iPods for the blind

T

Thank The Cheese

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Good morning everyone

My poor grandma is going blind, and within 2 years will be completely without sight. The other day, I had a great idea: buy her an iPod, and load it with audiobooks.

The only problem with this is that to use the iPod, and select tracks/books, you realy need to be able to see.

All Apple would need to do is include a screen reader with the iPod that announced what item is selected. It's a reletively simply feature to add, and would open up the doors to so many people. (EDIT: ok, it's not that simple a thing to implement, because they'd have to write a text-to-speech app for the iPod, but even so, Apple is usually very good with catering for disabled people)

My question is: is there any way you can make iPods more accessible? and if not, is there another MP3 player out there that is accessible for the blind?
 
Yes, a TTS thingy would be needed. The interface is perfect for blind users though. I can easily navigate it in my pocket without looking at it.
 
Shookster said:
Yes, a TTS thingy would be needed. The interface is perfect for blind users though. I can easily navigate it in my pocket without looking at it.
Click to expand...

Yeah but that's only after learning it visually first. Like touch-typing. Plus, even if she could easily navigate to, say, the Audiobooks menu, how can she know which chapter from which book is selected.

hmmm :/

Also, she has never used a computer in her life, so it would have to be real easy!
 
You could use an iPod shuffle. And someone - maybe you - could put some audiobooks on it for her. You don't have to put twenty on it at a time, you know, and the interface is simple. No screen-dependency, either.
 
Yes, that's true Fryke. She lives a long way away, and I only see her maybe twice a year, so I was thinking I would need a 30/60GB iPod to load it to the brim to see her through until my next visit. But still - good idea :D (not sure about the size tho. A bought a novel just recently that was 700MB)
 
Came across this post in the ipodlinux forums.

It seems the amazing guys have come up with "flite 1.3", which enables text-to-speech with the iPodLinux menu. download it from here (FYI: link takes you to the uglist page EVER. seriously.)

it's exactly what I wanted! :D

So now I have a couple of questions:

- Where can I get 3G iPods (eBay is most obvious, but is there a better place?

- How easy is iPodLinux to use? Is it just as easy as the default iPod menu provided by Apple, or do you have to be comfortavle with technology to use it? (this is my computer-fearing grandma we're talking about here)

- Is it likely that iPodLinux and Flite will eventually come to the 5G iPods within the next year?


If anyone happens to have a 3G ipod with linux installed, and would be willing to install Flite to see how it runs I would be very appreciative. I'd really like to know if it is worth going through the hassle and expense of finding/buying a 3G ipod.

cheers!
 
I got an iPod shuffle for my girlfriend who is totally blind, she loves it.

fryke said:
You could use an iPod shuffle. And someone - maybe you - could put some audiobooks on it for her. You don't have to put twenty on it at a time, you know, and the interface is simple. No screen-dependency, either.
Click to expand...
 
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