Apple Releases New Podcasts App

Today, Apple released a new app called Podcasts. Click here to download the free app. The app has a number of improvements including the ability to subscribe to Podcasts from your device. Podcasts are a great way for people with reading disabilities or visual impairments to keep current with the news. Click read more below to see screen shots of Podcasts in action.

Hidden Keyboard Enhancement Built Into iOS 5

A newly discovered feature in iOS 5 adds an auto correction bar above the keyboard. The feature has not been enabled in iOS 5, but may be coming in the near future.This feature is currently available on other mobile operating systems such as Android and Blackberry. Currently it is possible to enable this feature but it is not recommended and could effect your device. When or if this feature is released it will improve typing speed and assist poor spellers. If the feature ever becomes available it will add to the accessibility of iOS. To learn more about assistive technology to help poor spellers click here. To learn about iOS 5 and iPhone 4s accessibility click here.

What does iPhone 5 and iOS 5 Mean for Assistive Technology?

Mock up of possible iPhone 5 design

Apple's next iPhone is rumored to be announced in a couple of weeks. What will the new iPhone mean for assistive technology? The iPhone is a powerful tool for people with a variety of disabilities. It has built in text-to-speech, support for braille displays and much more. How will Apple's announcement effect you? Read on to find out.

At the event Apple will most likely unveil at least one iPhone with a faster processor, more RAM and a better camera. Apple may surprise us with more features as well, but we'll focus on those three. A faster processor means that apps will run faster enabling apps such as Read2Go and ZoomReader to work better and faster. The faster processor will also open the door to exiciting new assistive technology apps. A better camera will benefit people using OCR apps, magnification apps, money reader apps and much more. The new camera will be able to recognize text more accurately and magnify printed text with higher resolution. The new iPhone will run iOS 5 which includes many new accessibility features.

iOS is the most accessible mobile operating system to date and with iOS 5 it will get even better. iOS 5 will run on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Apple has said that iOS 5 will available in the fall. iOS 5 will include many new accessibility features to help make the device easier to use. Hearing aid compatibility will be built into the iPhone allowing people to hear the iPhone better. Another new feature allows users to select text and then have it read back to you using a built in text-to-speech voice. Another rumored feature will convert a users voice into text for easier text input. iOS 5 will also be able to use the iPhone flash as an indicator light which will be helpful to deaf users. Custom vibrations will allow users to set their own vibration patterns to quick identify who is calling. Yet another cool feature called assistive touch will help users with low motor still access their iOS device. To learn more about assistive touch click here. There are even more accessibility features coming in iOS 5. iOS 5 will include a feature for every type of user and will be a free upgrade. To learn more about iOS click here, here and here.

Apple's announcement will be many new exciting bring new assitive technology features to users. Click read more below to see a video about iOS 5. Stay tuned for more information about iOS 5 and the new iPhone.

Signed Stories Helps Deaf Children

Signed Stories is free service that provides sign and read aloud books. The books are signed for the deaf child and read aloud simultaneously for the non deaf parent or vice verse. There are many stories available for young kids. The stories can help parents who do not know sign language to read with their child who is deaf, or for deaf parents to have a book read aloud to their hearing child. Signed Stories are also helpful for kids learning sign language.

WikiSummarizer Gets New Features

WikiSummarizer is a free website that summarizes Wikipeadia articles. WikiSummarizer can summarize any Wikipeadia article in seconds. Recently WikiSummarizer was updated to allow users to view the summarized article in a visual tree view in addition to the old bulleted list visit. The new view makes it easier to gather key information from the summarized articles. To try WikiSumarizer click here. To learn about summarizing  iOS apps click here. To learn about Microsoft Word Summarizer click here. To watch a video of WikiSummarizer in action click read more below.

List of Free Assistive Technology

The National Center on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has a compiled a list of free assistive technology devices and services. To see the list click here. The list includes information about free text-to-speech, voice recognition, audio books, writing tools and much more. The list is perfect for parents, students and teachers looking for free assistive technology. 

ZoomReader Giveaway!

ZoomReader is an fantastic OCR and magnifier app for iPhone 4. To read all about ZoomReader click here. Two promo codes will be posted to the blog within the next 24 hours. Keep checking back for the code because the first person to enter the code into iTunes will win. If you do not win the first code check back for the last code latter. ZoomReader is a $19.99 in the app store. 

Long Division and Long Multiplication Apps Help Math Students (Giveaway)

The Long Division and Long Multiplication apps for iOS walk students through math concepts step by step. The apps help students master new concepts and improve on old skills.  Both apps are $1.99 in the iTunes App store. Long Division iTunes link. Long Multiplication iTunes link.  These apps are only two in a series of 18 math help apps. The other apps can be found here. If you or someone you know needs help learning a math concept these apps are a great resource.

Check back on this blog within the 24 hours for promo codes for free copies of Long Multiplication and Long Division. The reader who enters the codes into iTunes first will win a free copy. The are three promo codes for each app so if you miss the first one check back latter for another chance.

Vibrating Alarm Clocks Help the Hearing Impaired

Alarms are very important to wake people up. People with hearing impairments can not hear when the alarm goes off. Luckily there are vibrating alarm clocks to wake hearing up people with hearing impairments. There are many models of vibrating alarm clocks at a variety of prices. One option is the Shake-N-Wake vibrating alarm clock which is worn on the wrist. The clock and vibrator are all small enough to wear on your wrist. The Shake-N-Wake alarm clock is $19.99. There are many other options for people who need vibrating alarm clocks. To shop for more click here.    

Kurzweil Bubble Notes

Bubble notes is a great feature in Kurzweil 3000. Bubble notes allows teachers to easily assess students. Bubble notes also helps students easily complete tests and quizzes. To insert a bubble note go to tools, then notes, and then bubble notes. When a student reads up to a bubble note it will automatically open and be read aloud. Bubble notes can have multiple choice, true or false, matching and open ended questions Once a student completes the assessment the teacher can extract the student's answers to easily grade the student's answer. Bubble notes can make tests and quizzes easier for students and teachers. Watch the video above for more information. For more Kurzweil tips and tricks click here, here and here.

Braille iPad Case

The iPad has many accessibility features built into the software. iOS includes VoiceOver, white on black and zoom. To learn more about iOS accessibility click here, here and here. A new concept case has a built in refreshable Braille display. The Braille display is very thin and does not add much wight. To learn more about thin refreshable Braille displays click here. The Braille display covers half of the screen for non-sighted users this is not a problem. The Braille iPad case is not for sale as of this post. To see more images of the Braille iPad case click read more below.

iOS 5 Reminders App Will Help Everyone

Apple next operating system upgrade for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch will include a new app called Reminders. iOS 5 is set to be released this fall. To learn more about the accessibility features in iOS 5 click here and here. The Reminders app will is a to-do list that notify you when you have something to do. Within the app you can make a to-do list and set it to remind you to complete the task at a particular date and time. The app can also remind you to do something when you leave or enter a location. For example you could set a reminder to alert you to pick up the eggs after work. The new reminder app in iOS 5 will help many people remember tasks through out the day. Apple explains the Reminders app on apple.com as,

"Next time you think to yourself, “Don’t forget to...,” just pull out your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and jot it down. Reminders lets you organize your life in to-do lists — complete with due dates and locations. Say you need to remember to pick up milk during your next grocery trip. Since Reminders can be location based, you’ll get an alert as soon as you pull into the supermarket parking lot. Reminders also works with iCal, Outlook, and iCloud, so changes you make update automatically on all your devices and calendars."

The Reminders app is not available on the app store and is only available for iOS 5. Click read more below to see more images and a video of the Reminders app.