How do I make a call from contacts?

Smart phones are such sophisticated devices that it isn’t unusual for users to need help learning to make calls. Calls can be made by entering a phone number into a dialing screen or by selecting a name in a contact manager. This post is about placing calls from a contact manager.

Users can access their contacts to initiate calls in one of 4 ways. They can use Android Search, Voice Dialer, the stock Contacts app, or the Talking dialer Phone Book. All of these methods are accessible, except for Voice Dialer, which depends on the user’s ability to silence the screen reader.

Calling a Contact with Android Search

The easiest way to find anything on an Android phone, including Contacts, is by using the device’s Search feature from the stock Home or Recent Applications screen.

1. Go to the stock Home screen by long pressing the Back button.
2. Type the first two or three letters of the contact’s first or last name. It is not necessary to press the Search button before typing or d-pad OK afterward. The phone vibrates to signal that the search is complete.
3. Down-arrow repeatedly to scroll through the options, and press d-pad OK when you hear the Contact’s name followed by his or her phone number.
4. The Contacts app opens and focus is on the name selected or on a checkbox for adding the name to Favorites. Arrow to the name if necessary, and press d-pad OK.
5. Wait for the phone to ring.

Calling a Contact with the Contacts App

The most obvious way to call a contact is by using the stock Contacts app.

1. Go to the stock Contacts app by doing one of the following:
a. On the stock Home/Launch screen, arrow to and press d-pad OK on All Applications; then arrow to Contacts and activate it by pressing OK on the d-pad.
b. From the Eyes-Free shell, down-stroke to Applications on the touch screen; then using the typing keyboard, type the letter C, arrow down to Contacts if necessary, and press enter.
2. Find your contact. When contacts opens, focus is either on the primary Contacts list or on the shorter list of Favorites. Which of the two or where in either list depends on how long ago the app was used and where focus was at the end of the previous session. At this point, you can arrow either side to side or up and down. Arrowing side to side moves focus through a list of apps: Phone (the stock phone app), Call Log (a list of recent calls), Contacts (a list of names with phone numbers and/or email addresses), and Favorites (the Contacts used most often). To enter any of these apps, scroll down from the name. Arrowing up and down, rather than side to side, moves focus through the list of Contacts or Favorites. Once you move down, you can not move side to side without first pressing alt+up-arrow, then pressing up-arrow alone. To actually find your Contact, do one of the following:
a. Arrow left or right once or press d-pad OK on the current list to enter either Contacts or Favorites; then arrow down or up to find the specific Contact.
b. Type the first 1 to 3 letters of the Contact’s first or last name; then arrow down through the results list. . It is not necessary to press Search before typing or d-pad OK afterward. If you do not find your Contact, press Back once, and try another search string. Note: typing "co" as a search string produces results like Connie Hales, Mike Cole, and Bookworm@comcast.net.
3. Press d-pad OK on your Contact.
4. Arrow through the list of available calling options and press d-pad OK on the correct item. Options are Mobile, Home, work, and Email, or as many of these as are available.
5. Wait for the phone to ring.

Calling a Contact with Voice Dialer

Android phones include a built-in voice-dialer. It can not be used as is because the phone picks up the screen reader before it picks up the user’s voice, so the dialer consistently misinterprets the first few syllables of the number being spoken. Some users report success when they cover the phone’s speaker or interrupt speech with the proximity sensor immediately after opening the app; others report no success.

1. Go to Voice Dialer.
a. From the stock Home screen, arrow to and press d-pad OK on All Applications, then Voice Dialer.
b. From the Eyes-Free Shell, down-stroke to Applications; then type the letter V, arrow down to Voice Dialer, and press enter, or use stroke dialing, which is described in a future post.
2. The phone vibrates as the app opens. Then it beeps as Talkback announces, "Voice Dialer." Your goal is to prevent the screen reader from saying the name of the app, so after the phone vibrates, but before Talkback speaks, cover the device speaker, or wave a finger over the proximity sensor, which is located near the lower left-hand corner of the screen (landscape orientation). Remember that, for the proximity sensor to silence speech, the appropriate setting must be made in Accessibility Preferences.
3. After the beep, say the name of the contact you wish to call, speaking at a moderate conversational rate, without pauses. The phone emits 2 sharp beeps and announces a result.
4. Send the call.
a. If the result is correct, press enter.
b. If the result is incorrect, arrow through the available options, and press enter on the appropriate item or Cancel and start the process over. The phone appears to go through a training period. The first 10 to 20 attempts produce especially inaccurate results. Over time, the results of contact voice searches improve, but they’re never as accurate as voice dialing. A search for "Brother" yielded "open browser," on first attempt and "call Brother on second." Multiple searches for a contact with an unusual name never produced a match.
5. Wait for the phone to ring.

Changing the Input Language for Voice Dialer

For best results, make sure your voice input setting is correct. To check and adjust the input language in Android 2.2, do the following:

1. Go to Settings.
a. From the stock Launcher, press Menu, then arrow to and press d-pad OK on Settings.
b. From the Eyes-Free Shell, down-stroke to Applications, type the letter S, arrow down to Settings if necessary, and press enter.
2. Arrow to and press d-pad OK on Voice Input and Output.
3. Arrow to and press d-pad OK on Voice Recognizer Settings.
4. Arrow to and press d-pad OK on "Language, Choose an Input Language."
5. Arrow through the list of options and press d-pad OK on your preferred language. Choices include American, Australian, British, Canadian, generic, Indian, and New Zeeland English as well as other languages.
6. Return to the Home screen by pressing the Back button several times or pressing Home once.

Calling a Contact with Talking Dialer

Talking Dialer is a free self-voicing app developed by the Eyes-Free Project and available through Android Market. It is normally accessed through the Eyes-Free Shell and enables users to dial phone numbers and contacts from the touch screen. The next few sections in this post cover use of its Phonebook feature.

Opening the Talking Dialer

Users can access the Talking dialer either from the Eyes-Free Shell or from the All Applications screen of the stock Launcher.

To enter the Talking dialer, do one of the following:

1. Press the Home button to go to the eyes-Free Shell; then press the Search button to open the Talking Dialer. Home and Search may be a soft button on the touch screen or a physical control.
2. Press the Home button to go to the stock Launcher; then arrow to and press d-pad OK on All Applications first and Talking Dialer second.
3. Press Search if necessary to enter Phonebook mode.

Noting Screen Orientation and Keyboard Behavior While in the Talking Dialer

1. When the phone is closed (i.e., the keyboard is tucked under the touch screen), the soft keypad is used with the phone in portrait orientation. When the phone is open (i.e., the physical keyboard is available to the user), the keypad is oriented to landscape.
2. While the eyes-Free shell, the Eyes-Free shortcuts, and the Talking Dialer screens are up, the physical controls on the keyboard do not behave in the usual way. Most physical controls are unresponsive while in the Shell and Shortcuts, and in Dialer, arrow keys are unresponsive and different characters are assigned to the typing keys.
a. Back works as expected. A short press moves focus to the previous screen. A long press moves focus to the stock Home screen.
b. Home works as expected. A short press moves focus to the Eyes-Free shell. A long press moves focus to the Recent Applications screen.
c. Both Menu and Search toggle between Dialing Mode and Phonebook in the Talking Dialer.
d. Search+double letter works as expected, opening the app assigned to the Android shortcut.

Finding a Contact with Talking Dialer Phonebook

The Talking Dialer Phonebook offers 2 methods for finding contacts from the touch screen. In this blog they’re referred to as the line method and the circle method. The former is best for scrolling through short lists or parts of longer lists. The latter is best for searching through long lists. Both of these methods are also available for searching through the Applications list of the Eyes-Free Shell.

Using the Stroke dialer: Line Method

This method allows users to scroll through individual items. It’s best for short lists or parts of long lists.

1. Place a finger on the touch screen. The phone emits a short vibrational burst. Keep this finger on the screen at all time.
2. Using a different finger, draw an imaginary vertical line. For best results, draw a long line (2 inches or 5 cm), and lift the drawing finger after each stroke. The phone emits two vibrational bursts, one as each line begins, another as the finger is lifted. The contact name and contact option is announced after the finger is lifted (e.g., Brother, cell).
3. Repeat Step 2 until you find the desired Contact; then remove the other finger from the screen
4. Send the call by doing one of the following:
a. Press Send if your phone has a Send button.
b. Press the Search button if your phone does not have a Send button.
5. Talking dialer Announces: "You are about to dial," followed by the name of the Contact and the contact option. Do one of the following:
a. Press Send or Search a second time to confirm.
b. Shake the phone to return to the contact list without dialing.
6. Wait for the phone to ring.

Using the Stroke Dialer: circle Method

This method allows users to jump to specific parts of long lists from the touch screen. To narrow the search, the line method is used.

The circle method of stroke dialing involves a lengthy explanation and some practice, but once users "get it," it’s fluid and efficient. It uses the same relative positioning of the Eyes-Free Shell and of the Talking dialer, but not the same grid organization.

Following are two explanations. The first is in general terms. The second is more specific.

Explaining the Circle Method in General

1. Imagine a wheel with 8 spokes or a round cake cut into 8 slices. The image is a circle that is divided into 8 parts by a vertical line, a horizontal line, a diagonal line that slopes down to the right, and a diagonal line that slopes down to the left. All of the lines cross in the exact center of the circle, and all of the pieces of the cake are the same size.
2. Place your finger in the general center of the touch screen. This is the center of the circle, where all of the spokes meet.
3. Slide your finger along one of the spokes. Pause the movement of your finger. The phone announces a letter.
4. Draw the circle. As you move around the circle, the phone vibrates periodically and announces more letters.
5. Lift your finger when you reach the desired letter.

It’s important to keep the image of the circle in mind because
• each spoke provides a different starting letter and
• visualizing the way each spoke stretches all the way across the circle helps make sense of the arrangement of the starting letters.

Explaining the Circle Method with specifics

1. Place your finger in the general center of the touch screen. This is the spot where all the spokes of the circle meet.
2. Draw a spoke and enough of the circle to find the desired letter
a. For letters A through H, slide your finger up and to the left (the 1 position on a number pad). Pause. The phone announces, "A." Then move your finger clockwise in a circle. As you do, the phone announces, "B, C, D," and so on to the letter H.
i. To move backward through the letters, draw the circle counterclockwise.
ii. To start halfway through the circle (at the letter E), draw the part of the spoke that is down and to the right (the 9 position on a number pad), and move clockwise or counterclockwise from there.
b. For letters I through P, slide your finger up (the 2 position on a number pad). Pause. The phone announces, "I." Then move your finger clockwise in a circle. As you do, the phone announces, "J, K, L," and so on to the letter P.
i. To move backward through the letters, draw the circle counterclockwise.
ii. To start halfway through the circle (at the letter M), draw the part of the spoke that is down (the 8 position on a number pad), and move clockwise or counterclockwise from there.
c. For letters Q through X, slide your finger up and to the right (the 3 position on a number pad). Pause. The phone announces, "Q." Then move your finger clockwise in a circle. As you do, the phone announces, "R, S, T," and so on to the letter X.
i. To move backward through the letters, draw the circle counterclockwise.
ii. To start halfway through the circle (at the letter U), draw the part of the spoke that is down and to the left (the 7 position on a number pad), and move clockwise or counterclockwise from there.
d. For letters Y and Z and 6 additional characters (question mark, period, backspace, comma, exclamation point, space), slide your finger to the right (the 6 position on a number pad). Pause. The phone announces, "y." Then move your finger clockwise in a circle. As you do, the phone announces, "Z, question mark, period," and so on to the space character.
i. To move backward through the letters, draw the circle counterclockwise.
ii. To start halfway through the circle (at the backspace character), draw the part of the spoke that is to the left (the 4 position on a number pad), and move clockwise or counterclockwise from there.
e.
3. Lift your finger to select that letter.
4. Repeats Steps 2 and 3 one or two more times to write more of the word (optional).
5. Press the Search button to call up a list of Contacts whose first or last names begin with the letter(s).
a. If only one result matches the search string, Phonebook announces, "You are about to dial," followed by the name of the contact. Press Search again to call, or shake the phone once or twice to cancel.
b. If two or more items match your search string, use the line method to select from the results list, touching the screen with one finger, using another to swipe vertically, and tapping the Search button twice when the correct name and contact method is announced.
6. Wait for the phone to ring.

To help learn the circle method of stroke dialing:
• Make the spokes short (1 inch or 2.5 cm or less); otherwise, the circle doesn’t fit on the touch screen.
• Return to the outline of the circle by moving your finger in a scrubbing motion as you draw. While the circle doesn’t have to be perfectly round, it does have to be more or less circular. Many users’ first attempts are more egg or pear shaped. The scrubbing motion helps users find the next letter.

Making a call

Making Calls

Speaking on an Android phone can be more adventurous than speaking on any other. First, the touch screen is a contrary companion. On the one hand, it’s so sensitive that users often inadvertently press soft buttons while speaking on the phone. On the other, it locks unexpectedly when users want access to other apps. Then for users running Android 2.1 and earlier without a dedicated end key, hanging up can be inconvenient.

1. Once the number has been dialed, send the call, as described above. To summarize:
a. If your phone has a dedicated Send button, press Send.
b. If your phone does not have a dedicated Send button, do the following:
i. Press enter if you make the call with Android Search or the Phone app.
ii. Press d-pad OK if you make the call with Voice Search.
iii. Press Search if you make the call with Talking dialer.
2. While on the phone, keep in mind that the touch screen is very sensitive. The best way to avoid mishaps is to use apps like Quick Lock and Lock Now Free to freeze the screen during calls. Other alternatives are to do the following:
3.
a. Avoid touching even the edges of the screen; otherwise, you may activate buttons accidentally. Some users have had great success using earphones.
b. Hold both the phone and your head still. Moving either from side to side keeps the screen on and makes it responsive to touch.
c. Keep the proximity sensor (upper left-hand corner while in portrait orientation) close to your face; otherwise, you press buttons with your chin or cheek. This means that it’s not a good idea to hold the phone with your shoulder while rummaging for something to write with. Touching the proximity sensor to put the phone down or pick it up doesn’t always freeze the screen either.
d. Unlock the screen, if you need to, by first sliding the keyboard out or scrolling the trackball, then swiping in the unlock gesture. Interestingly, freezing the screen with the proximity sensor seems to pause the lock delay. In other words, if the lock delay is 1 minute and the proximity sensor is tripped after 10 seconds, the screen locks 50 seconds after the proximity sensor has been "released." The delay is also interrupted when the phone is shaken.
e. Use the typing keyboard to respond to menu prompts during calls to automated customer service lines (as when calling the bank to check the account balance).
4. End the call when you are done, using one of the following:
a. Press End if you have a dedicated End button.
b. Press Power if you are running Android 2.2 or later and have no dedicated End Button. Remember to set this option in Accessibility Preferences.
c. Press End Call on the In-Call screen if you are running Android 2.1 or earlier and have no dedicated end button, using one of these methods:
i. Using the physical keyboard, move focus to the in-call screen, arrow to End Call, and press d-pad OK. This process can be challenging because of an unfortunate series of events. The phone is moved away from the face to access the arrow keys. The proximity sensor stops preventing the screen from responding to movement or touch, but the face can not be moved out of range of the screen’s sensors because Talkback volume is low. The result is that soft buttons are activated and focus moves away from the desired screen, often requiring more than one attempt.
ii. On the touch screen, tap the End call soft button, which is about halfway across the imaginary horizontal line that unlocks the screen. Practice locating this button by calling your landline or a friend and hanging up before the call goes to voicemail.

Exiting the Call Log

At the end of each call, focus moves to the call log, a list of incoming and outgoing calls. Three options are available to users.

1. Return to the Home screen by pressing Back or Home, or move directly into another application with an Android shortcut.
2. Review the Call Log by arrowing up and down through the list of incoming and outgoing calls; then return to the Home screen by pressing Back or Home.
3. Perform other actions by arrowing to and pressing d-pad OK on any of the entries in the Call Log. Doing so moves focus to a Details screen, which offers the 3 following choices:
a. Call again.
b. Send a text message.
c. Add to Contacts.

Using the In-Call Screen

While a call is in progress, certain options are available to users through the in-call screen, which can be accessed via the arrow keys. Its contents are described here since Eyes-Free users aren’t always aware of this screen early in their Android experience, but knowing what’s available and how to find it can be very handy.

Getting to Know the In-Call Screen

During a call, the In-Call screen can be reviewed by sliding out the keyboard and arrowing over the 6 options, which are arranged in 2 columns and 3 rows. Volume level is very low, consistent with the sound level set for the phone call, so the handset must be held close to the user’s face, which is likely to open another app, shifting focus to another screen. The available items on the In-Call screen are as follows:

1. Dial pad—pressing d-pad OK here moves focus to the standard dialing pad, which is not accessible.
2. End call—pressing d-pad OK here hangs up. If no other option has been selected during the current call, focus tends to move to this option.
3. Add call—pressing d-pad OK here lets users dial a second number on the typing keyboard for conference calling.
4. Speaker—pressing d-pad OK here puts the device in speaker phone or hands-free mode.
5. Mute—pressing d-pad OK here blocks sound from reaching the person being spoken to.
6. Blue Tooth—pressing d-pad OK here connects the Blue Tooth headset that has already been paired with the device.

Returning to the In-Call Screen

If another app has focus, users can return to the in-call screen in one of two ways:

1. Use the Arrow keys.
a. Go to the Phone screen by doing one of the following or by setting up an Android shortcut to Phone, a topic covered in a future post.
i. Long-press the Back button to return to the stock Home screen, arrow to and press d-pad OK on All Applications, then on Phone.
ii. Press Home to return to the Eyes-Free Shell; then down-stroke to Applications, type P, arrow to Phone if necessary, and press enter.
b. When the app opens, Talkback announces, "Phone." Arrow to and press d-pad OK on Return to Call in Progress.
2. Use the Status bar on the touch screen.
a. Slide the keyboard out.
b. Place a finger on the upper edge of the screen and slide it all the way down to the bottom, stopping when you hear, "Status Bar."
c. Down arrow to and press d-pad OK on "Current call" followed by the number.

How Do I Make a Phone Call, Using a Dialer?

Smart phones are such sophisticated devices that it isn’t unusual for users to need help learning to make calls. Calls can be made by selecting a name in a contact manager or by entering a phone number into a dialing screen. This post is about using a phone number to place calls.

Users can "dial a number" in one of four ways. Three are accessible to Eyes-Free users. A fourth depends on the users’ ability to silence speech. A fifth, using Google Voice Search, does not appear to be accessible, though one user reports having success with the method.

Dialing with Android Search

The simplest way to make a call is to use the Search button from the stock Home or Recent Applications screen.

1. Go to the stock Home screen by long pressing (6 seconds) the Back button, or go to the Recent Applications screen by long pressing the Home button.
2. Press the Search button.
3. Type the phone number, using the top row of the physical keyboard. If your phone does not have a dedicated number row, press the alt or function key twice quickly before you begin typing.
4. Send the call.
a. Press Send if your phone has a dedicated Send key.
b. Down-arrow once to "Dial Using" followed by the phone number, and press enter if your phone does not have a dedicated Send key.
5. Wait for the phone to ring.

Dialing with the Phone App

The most obvious way to make a call is to use the phone app.

1. Go to the Phone app.
a. From the stock Home screen, long press (6 seconds) the Back button. Arrow to and press the selector on All Applications, then on Phone. It’s possible that Phone is one of the items on your launch screen. If so, simply arrow to and press the selector on Phone.
b. From the Eyes-Free Shell, down-stroke to Applications, type P, arrow down to Phone if necessary, and press enter.
2. Type the phone number, using the top row of the physical keyboard. If you do not have a dedicated number row, there is no need to press the alt or function key twice before typing.
3. Press enter.
4. Wait for the phone to ring.

Dialing with Voice Dialer

Android phones include a built-in voice-dialer. It can not be used as is because the phone picks up the screen reader before it picks up the user’s voice, so the dialer consistently misinterprets the first few digits of the number being spoken. Some users report success when they cover the phone’s speaker or interrupt speech with the proximity sensor immediately after opening the app; others report no success.

1. Go to Voice Dialer.
a. From the stock Home screen, arrow to and press the selector on All Applications, then Voice Dialer.
b. From the Eyes-Free Shell, down-stroke to Applications; then type the letter V, arrow down to Voice Dialer, and press enter, or use stroke dialing, which is described in a future post.
2. The phone vibrates as the app opens. Then it beeps as Talkback announces, "Voice Dialer." Your goal is to prevent the screen reader from saying the name of the app, so after the phone vibrates, but before Talkback says, "Voice Dialer," cover the speaker of your phone, or wave a finger over the proximity sensor, which is located near the lower left-hand corner of the screen (landscape orientation). Remember that, for the proximity sensor to silence speech, the appropriate setting must be made in Accessibility Preferences.
3. After the beep, say the phone number you wish to call, speaking at a moderate conversational rate, without pauses. The phone emits 2 sharp beeps and announces a result.
4. Send the call.
a. If the result is correct, press enter.
b. If the result is incorrect, arrow through the available options, and press enter on the appropriate item, or press Cancel and start the process over. The phone appears to go through a training period. The first 10 to 20 attempts produce inaccurate results. Over time, the results of voice dialing improve, but they definitely vary.
5. Wait for the phone to ring.

Changing the Input Language for Voice Dialer

For best results, make sure your voice input setting is correct. To check and adjust the input language in Android 2.2, do the following:

1. Go to Settings.
a. From the stock Launcher, press Menu, then arrow to and press the selector on Settings.
b. From the Eyes-Free Shell, down-stroke to Applications, type the letter S, arrow down to Settings if necessary, and press enter.
2. Arrow to and press the selector on Voice Input and Output.
3. Arrow to and press the selector on Voice Recognizer Settings.
4. Arrow to and press the selector on "Language, Choose an Input Language."
5. Arrow through the list of options and press the selector on your preferred language. Choices include American, Australian, British, Canadian, generic, Indian, and New Zeeland English as well as other languages.
6. Return to the Home screen by pressing the Back button several times or pressing Home once.

Dialing with Talking Dialer

Talking Dialer is a free self-voicing app developed by the Eyes-Free Project and available through Android Market. It is accessed through the Eyes-Free Shell and enables users to dial phone numbers and contacts from the touch screen. The next few sections in this post cover its dialing feature.

Opening the Talking Dialer

Users can access the Talking dialer either from the Eyes-Free Shell or from the All Applications screen of the stock Launcher.

To enter the Talking dialer, do one of the following:

1. Press the Home button to go to the eyes-Free Shell; then press the Search button to open the Talking Dialer. Home and Search may be soft buttons on the touch screen or physical controls.
2. Press the Home button to go to the stock Launcher; then arrow to and press the selector on All Applications first and Talking Dialer second.
3. Press the Menu button if necessary to enter Dialing mode.

Keying a Number with Talking Dialer

The Talking dialer is designed on the same principle as the eyes-Free Shell. Users touch the screen at any point, ideally in the general center. That point is the 5 on an imaginary telephone keypad. Then users slide their fingers diagonally, horizontally, or vertically to the relative location of each of the other keys on the phone, stopping when they hear the digit they wish to dial. Like the Shell and its Shortcuts menus, selection is made by breaking contact with the touch screen. Unlike the Shell and its menus, Talking Dialer has 12 keys, not 9, so users must also down-stroke to the star, zero, and number sign positions. Once users finish dialing the number, Send or Search is pressed to put the call through.

1. Place a finger in the general center of the touch screen.
2. Dial each number.
a. To Dial the 1, touch the screen; then up-stroke diagonally to the left; lift your finger when the phone announces, "1." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and a second time as you reach the 1 position.
b. To Dial the 2, touch the screen; then up-stroke vertically; lift your finger when the phone announces, "2." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and a second time as you reach the 2 position.
c. To Dial the 3, touch the screen; then up-stroke diagonally to the right; lift your finger when the phone announces, "3." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and a second time as you reach the 3 position.
d. To Dial the 4, touch the screen; then side-stroke horizontally to the left; lift your finger when the phone announces, "4." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and a second time as you reach the 4 position.
e. To Dial the 5, touch the screen; lift your finger when the phone announces, "5." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen to signal you are in the 5 position.
f. To Dial the 6, touch the screen; then side-stroke horizontally to the right; lift your finger when the phone announces, "6." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and a second time as you reach the 6 position.
g. To Dial the 7, touch the screen; then down-stroke diagonally to the left; lift your finger when the phone announces, "7." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and a second time as you reach the 7 position.
h. To Dial the 8, touch the screen; then down-stroke vertically; lift your finger when the phone announces, "8." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and a second time as you reach the 8 position.
i. To Dial the 9, touch the screen; then down-stroke diagonally to the right; lift your finger when the phone announces, "9." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and a second time as you reach the 9 position.
j. To Dial the star, touch the screen; then down-stroke in a long diagonal to the left; lift your finger when the phone announces, "star." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and two more times as you go through the 7 and star positions. The diagonal is steeper than for the 7.
k. To Dial the 0, touch the screen; then down-stroke in a long vertical; lift your finger when the phone announces, "0." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and two more times as you go through the 8 and 0 positions.
l. To Dial the number sign, touch the screen; then down-stroke in a long diagonal to the right; lift your finger when the phone announces, "pound." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and two more times as you go through the 9 and number sign positions. The diagonal is steeper than for the 9.
3. When you finish dialing, do one of the following:
a. Press Send if your phone has a Send button.
b. Press the Search button if your phone does not have a Send button.
4. Talking dialer Announces: "You are about to dial," followed by the number. Press Send or Search a second time to confirm.

Deleting Misdialed Digits in Talking Dialer

It’s easy to misdial. Deleting numbers is even easier, and there are two ways to do it.

To delete misdialed digits, do one of the following:

1. Shake the phone.
a. To delete one digit, shake the phone twice from side to side.
b. To delete several digits, shake the phone from side to side 3 or 4 times.
2. Left-stroke to the backspace key.
a. Place your finger in the general center of the screen. Slide your finger horizontally to the left of the 1 or 4 until the phone announces, "Backspace." Lift your finger.
b. Repeat this process for each digit. Do not touch the edge of the screen, expecting to find the backspace key in the same position. Instead, start in the center (the 5 position) and long-stroke to the left.

Noting Keypad Orientation and Keyboard Behavior While in the Talking Dialer

1. When the phone is closed (i.e., the keyboard is tucked under the touch screen), the dialing keypad is used with the phone in portrait orientation. When the phone is open (i.e., the physical keyboard is available to the user), the dialing keypad is oriented to landscape.
2. While the eyes-Free shell, the Eyes-Free shortcuts, and the Talking Dialer screens are up, the physical controls on the keyboard do not behave in the usual way. Most physical controls are unresponsive while in the Shell and Shortcuts, and in Dialer, arrow keys are unresponsive and different characters are assigned to the typing keys.
a. Back moves focus to the Eyes-Free Shell, whether pressed for a short or long period of time.
b. Home works as expected. A short-press moves focus to the default home screen. A long press moves focus to the Recent Applications screen.
c. Both Menu and Search toggle between Dialing Mode and Phonebook in the Talking Dialer.
d. Search+letter works as expected, opening the app assigned to the Android shortcut.

Making Calls

Speaking on an Android phone can be more adventurous than speaking on any other. First, the touch screen is a contrary companion. On the one hand, it’s so sensitive that users often inadvertently press soft buttons while speaking on the phone. On the other, it locks unexpectedly when users want access to other apps. Then for users running Android 2.1 and earlier without a dedicated end key, hanging up can be inconvenient.

1. Once the number has been dialed, send the call, as described above. To summarize:
a. If your phone has a dedicated Send button, press Send.
b. If your phone does not have a dedicated Send button, do the following:
i. Press enter if you make the call with Android Search or the Phone app.
ii. Press the selector if you make the call with Voice Search.
iii. Press Search if you make the call with Talking dialer.
2. While on the phone, keep in mind that the touch screen is very sensitive. The best way to avoid mishaps is to use apps like Quick Lock and Lock Now Free to freeze the screen during calls. Other alternatives are to do the following:
a. Avoid touching even the edges of the screen; otherwise, you may activate buttons accidentally. Some users have had great success using earphones.
b. Hold both the phone and your head still. Moving one or the other from side to side keeps the screen on and makes it responsive to touch.
c. Keep the proximity sensor (upper left-hand corner while in portrait orientation) close to your face; otherwise, you press buttons with your chin or cheek. This means that it’s not a good idea to hold the phone with your shoulder while rummaging for something to write with. Touching the proximity sensor to put the phone down or pick it up doesn’t always freeze the screen either.
d. Unlock the screen, if you need to, by first sliding the keyboard out or scrolling the trackball, then swiping in the unlock gesture. Interestingly, freezing the screen with the proximity sensor seems to pause the lock delay. In other words, if the lock delay is 1 minute and the proximity sensor is tripped after 10 seconds, the screen locks 50 seconds after the proximity sensor has been "released." The delay is also interrupted when the phone is shaken.
e. Use the typing keyboard to respond to menu prompts during calls to automated customer service lines (as when calling the bank to check the account balance).
3. End the call when you are done, using one of the following:
a. Press End if you have a dedicated End button.
b. Press Power if you are running Android 2.2 or later and have no dedicated End Button. Remember to set this option in Accessibility Preferences.
c. Press End Call on the In-Call screen if you are running Android 2.1 or earlier and have no dedicated end button, using one of these methods:
i. Using the physical keyboard, move focus to the in-call screen, arrow to End Call, and press the selector. This process can be challenging because of an unfortunate series of events. The phone is moved away from the face to access the arrow keys. The proximity sensor stops preventing the screen from responding to movement or touch, but the face can not be moved out of range of the screen’s sensors because Talkback volume is low. The result is that soft buttons are activated and focus moves away from the desired screen, often requiring more than one attempt.
ii. On the touch screen, tap the End call soft button, which is about halfway across the imaginary horizontal line that unlocks the screen. Practice locating this button by calling your landline or a friend and hanging up before the call goes to voicemail.

Exiting the Call Log

At the end of each call, focus moves to the call log, a list of incoming and outgoing calls. Three options are available to users.

1. Return to the Home screen by pressing Back or Home, or move directly into another application with an Android shortcut.
2. Review the Call Log by arrowing up and down through the list of incoming and outgoing calls; then return to the Home screen by pressing Back or Home.
3. Perform other actions by arrowing to and pressing the selector on any of the entries in the Call Log. Doing so moves focus to a Details screen, which offers the 3 following choices:
a. Call again.
b. Send a text message.
c. Add to Contacts.

Using the In-Call Screen

While a call is in progress, certain options are available to users through the in-call screen, which can be accessed via the arrow keys. Its contents are described here since Eyes-Free users aren’t always aware of this screen early in their Android experience, but knowing what’s available and how to find it can be very handy.

Getting to Know the In-Call Screen

During a call, the In-Call screen can be reviewed by sliding out the keyboard and arrowing over the 6 options, which are arranged in 2 columns and 3 rows. Volume level is very low, consistent with the sound level set for the phone call, so the handset must be held close to the user’s face, which is likely to open another app, shifting focus to another screen. The available items on the In-Call screen are as follows:

1. Dial pad—pressing the selector here moves focus to the standard dialing pad, which is not accessible.
2. End call—pressing the selector here hangs up. If no other option has been selected during the current call, focus tends to move to this option.
3. Add call—pressing the selector here lets users dial a second number on the typing keyboard for conference calling.
4. Speaker—pressing the selector here puts the device in speaker phone or hands-free mode.
5. Mute—pressing the selector here blocks sound from reaching the person being spoken to.
6. Blue Tooth—pressing the selector here connects the Blue Tooth headset that has already been paired with the device.

Returning to the In-Call Screen

If another app has focus, users can return to the in-call screen in one of two ways:

1. Use the Arrow keys.
a. Go to the Phone screen by doing one of the following or by setting up an Android shortcut to Phone, a topic covered in a future post.
i. Long-press the Back button to return to the stock Home screen, arrow to and press the selector on All Applications, then on Phone.
ii. Press Home to return to the Eyes-Free Shell; then down-stroke to Applications, type P, arrow to Phone if necessary, and press enter.
b. When the app opens, Talkback announces, "Phone." Arrow to and press the selector on Return to Call in Progress.
2. Use the Status bar on the touch screen.
a. Slide the keyboard out.
b. Place a finger on the upper edge of the screen and slide it all the way down to the bottom, stopping when you hear, "Status Bar."
c. Down arrow to and press the selector on "Current call" followed by the number.

How Do I Use the Shortcuts Pages of the Eyes-Free Shell?

In addition to the 7 helpful apps on the Eyes-Free shell main screen, users can access a series of home pages, called Menus, with frequently used apps, URLs, contacts, Eyes-Free widgets, and Settings items through the Shell. Each additional Menu contains up to nine shortcuts, also laid out in a 3x3 grid, and users simply touch the left and right edges of the screen to access them.

This post is about how to access, set up, and use the shortcuts screens or menus on the Eyes-Free Shell. for information on the Eyes-Free Shell main screen, refer to the previous post.

Finding Shortcut Menus/Pages on the Eyes-Free Shell

Users can move to various shortcut menus or pages by touching the left and right edges of the screen. Here's how it's done:

1. Touch the left or right edge of the screen.
a. If the phone is in portrait orientation, touch the literal left and right edges of the screen, the glass surface near the plastic or metal casing that holds it in place.
b. If the phone is in landscape orientation, touch the screen along imaginary lines that are about 1 inch or 2.5 cm from the literal left and right edges of the glass surface. When auto rotate is turned off, the phone is in landscape orientation only when the hardware keyboard is pulled out. The literal left edge of the screen is the space ordinarily occupied by the status bar (which does not behave like a status bar in this situation), and the very right edge of the screen is occupied by the Back, Home, Menu, and Search soft keys.
2. Touch the same edge again repeatedly to cycle through available pages, stopping when you hear the name of the page you want. By default, the pages are Home, Shortcuts Left, and Shortcuts Right. Names can be changed to reflect their content, and more pages can be added.

Note: from home (the main screen), touching the left edge of the screen moves directly to Shortcuts Left, and touching the right edge of the screen moves directly to Shortcuts right. Additional left or right menus/pages can be added.

Setting a New Shortcut on an Eyes-Free Shell Menu/Page

The shortcuts can launch any app on the phone, open a bookmarked URL, bring up the details screen for any contact, direct dial or direct message any contact, access the information available on the default Eyes-Free Shell main screen, and get to any item within Settings. The process can seem fiddly and overly complicated the first time or two, but it's actually very predictable.

To cancel the process, press the Back button twice to exit editing mode without making changes at any point.

1. Touch the edge of the screen repeatedly to find the page you want to add shortcuts to. by default, options are Home, Shortcuts Left, and Shortcuts Right, and two more screens can be added.
2. Press the Menu button. The phone announces, "Edit menus."
3. Scroll to and press the selector on Edit Menus, the only option. Simply pressing the selector may not work. Once the selector has been pressed on Edit Menus, the phone announces, "Eyes-Free Shell" or "Edit Shortcuts."
4. If you discover you are not on the correct shortcuts page or that you skipped Step 1, you can tap the right or left edge of the screen one or more times at this point to get to the right page.
5. Select your shortcut position.
a. Touch the general center of the screen (the 5 position).
b. Stroke vertically, horizontally, or diagonally in any direction to the spot where you want the new shortcut to appear. The phone announces, "none," if no shortcut is there already, or it announces the existing shortcut (e.g., "Time," "Pizza Delivery Number," or "Wikipedia") if one is already assigned.
c. Lift your finger to indicate that you want to set the shortcut in this position. The phone announces, "Add to Shell," and displays 8 options.
d. If you stroke to the wrong position, press Back to exit edit mode. An alternative is to try touching the screen again and stroking to another position, but this doesn't work consistently.
6. Scroll through the shortcut options and press the selector on the one you wish to add. Options are Applications, Bookmarks, Contacts, Direct Dial, direct Message, Eyes-Free Widgets, Settings, and None.
7. Scroll to and press the selector on the specific app, bookmark, contact, or Settings item you wish to add.
a. In most cases, you can type the first letter to get results beginning with that letter.
b. In the case of Direct Dial and Direct Message, you can also use stroke dialing to find the contact, and you must press enter a second time on the contact to confirm your selection.
8. Repeat Steps 4-8 to add more shortcuts to the Shell.
9. Press Back twice or until the phone announces, "Exiting Edit Mode." Currently, the phone mispronounces this as "Exciting edit mode."

Deleting Shortcuts, Replacing shortcuts, Renaming Menus, Adding New Menus, and Restoring Default Menus in the Eyes-Free Shell

The Eyes-Free Shell has some useful flexibility. Existing shortcuts can be deleted or replaced with new ones; pages can be named to reflect their content; additional pages can be added; and all pages can be cleared and restored to installation defaults.

1. To delete an existing shortcut, follow the steps for adding a shortcut only in Step 5 select the shortcut you want to remove, and in Step 6, scroll to and select None on the Add to Shell screen.
2. To replace an existing shortcut with a new one, follow the steps for adding a shortcut only, in Step 5, select a position that already has a shortcut. The new shortcut takes the place of the old one.
3. To name a shortcuts page, do the following, assuming that you are not in Edit Mode. If you are in edit mode, start with Step d below.
a. Touch the edge of the screen repeatedly to find the page you want to add shortcuts to. by default, options are Home, Shortcuts Left, and Shortcuts Right.
b. Press the Menu button. The phone announces, "Edit menus."
c. Scroll to and press the selector on Edit Menus, the only option. Simply pressing the selector may not work. Once the selector has been pressed, the phone announces, "Eyes-Free Shell" or "Edit Shortcuts."
d. If you discover you are not on the correct page or that you skipped Step a, you can tap the right or left edge of the screen at this point to get there.
e. Press Menu again.
f. Scroll to and press the selector on Rename Menu. Options are Insert Menu Left, Insert Menu Right, Restore Default Menus, and Rename Menus.
g. Type the name of the menu/page in the edit field (e.g., contacts, work Websites, GPS).
h. Scroll to and press the selector on OK.
i. Press Back twice or until the phone announces, "Exiting Edit Mode." Currently, the phone mispronounces this as "Exciting edit mode."
4. To add new pages, do the following, assuming that you are not in Edit Mode. If you are in edit mode, start with Step d below.
a. Touch the edge of the screen repeatedly to find the page you want to add shortcuts to. by default, options are Home, Shortcuts Left, and Shortcuts Right.
b. Press the Menu button. The phone announces, "Edit menus."
c. Scroll to and press the selector on Edit Menus, the only option. Simply pressing the selector may not work. Once the selector has been pressed, the phone announces, "Eyes-Free Shell" or "Edit Shortcuts."
d. If you discover you are not on the correct page or that you skipped Step a, you can tap the right or left edge of the screen at this point to get there.
e. Press Menu again.
f. Scroll to and press the selector on Insert Menu Left or Insert Menu Right. Options are Insert Menu Left, Insert Menu Right, Restore Default Menus, and Rename Menus.
g. Touch the edge of the screen repeatedly until the phone announces, "New Menu."
h. Add shortcuts to this page or rename it as described above.
i. When you are done, press Back twice or until the phone announces, "Exiting Edit Mode." Currently, the phone mispronounces this as "Exciting edit mode."
5. To clear all pages and recover the items on the default main screen (in case of utter shortcut calamity), Do the following, assuming that you are not in Edit Mode. If you are in edit mode, start with Step c below.
a. Press the Menu button. The phone announces, "Edit menus."
b. Scroll to and press the selector on Edit Menus, the only option. Simply pressing the selector may not work. Once the selector has been pressed, the phone announces, "Eyes-Free Shell" or "Edit Shortcuts."
c. Press Menu again.
d. Scroll to and press the selector on Restore Default Menus. Options are Insert Menu Left, Insert Menu Right, Restore Default Menus, and Rename Menus.
e. Add shortcuts to this page or rename it as described above.
f. When you are done, press Back twice or until the phone announces, "Exiting Edit Mode." Currently, the phone mispronounces this as "Exciting edit mode."

Note: Some users have reported frequent crashes with previous versions of the Eyes-Free Shell. Many report resolving the issue by restoring Default Menus once.

Using the Eyes-Free Shell Shortcuts

Users can set up 7 different types of shortcuts. They can be accessed by touching the edge of the screen to get to the menu/page, then stroking to the assigned position. Following is the behavior to be expected from each type of shortcut.

1. An Application shortcut opens the application,, so touching the screen, stroking to the Market shortcut, and lifting a finger opens the Market.
2. A Bookmark shortcut opens a webpage in the default browser, so touching the screen, stroking to a Wikipedia shortcut, and lifting a finger opens Wikipedia in Ideal Web Reader.
3. A Contact shortcut opens the details screen for the individual, so touching the screen, stroking to the Boss shortcut, and lifting a finger opens the screen that prompts users to call or email their boss at work.
4. A direct Dial shortcut sends a call immediately, so touching the screen, stroking to the Mom shortcut, and lifting a finger starts the call without a confirmation step. Users who stroke to the wrong name can cancel by sliding their finger to a blank spot before breaking contact with the screen.
5. A direct Message shortcut opens the default messaging app and puts the contact in the To field, so touching the screen, stroking to the Best Friend shortcut, and lifting a finger starts a text message and moves focus to the message body edit field. Users who stroke to the wrong name can cancel by sliding their finger to a blank spot before breaking contact with the screen.
6. An Eyes-Free Shell Widget shortcut gives users the kind of information found on the main screen (e.g., signal strength, time, battery status), so touching the screen, stroking to the battery shortcut, and lifting a finger causes the phone to announce the battery level. Users can put important widgets on all shortcut menus or move less important widgets to menus that are used infrequently.
7. A Settings shortcut opens System Settings options, like Accessibility, Accounts and Sync, or Language and Keyboard, so touching the screen, stroking to the Accessibility shortcut, and lifting a finger opens the item where the Accessibility, screen reader, and Kickback checkboxes are located.

Grid Orientation and Keyboard Behavior While in the Eyes-Free Shell

1. When the phone is closed (i.e., the keyboard is tucked under the touch screen), the grid is used with the phone in portrait orientation. When the phone is open (i.e., the physical keyboard is available to the user), the grid is oriented to landscape.
2. While the eyes-Free shell, the Eyes-Free shortcuts, and the Talking Dialer screens are up, the physical controls on the keyboard do not behave in the usual way. Most physical controls are unresponsive while in the Shell and Shortcuts, and in Dialer, arrow keys are unresponsive and different characters are assigned to the typing keys.
a. Back works as expected. A short press moves focus to the previous screen. A long press moves focus to the stock Home screen.
b. Home works as expected. A short press moves focus to the Eyes-Free shell. A long press moves focus to the Recent Applications screen.
c. Menu opens the page editor for the Eyes-Free Shell shortcut screen.
d. Search moves focus to the Talking Dialer. If the Talking Dialer is not installed, Talkback announces, "Application is not installed."
e. Search+letter works as expected, opening the app assigned to the Android shortcut.

How Do I Use the Eyes-Free Shell?

The eyes-Free Shell is an alternative home screen or launcher for drivers and other people who don’t or can’t look at the screen. It gives blind and visually impaired users a way of interacting with the touch screen to check status information, launch other applications, and direct dial or message a contact.

This post is about the Shell's main screen. For information about the Shell's various shortcuts screens, which can be set up to launch other apps, visit bookmarked URLs, open the Details screen for individual contacts, access Eyes-Free Shell widgets, direct dial or message contacts, and quickly move to items within the phone's settings menu, refer to the next post.

Finding the Eyes-Free Shell Main Screen

The Eyes-Free Shell has several parts. The main screen has 7 widgets or mini-apps that offer users quick access to information like time and battery status. It is the screen that opens when the Shell is launched. For information on setting the eyes-Free Shell as the default home screen, refer to the previous post.

In addition to the main screen, the Shell has at least 2 other pages (called menus), where users can place shortcuts to things they use frequently. In fact, if the Shell appears to be blank as users attempt to interact with it, the likely reason is that they are on one of the shortcuts pages, not the main screen.

To return to the main screen of the Eyes-Free Shell, do the following:

1. Touch the left or right edge of the screen.
a. If the phone is in portrait orientation, touch the literal left and right edges of the screen, the glass surface near the plastic or metal casing that holds it in place.
b. If the phone is in landscape orientation, touch the screen along imaginary lines that are about 1 inch or 2.5 cm from the literal left and right edges of the glass surface. When auto rotate is turned off, the phone is in landscape orientation only when the hardware keyboard is pulled out. The literal left edge of the screen is the space ordinarily occupied by the status bar (which does not behave like a status bar in this situation), and the literal right edge of the screen is occupied by the Back, Home, Menu, and Search soft keys.
2. Touch the same edge of the screen repeatedly to cycle through the shortcuts pages, stopping when you hear, "Home."

By default, the pages are Home, Shortcuts Left, and Shortcuts Right. Names can be changed to reflect their content, and more pages can be added.

Interacting with the Eyes-Free Shell

On the Eyes-Free shell, the 7 mini-apps or widgets are arranged in 3 rows of 3, as in a tick-tack-toe game, a 3 by 3 grid, or the top 9 keys of a standard telephone dialing keypad. When the phone is closed (i.e., the keyboard is tucked under the touch screen), the grid is used with the phone in portrait orientation. When the phone is open (i.e., the physical keyboard is available to the user), the grid is oriented to landscape.

This grid isn’t at a fixed location; rather, its center is wherever the screen is touched first. Using the telephone keypad analogy, that center point is the 5 key, and users must stroke vertically up or down, horizontally left or right, or diagonally in any direction to reach another one of the keys on the phone.

When another "key" is reached, the phone vibrates and speaks the name of the widget being touched. To access the widget, users simply break contact with the screen.

For best results with the Eyes-Free shell:

1. Touch the screen in the general center, not close to the edges. Some users touch the phone with the index finger; others use the middle finger, as when they touch a telephone keypad.
2. Move your finger at a moderate rate, neither slow nor fast.
3. Use the vibrations to confirm that you have moved to a new key position. The phone vibrates when you touch the screen, thus identifying the 5 position. It vibrates again as you move to a new key. If you continue to hold your finger in that position, the name of the function is spoken (e.g., time in the 2 position or Battery in the 3 position).
4. Avoid touching the right and left edges of the screen as doing so moves you to a shortcut page. If you touch the edge of the screen by accident, touch the edge again repeatedly until you cycle back to the main screen.
5. Set the Talkback keyboard to Hidden with a long-press of the volume buttons if the Shell is behaving strangely.

Noting Keyboard Behavior While in the Eyes-Free Shell

While the eyes-Free shell, the Eyes-Free shortcuts, and the Talking Dialer screens are open, the physical controls on the keyboard do not behave in the usual way. Most physical controls are unresponsive while in the Shell and Shortcuts, and in Dialer, arrow keys are unresponsive and different characters are assigned to the typing keys.

The following set of keys can be used with the following results:

1. Back works as expected. A short press moves focus to the previous screen. A long press moves focus to the stock Home screen.
2. Home works as expected. A short press moves focus to the Eyes-Free shell. A long press moves focus to the Recent Applications screen.
3. Menu enables editing of the Eyes-Free Shell main screen and of its shortcut screens.
4. Search moves focus to the Talking Dialer. If the Talking Dialer is not installed, The phone announces, "Application is not installed."
5. The quick launch Search+letter works as expected, opening the app assigned to the Android shortcut.
6. The Talkback keyboard should be set to Hidden when working with the Eyes-Free Shell and its shortcut screens.

Using the Widgets on the Eyes-Free Shell

These are instructions for using the widgets available through the Eyes-Free shell:

1. For signal strength and network information, use Steps a and b below. This information is also available by going to Settings/About Phone/ Status, Phone Number, Signal, etc.
a. Up-stroke diagonally to the left to reach the 1 position. The phone announces, "Signal."
b. Lift your finger.
2. For the time, use Steps a and b below. This information is also available by going to Settings/Date and time.
a. Up-stroke vertically to reach the 2 position. The phone announces, "Time."
b. Lift your finger.
3. For battery status information, use Steps a and b below. This information is also available by going to Settings/About Phone/ Status, Phone Number, Signal, etc.
a. Up-stroke diagonally to the right to reach the 3 position. The phone announces, "Battery."
b. Lift your finger.
4. No widget is assigned to the 4 position. This is a useful spot for a frequently used app that requires minimal keyboarding, like Talking compass (by Bill Ray), Intersection Explorer (by Eyes-Free Project), or Checkmark Calendar (by Greenbean Soft).
5. No widget is assigned to the 5 position since it is what determines the relative placement of the other keys. To avoid activating any widget , stroke back to this key and lift your finger. The phone announces, "Home.
6. For information about your current location, use the steps listed below. Repeating the steps produces varying results, alternating between a GPS and a network location. This type of information is also available from Google Maps and other GPS apps, like WalkyTalky by Eyes-Free Project and Location Blind by Bill Ray, available through the Android Market.
a. Side-stroke to the right to reach the 6 position. The phone announces, "Location."
b. Lift your finger.
c. Wait a few seconds for the phone to announce location details.
7. For voicemail, use the steps listed below. This is also available by dialing your carrier's voicemail code (e.g., *86 for Verizon customers), using any of the calling methods described in other posts.
a. Down -stroke diagonally to the left to reach the 7 position. The phone announces, "Voicemail."
b. Lift your finger.
c. Use the physical keyboard to enter your password, and continue with voicemail, using the physical keyboard to enter menu choices. If the number row doesn't behave as expected, try pressing the alt or shift key before typing each number.
8. For a vertical list of All Apps, use the steps listed below. The stock Home screen also includes an All Applications or Sliding Drawer icon, which provides access to all the apps on the phone, presented alphabetically in a grid, so users must remember to arrow left and right as well as up and down.
a. Down-stroke vertically to reach the 8 position. The phone announces, "Applications."
b. Lift your finger.
c. An alphabetical list of all of the apps appears on the screen. Find and enter the application by doing one of the following:
i. Type the first letter of the app you want to use. If the names of several apps begin with that letter, arrow down to find the second, third, and so on. If you meant to type a different letter, arrow up or down once, then type another letter. When the app is located, press Enter, the selector, or the Search button to open it.
ii. Use Stroke dialing.
9. For simple voice searches, use One Vox. Voice searches can also be made from the stock Home screen by long pressing the Search button; however, this feature appears to be mostly inaccessible at this time.
a. down-stroke diagonally to the right to reach the 9 position. The phone announces, "Search."
b. Lift your finger. A soft click is played.
c. Say a search term. Speak at a moderate conversational rate, without pausing between serch terms. Examples of search terms are detailed in another section of this post.
d. Wait for the phone to announce the results. Results are returned quickly. If no results are returned in 10 seconds, press Back briefly and try again, or use the physical navigational controller to scroll to the Speak Again or Cancel button, press the selector, and speak or move on to another activity.

Adjusting screen reader volume with the Eyes-Free Shell

One of the perks of the eyes-Free Shell is that users can adjust screen reader volume while the phone is silent. To do this:

1. Place your finger on the Eyes-Free Shell. A thumb works well for this, with the middle, ring, and pinky fingers under the handset.
2. Press the volume-up/down key repeatedly while your finger is on the screen. The phone beeps more loudly or more softly with each press of the volume control.

Accessing an App's Details Screen from the Eyes-Free Shell

Another perk of the Eyes-Free Shell is that users can quickly launch the details screen for an app. This screen is where users uninstall apps and perform other maintenance tasks, like force closing a troublesome app or clearing defaults so a different app can be launched automatically in certain situations. Normally, getting to that screen involves going into Settings/Applications/Manage Applications, but with the Shell, the process is much shorter.

1. Down-stroke to the 8 position to launch the Applications widget.
2. Scroll to the app, or use first-letter navigation to find it in the list.
3. Press the Menu button.
4. Do one of the following:
a. Scroll to and press the selector on Details to open the details screen. The options on this screen are not arranged in a list; to find your option scroll left and right as well as up and down. Options are Clear Cache, Clear Data, Clear Defaults, Force Stop, Move to SD card, Uninstall.
b. Scroll to and press the selector on Uninstall to uninstall the app.
5. Press Back if necessary when you're done.

Finding Quick Answers with Eyes-Free Voice Search

Users can take advantage of some of Google’s search features to find quick answers in OneVox, the simple voice search app of the Eyes-Free shell. Examples of search terms are listed below. The order of the items in the search string doesn’t seem to matter: users can say, "weather. Mountain View" or "Mountain View weather," to get the same result.

• Calculations – To hear the results of an addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, or percentage problem, say the calculation you'd like done. Examples: 3 plus 4, 20 minus 6, 5 times 8, 39 divided by 13, 20 percent of 3,495.
• Currency Conversion – To hear money equivalents between countries, say, the source currency, the word "in," and the target currency. Example: 100 U.S. dollars in Mexican pesos.
• Dictionary Definitions – To hear a definition for a word or phrase, say, "define" or "definition," and word(s): Example: define, dog.
• Sunrise & Sunset – To hear the precise times of sunrises and sunsets for many U.S. and world cities, say, "sunrise" or "sunset," and the city name. Example: Sunset, San Jose, Costa Rica.
• Time – To hear the time in many cities around the world, say, "time," and the name of the city. Example: time, Madrid.
• Unit Conversion – To hear the equivalents between many different units of measure for distance, height, volume, weight, and more, say the source unit, the word "in," and the target unit. Examples: 40 miles in kilometers, 3 ounces in grams, 1 gallon in liters.
• Weather – to hear the weather for many U.S. and world cities, say, "weather," and the city and state, the U.S. zip code, or the city and country. Example: weather, London, England.

How Do I Set or Change the Default Home Screen?

When the phone has two applications that do the same thing, Android wants to know which app should be used. For example, if two or more home screens are installed, pressing the Home button makes Android display a list of available home screens and prompts users to select one. Likewise, users who select the Email option from Contacts are prompted to choose between the stock email app and K-9 Mail, if the latter has been installed from the Market. Users can select the app they want to use this time, or they can select the one they want to use all the time.

This post describes how to tell the phone which of two or more applications to use for a particular task. The steps here describe how to set the default home screen, but the procedure is the same for setting the default email reader, web browser, Twitter client, and so on.

Setting the Default Home Screen from the Android System Screen

Once the Eyes-Free Shell is installed, pressing Home brings up the Android System screen, which allows users to select between the Stock Home screen and the Eyes-Free Shell. It also gives users the option to set the default setting.
1. If necessary, slide the physical keyboard out to access the arrow keys.
2. Briefly press the Home button. The phone may say, "Android system."
3. Navigate through the items on the screen: Eyes-Free, Home, and Use by Default for This Action.
4. Press the selector on Use by Default for This Action.
5. Set your default home screen.
a. If you want your default to be the Eyes-Free shell, arrow to Eyes-Free shell and press the selector.
b. If you want your default to be the stock Home screen, arrow to Home and press the selector
6. Briefly press the Home button to move to the home screen you have selected.

Clearing the Default Home Screen in Settings

If pressing the Home button opens a particular screen, then that home screen has already been set as the default. To set a different default, users must clear the current one. When they do, they can access the Android system screen and follow the steps described above to choose a new default home screen.

1. From the Home screen, go to Settings.
a. On the stock Launcher, press Menu, navigate to Settings, and press the selector.
b. On the Eyes-Free shell, down-stroke to Applications, type S, navigate to Settings if necessary, and press enter.
2. Navigate to Applications and press the selector.
3. Navigate to Manage Applications and press the selector.
4. Focus is on Downloads. At this point, you can arrow down through your installed applications or arrow right to All applications.
a. If your current default is the stock Home screen and you want to change it to Eyes-Free shell, arrow right to All; then arrow down to your Home screen, which may be called "Home" or "Launcher"; Press the selector.
b. If your current default is the Eyes-Free shell and you want to change it to the stock Launcher, Arrow down to Eyes-Free shell, and press the selector.
5. Navigate to Clear Defaults, and press the selector there. This screen is a nonuniform grid, so you may need to navigate in different directions.
6. Briefly press the Home button. Focus should move to the Android System screen, allowing you to use the previous instructions to set your preferred Home screen.

Clearing the Default Home Screen in the Eyes-Free Shell

The Eyes-Free Shell offers a convenient way to clear defaults for most apps on the phone. The stock home screen isn't one of them, so for that app specifically, users need to follow the steps described in the previous section. For most other cases (e.g., setting the default email reader or web browser), the following method is very handy.

1. Go to the Eyes-Free Shell.
a. If the Eyes-Free Shell is your default home screen, press the Home button.
b. If the stock Home screen is your default launcher, press the Home button, Navigate to and press the selector on All Applications, then on Eyes-Free Shell.
2. Down-stroke to the 8 position for Applications.
3. Navigate to the app that is currently the default. Do not press enter.
4. Press the Menu button.
5. Navigate to and press the selector on Details.
6. Navigate to Clear Defaults, and press the selector there. This screen is a nonuniform grid, so you may need to navigate in different directions.

TalkBack, Eyes-Free Shell Refreshed --- Now With End-User Settings

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We are pushing out a series of updates via Android Market for TalkBack and the Eyes-Free Shell. Here is a brief overview of end-user visible changes.

Accessibility Preferences

Going by the principle of things should just work as expected , we have long resisted giving in to having a complex set of user preference settings for TalkBack and friends --- in my experience, if you introduce such a settings menu early on, we as software engineers tend to punt on all complex decisions by turning each question into a complex user-facing dialog. That said, it is now time to gradually introduce end-user settings for some aspects of the various accessibility tools.

Accessibility Preferences

Welcome new application AccessibilityPreferences to Android. What this application does:

• From an end-user perspective, it provides a single place where you will find preference settings corresponding to each accessibility tool you have installed on your phone.
• For developers of accessibility tools, it provides a simple means of registering a custom program for managing end-user preferences for that tool.

TalkBack installs its user preferences under this tool. You can tweak a number of settings that affect TalkBack behavior including:

• Control whether TalkBack speaks when the screen is off --- useful to silence status messages when you have the phone turned off.
• Control whether TalkBack speaks when ringer volume is set to 0, i.e., phone is in silent mode.
• Control whether the proximity sensor is used to shut off speech.

Over time, we'll add more settings here as appropriate --- but expect us to be conservative with respect to how many settings show up.

Updates To The Eyes-Free Shell

Here is a summary of updates to the Eyes-Free Shell:

• Changes the proximity sensor logic so that it is only active when the shell is active; this should be more battery efficient
• Fixes a race condition bug that can trigger when the shell is being exited as an application is being installed/removed

TalkBack

Here is a summary of changes to TalkBack:

• TalkBack now includes application-specific speech strategies for some popular applications. This provides context-sensitive spoken feedback.
• Applications that have such speech strategies defined include Facebook, Stitcher and GoogleVoice amongst others.
• Implements a settings screen that can be used with Accessibility Preferences
• Available settings:
   
  1. Ringer Volume (Speak at all ringer volumes, No speech in Silent Mode, No speech in Vibrate and Silent Mode)
   
  2. Screen Status (Allow speech when screen is off, No speech when screen is off)
   
  3. Speak Caller ID (checked/not checked)
   
  4. Proximity Sensor (checked/not checked)

In addition, TalkBack introduces the ability to add application-specific plugins --- expect to see more advancement here in future releases.

AccessibilityPreferences Hints For Developers

If you're a developer of an AccessibilityService, you need to:

• Implement a preferences screen for your application.
• Implement this with intent filter:

              
  
              <intent-filter>            
  
                  <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />            
  
                  <category android:name="android.accessibilityservice.SERVICE_SETTINGS" />            
  
              </intent-filter>            
  
          
  

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