access

Smartphones and tablets are evolutionary advances over their predecessors, but they are also more difficult for many disabled users to navigate. Android's basic accessibility features are pretty good, but they are focused mostly on visual impairment, and there are plenty of additional apps to meet the needs of users who have troubles with the basic interface or features. Here's a selection: 

Users with visual impairment 

The basics come preinstalled--but not enabled: TalkBack, KickBack and SoundBack offer nonvisual feedback. To get started with them, select "Settings," then "Accessibility," then "Enable Accessibility," … Read more

When Siri for the iPhone 4S was announced, downloads for Vlingo, a voice command app for Android, shot up 50%. Why? Because voice command, especially with artificial intelligence, can complete tasks more efficiently than our own fingers.

The act of talking to our gadgets is still in the awkward stage, but pretty soon we'll all be voice-commanding our phones, forgetting that we ever lived without artificial intelligence.

Voice command (and speech recognition) isn't just available for phones. Check out our guides on getting these services on any of your gadgets:

Android

iOS 5 introduced a number of new and varied notifications, from the Notification Center and different alert tones for different apps to custom vibration patterns and a new visual alert.

Buried in the accessibility settings is a new feature that uses the LED flash next to the rear-facing camera on the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S to notify you to incoming calls and alerts. It's a great feature for the hearing impaired and anyone who would rather receive visual rather than audio alerts.

To set it up, to to Settings > General > Accessibility and then scroll down until … Read more

An update to Ford Sync retrofits the infotainment platform with the Bluetooth Message Access Profile (MAP), which enables some smartphones to stream and read text messages out loud to to the driver.

If you haven't heard of MAP, you're in good company. MAP is a Bluetooth protocol designed specifically for message streaming in automobiles, which is why most smartphones are not equipped with that profile. It's used to transmit SMS, MMS, and e-mails between devices, such as between mobile phones and the Sync system. The update doesn't bring a lot of new features to Sync subscribers, … Read more

Software developed during a summer course at Stanford University could one day radically shift the way the visually impaired use modern tablets, potentially removing the need for a wireless Braille display.

Adam Duran, a senior at New Mexico State University, has developed a stunning way for blind people to type on tablets. Duran created the touch-screen Braille writer software with Adrian Lew, a Stanford assistant professor of mechanical engineering, and Sohan Dharmaraja, a doctoral candidate.

It's all in the fingertips. The eight keys (similar to a standard Braille keyboard) in the software do not have a predefined position, but rather work with the location of the fingers. A user simply presses eight fingers anywhere on the screen, and voila, the keys are automatically oriented to that location.

If there's a problem, users simply lift their fingers and put them down again. As shown in the video below, typing is a breeze. Curiously missing is the mention of haptic feedback (vibration), or voice support, but for a first version this software is very encouraging. … Read more

The time has finally come, and iOS 5 will be available to the general public October 12. During the last four months, we have been covering some of the key features of iOS 5 to ensure we were prepared to help you on the first day of iOS 5's release. Below you will find 15 tips and tricks to help you master iOS 5, and maybe even allow you to show off a bit to your friends. … Read more

If you are impatient and want to experience the new Timeline on Facebook announced earlier today, you can turn it through the developer section of Facebook. The process is simple, takes a few minutes, and will require some patience as Facebook tidies up any lingering issues and bugs. You game? Read on.

… Read more

Facebook has announced a ton of new features today during its F8 conference. The first feature rolled out is called Timeline. While it's not currently available to most Facebook users, you can sign up, making your account eligible to receive the new feature earlier than most.… Read more

Owners of the WD My Book Live NAS server can now do a lot more with the storage device via a mobile gadget.

Western Digital announced today the availability of the WD 2go mobile app for the iOS and Android platforms. It turns the NAS server into a personal storage cloud solution.

The app enables users to connect to the NAS server via the Internet using a Wi-Fi network or over a cellular connection. The remote user then can stream to the mobile device digital content, such as music, video, and photos, as well as documents and presentations that are stored on the NAS server.

Multiple users can be granted access to a single WD My Book Live at a time, via different accounts. To do this, the owner of the NAS just needs to create a new user account, using the NAS' Web interface, and enabled remote access on that account. This generates a 12-digit access code, which is entered into the WD 2go app. And that's all it takes for the setup process.

In order to support this new feature and mobile app, the WD My Book Live needs to run the latest firmware, which is a free update.

Other than the mobile platforms, remote users can also access the NAS via any full-featured Internet browser by pointing it to www.WD2go.com. … Read more