating system for smart phones that only runs on the Apple smart phone, the iPhone, Android is running on many different phones which explains its recent popularity and boost in operating systems. I: So the important one, what are the accessibility features of Android? P: Android has three core accessibility features called TalkBack, SoundBack and KickBack. And these provide spoken, auditory and haptic or vibration feedback respectively. So, TalkBack acts like your screen reader application that provides spoken feedback when using an Android application. SoundBack provides non-spoken auditory feedback to users. So lets say you’re scrolling down a list of contacts, TalkBack might be actually vocalising what the name of the contact is, so for instance John Banks. Well SoundBack will be providing non-spoken auditory sound, for instance a tone as you scroll from one contact to the other. KickBack, which is the one that provides haptic feedback then could be vibrating each time you move from contact to contact. I: So what are some of the difficulties with Android and accessibility? P: Well look Android is still in its infancy in accessibility in many ways, and despite the fact that Android does have these core accessibility features, it doesn’t actually mean that Android is fully accessible. There are several problems, first is that there are different versions of Android, and each version has different accessibility features. So if you are looking at buying an Android phone it is important to pay attention to what version of Android that particular phone is running. Second is that even if you are using for instance the latest version of Android with its accessibility features, your accessibility experience may actually vary from phone to phone, and this is because Android can be customised by the company that is producing that phone. The third problem is that there are some mainstream Android applications that are not accessible. Now, this is not actually different to the Apple iPhone, but it does pose problems for the user as well. I: iPhone versus Android, what’s the accessibility verdict? P: Well look at this stage I’d still have to recommend the iPhone for a guaranteed consistent accessibility experience. But I actually wouldn’t count Android out just yet. There are people out there who are blind and vision impaired who are using Android, and successfully using Android. One of the disadvantages of Android is that, as I mentioned before, different companies can customise Android and thus at this stage we can’t guarantee the accessibility for that particular version of Android. And yet for me I see that as an advantage as well. Already the accessibility applications being developed are showing some really interesting innovations on Android. For instance, one is the Marvin shell, which is a simple custom-built home screen, that is built for what they call single touch eyes-free use, and it can actually replace the default home screen. I: Well thanks for talking with us today Sarah, more information and reviews about the accessibility features of Android can be found on the Media Access Australia website, so you can visit mediaaccess.org.au click on the New Media link and then go to the User Guide section. Alternatively you can email Media Access Australia at info@mediaaccess.org.au or call 02 9212 6242 for more information. I’ve been speaking with Sarah Pulis, New Media Manager of Media Access Australia and Media Access Australia are supporters of this program. Page of Directory: sites -> default -> files files -> Answer True False 2 points Question 2 files -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations files -> Nstructions for Acquiring Excess Equipment online, through the 1033 Program files -> Occupational health and safety files -> The Black Panther Party’s Ten Point Program files -> International programs roel profile files -> Fermi Questions a guide for Teachers, Students, and Event Supervisors Lloyd Abrams, Ph. D. DuPont Company, cr&D/ccas experimental Station Wilmington, de 19880 files -> Personal Information Name: Maha Al-Ammari Nationality: Saudi Relationship Status Download 10.97 Kb. Share with your friends:
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