Please Use My Voice!

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Navigating devices with your voice.


I can't begin to tell you how many times I've tried to open my iPhone or iPad and had difficulty with the tap movements. These movements were never a problem nor was it something I thought about before ALS.  Now it’s like trying to get into Fort Knox because it takes me eight long physical hand movements until I am able to enter my devices.  I currently have an older iPhone with a home button which I also will upgrade soon to a phone with facial recognition, which will be much easier to open.  I also was able to reduce some of the movements by utilizing touch ID function which is starting to slowly fade away as well.  Because although it seems simple, I am starting to lose the ability to place my finger on the button and apply the pressure needed. When I was finally able to open my iPhone or iPad, navigating through the screens was a whole other challenge because I would lose control on my hand.  It would touch the screen somewhere not intended and move to a different page which then required me to use additional hand movements and taps to get back to the page I wanted. 

When being disabled, the use of assistive technology is vital to remain connected with family, friends and the world.  Thankfully, there are many technology options available to use which will constantly need to be evaluated based upon disease progression.  For the purpose of this blog, I will only be discussing accessibility features in Apple iOS for individuals who have a strong voice but have minimal movements with their fingers, hands and arms. With these accessibility features, I am now able to navigate my iphone and iPad solely by using my voice which is totally independent of voice to text microphone or Siri. Prior to learning of these accessibility features, my frustration led me to abandon using my iphone and iPad  for a while which made me feel even more isolated from the world.  The best part of these features are that they are already built into iPhones or iPads and are free.

Tip:  I recently bought an iPad floor stand and iPhone desk clamp, which has been a game changer to keep my devices secure and in place without constantly dropping them.


To set up voice control in your iOS device, follow these steps:
  1. Open settings on your device.
  2. Scroll down to accessibility –tap accessibility.
  3. Scroll down to physical and motor section –tap voice control.
  4. Next to voice control, tap toggle button on (the first time you do this it may ask for permission and it will take a few seconds to download it onto your device).
  5. Scroll down on page to command feedback section –toggle on show confirmation, play sound, show hints.
  6. Scroll down on page to continuous overlay –tap overlay and select item numbers. (you can change the automatic dimming and dimmed opacity to the percentages that work for you).
  7. To get familiar with voice control, open the voice control tutorial and navigate through the steps.
  8. When Voice control is activated, your page will come up with numbers assigned to every item and a blue and white microphone at the top of your page.
  9. When you want to navigate your phone, all you need to do is say that number next to the icon and it will open it for you.
  10. If you look at the commands, it will take you through every command that is available for voice control. 
  11. There is a learning curve. Don’t get frustrated. The more you use it, easier it is to navigate.  A few helpful hints:  You can say commands like command mode, which will only respond to a command. Dictation mode will dictate everything you say, which can include people talking around you. Spelling mode is a character by character dictation which may be helpful when entering password or a web address.
Additional resources:

Bridging voice  This website is helpful for anyone with ALS who has technology needs to maintain their communication. I have included their training at the bottom of the blog on how to set up voice control on iOS devices.  I hope this information will eliminate any frustrations you may have and get you well on your way to be able to navigate your devices using your voice.

Steve's Way-  Founded by Tom and Ruth Meadows to educate people about hidden and undocumented accessibility functionality in the Apple iOS that can specifically benefit people with ALS.

iPhone accessibility features include:

  • Voice Control - navigating your iPhone using solely your voice
  • Mouse Control - navigating your iPhone using a standard Bluetooth mouse
  • Head Tracking - using head movement to move the cursor, and facial gestures, sounds or switches to ‘tap.’

https://youtu.be/W2ro4bl-bsE


12/24

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