Mac OS X Lion Includes New Accessibility Features

Apple released Mac OS X Lion to customers yesterday. Lion brings some features of the iPad and iPhone to Mac computers. Lion is available on the Mac App Store for $30. The new operation system includes 250 new features including a number of new accessibility features. Some of Lion’s new accessibility features include VoiceOver improvements, improved support for refreshable Braille displays and a new zoom features for people with low vision. Some of the VoiceOver improvements include better built-in voices and the ability to add your own high-quality voices. Lion also improves better drag and drop support for VoiceOver users. Yet another feature called “VoiceOver Activities” allows you to set custom voices and voice speeds for different tasks. “For example, you can create an activity to use a certain voice and faster speaking rate when you’re shopping online catalogs. Create a second activity to use a different voice and slower speaking rate when you’re reading online newspapers.” Quote taken from Apple.com. Lion also include a new setting that allows users to control the verbosity setting for their Braille display. Lion with its new accessibility features and other new features is a worthy upgrade for any Mac user. Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is $30 from the Mac App Store.

What is Assistive Touch?

Apple's mobile operating system iOS is gold standard for accessibility on mobile devices. In the fall Apple with release iOS 5 with a host of new accessibility features. Some of the new features are assistive touch, LED flash indicator light and custom vibrations. This post will outline the assistive touch feature built into iOS 5. Assistive touch is meant to help people with physical disabilities use their iOS devices more effectively. For example if a user is unable to press the home button because of a physical disability they could use assistive touch to activate the home button with out actually pressing the physical home button. Assistive touch can replace all hardware buttons with software equivalents to make the device easier to use. Another great use of assistive touch is programing custom gestures to use later. For example you could program a two finger swipe down and add the button to assistive touch. Then whenever you need to do a two finger swipe down you can press the button to activate the gesture. (see video for farther explanation) Assistive touch makes navigating and using an iOS device much easier for someone with a physical disability. The assistive touch feature will debut with iOS 5 this fall. For more on accessibility features in iOS 5 click here

Save Text as Audio File Feature in Mac OS X Lion

A new Feature in Mac OS X Lion will allow users to select text and convert it into an audio file. This feature will work with any text that can be highlighted. In order to convert text into an audio file right click on the selected text and click on add to iTunes as a spoken track. Then a window will appear that allows you to select the voice and name of the audio file. The feature is available in Snow Leopard but is not enabled by default. Kurzweil also has a similar feature where you can covert text an audio. There is also a speech feature in Snow Leopard and iOS 5 beta. The speech feature allows selected text to be spoken aloud by a computerized voice. To start the speech feature select the text and right click then click on speech. Mac OS X Lion will be released in July and iOS 5 will be released in the Fall.

Office 2011 for Mac is a Livescribe Pen Alternative

The Livescribe Pen is a great gadget for people who have trouble taking notes. For those that are unfamiliar with the Livescribe Pen, it takes audio recording of everything being said while you are writing. The Livescribe Pen require a special note book. Then if your missed something you can press a word with the pen and then it plays back what was being said when you wrote that word. The pen is great for business meetings and lectures. If your not willing to drop 100 plus dollars and you have a Mac with Word 2011 you may have this same functionality already. Microsoft Word 2011 for Mac has a built in audio note recorder. In notebook view there is a record button. When you press the record button your computer will record everything being said. The main differnce between the two note taking methods if that with the Livescribe Pen you write and with Word you type. Also, the Livescribe Pen has the ability to select a word and hear what was said at that moment while Word for Mac doesn't. The audio notes allow someone who struggles to take notes review anything that they missed.