Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Eyes-Free API, In Android 1.6 SDK Test And Learn WithTalkBack: An Open Source Screenreader For Android

When Android announced the Eyes-Free project, I was thrilled because I could put it to use, in many a places, like hands free driving. Real hands free, not pretending to be so.
But there were other people who were interested in the feature users and developers alike.
I am glad that T.V Raman and his team thought about it. The project they started is a part of the Android 1.6 and the Android 1.6 SDK. The Android team has developed TalkBack, which produces a voice feedback (Spoken words) during the user interaction and the SoundBack produces non spoken sound feedback. But that is not all, there is haptic feedback, also known as KickBack to complete the picture.
So those developers looking to make their application more widely used across all sort of people, could use the talkback, Soundback and kickback to make their applications usable when the user is not looking at the device screen.
The Eyes-Free team, (T. V. Raman, Charles L Chen, and Svetoslav Ganov) has announced that they will be working on the project and improve the Eyes-Free Api and the tools. They are also looking forward to see your questions and the feedback, written ones, at the Android Developers Group.
There are more stuff that happens with the Android 1.6 (Donut) release and the Official Google Blog is also carrying a releated post on the subject on More accessibility features in Android 1.6 post.


TalkBack: An Open Source Screenreader For Android

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