The voice tags first came in with the 4th generation of the nanos which have more complex menu structures and can hold much more content so on those the speech can be very helpful for example having the menus read outloud lets you switch between browsing by album, artist, genre etc, or lets you skip straight to a given track or if you have it set to shuffle it might be nice to know what you are listening too. But yes generally it is the speech enabling of the interface that is more valuable than the voice labelling of content.
Adrian Higginbotham,
Manager, Leading edge research
Tel: Direct dial 024 7679 7333 - Becta switchboard 02476-416994
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web: http://www.becta.org.uk/
BECTA, Millburn Hill Road, Science Park, Coventry, CV4 7JJ
-----Original Message-----
From: A discussion list for Assistive Technology professionals. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steve Lee
Sent: 12 March 2009 12:02
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: New iPod Shuffle
2009/3/12 Adrian Higginbotham <[log in to unmask]>
> The shuffles have always been good for those with VI because of their
> inherent screenless usability. The biggest barrier is the Itunes
> software which is virtually the only way to manage content.
I must admit I wonder how much value the speech will add? What is the advantage of hearing the details of each track in sequence over just previewing each track in many cases? For music it's a level of abstraction I don't need though I admit both together might be useful.
For podcasts and other sources it is arguably more useful. Unless Apple have added something clever than sequential access - all I can think of is a nested menu system which has it's own operational issues.
Also anything that doesn't need itunes is good for me, I much prefer managing and copying files myself so had to uninstall iTunes (actually largely because it kept trying to run whenever I plugged in my iPod just to charge). Using the shuffle on Linux I can just treat it as a simple folder of tunes or use RhythmBox to manage it while keeping a simple file layout.
--
Steve Lee
Open Source Assistive Technology Software and Accessibility fullmeasure.co.uk
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