[BRLTTY] android app

[Jason White]

Dave Mielke <dave at mielke.cc> wrote:
 
> Brltty will work equally well on either one. If it's important that you be able 
> to make phone calls then you probably want a phone, although you can make phone 
> calls via a tablet using apps like Skype or Oovoo. Even when using such apps to 
> make phone calls, though, a tablet would, of course, require a wi-fi connection 
> unless you purchase a USB dongle which facilitates cellular network 
> connectivity. So my suggestion is that if you'd like to make phone calls then 
> get a phone.

The only applications that won't work equally well on a tablet, obviously are
those that depend on hardware features of a phone. With a phone you typically
get GSM for connecting to cellular networks, Wifi (802.11AC included in the
latest devices), GPS/Glonass for satellite navigation, Near Field
Communication (NFC) and Bluetooth. That's quite an assortment of radios in a
single piece of equipment.

Newer devices also support Long Term Evolution (LTE), a new mobile standard
principally used, at least in this part of the world, for carrying Internet
traffic over cellular networks.

I'm planning to buy an Android phone at some point, but I think I'll wait for
the next round of product announcements anticipated in the next few months,
before purchasing.
> 
 
> >How much functionality are we able to access?
> 
> That, of course, is impossible to answer. The general answer is that the 
> graphical world is never very usable by blind people. For example, Google Maps 
> and lots of its friends (Google Street View, etc) aren't accessible.

That's exactly right. In general, access to the graphical world depends on
support for operating system-dependent accessibility interfaces by
applications and user interface libraries. Where this support is imperfectly
implemented or absent, affected applications will be to a greater or lesser
extent inaccessible.

There is an alternative approach known as an off-screen model, but this isn't
used in Android, Linux or MacOS at all. I think Windows screen readers still
use it in some circumstances, but I don't know for sure and I don't have
Windows experience, thus can't comment further on that aspect.
> 
> Another problematic area is when app writers use pictures instead of properly 
> labelled buttons. In those cases, the best that a screen reader can do, be it 
> brltty or any other screen reader, is tell you that you're on a button.

Yes, and that's because the label isn't available to the accessibility API
that BRLTTY uses. (Part of Dave's project in writing the Android support for
BRLTTY would have been, I assume, to implement the assistive technology side of
the accessibility API.)
> 
> >My second question is what kind of display should I look at? I of course want 
> >something portable that can run on batteries, but not necessarily a full 
> >notetaker like a braille sense or braille note. Since we are dealing with 
> >phones or tablets, probably a 20 cell display should be enough, although, 
> >since I really don't know anything about this, I'm just guessing.
> 
> This, in my opinion, is strictly a matter of personal taste. Everyone has 
> different ideas on what he or she feels comfortable carrying around, which 
> features he or she has access to, whether those features are available within 
> the braille deivce or within the phone/tablet, etc. There's no right answer.

Yes, exactly. In purchasing a display there are always multiple factors to
consider: features, number of cells, design, cost, the availability of
support, and whatever you can find out about the manufacturer's product
quality and reliability.

I'm considering the purchase of a display that has a braille keyboard,
precisely for use with a phone. In that case I would want to use it with a
laptop as well in situations that warranted carrying a laptop. Current prices
make this option all the more attractive. These days, a user could
buy two 40-cell displays for less than what I paid for my current 40-cell
display; the prices really have improved. I know the hardware is still out of
reach for many people but it's much less expensive than it was in, say, 2005
when I bought the display that I'm using right now.