Diskoveries

Diskoveries By Joan Tanenhaus

product review

APPLE TV for All Accessibility Options for Special Needs

TV and the unique features it offers those with Special Needs. The major difference between Smart TVs and not so smart ones is the internet connection. Smart TVs have a built-in ability to connect to the internet, and in order to keep up with further advances, the ability to download apps for new services as they appear. Most Smart TVs have both an Ethernet port and wireless capabilities. If you don’t have a Smart TV but do want the ability to use streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, HBO and many others on your TV, you can use a digital media interface that provides the internet connection. The most popular of these streaming de- vices at this time are the Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku Streaming Players, and Google Chromecast. Like the Smart TVs, there is a one-time cost to purchase these streaming devices. However, in addition, you will need to subscribe individual- ly to each of the streaming services you want (such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc.) in order to use their content. This is true regardless of whether you are using a Smart TV or an in- terface such as Apple TV. Almost all the services have monthly subscription fees. Two of the popular free services are Crackle and YouTube. Because of Apple’s well-established reputation for built-in ac- cessibility options, and because of some of the other options it offers, I have chosen to review the Apple TV at this time.

Apple TV (www.apple.com)

We have all been part of the technological changes and ad- vances in television during the past years - the progression from network to cable TV, from VCRs to DVDs, to streaming, internet connections, HDTV, 4K and Smart TVs, etc. This article is meant to help the reader understand Smart TVs, the role of the Apple

Joan Tanenhaus, Joan Tanenhaus, M.A., CCC, Speech-Language Pathologist/ Assistive Technology Specialist, is Founder and Executive Director of Technology for Language and Learning, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the use of computers and technology with children and adults with Special Needs. (e-mail: ForTLL@aol.com)

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nects to the App store so that you can search, download from, find games to play, shop, listen to Apple Podcasts, find informa- tion from the Internet, and stream video content. Using Home Sharing, you can also stream content from your computer’s iTunes library or play content stored on other Apple devices, us- ing AirPlay. Once you have connected and installed the Apple TV and charged the remote, you can then adapt it for Special Needs. To set Accessibility Options, select the Setting icon from the main screen—select General--- then select Accessibility.

Apple TV 4K and Siri Remote

Apple TV 4K The Apple TV 4K is a small black plastic box, measuring 3.9” wide x 3.9” deep x 1.4” high. On the back, it has connectors for the power cord (included), for an HDMI cable (to connect to the TV’s HDMI port) and for an Ethernet cable (if wanted). To con- nect to the Internet, Apple TV can use either Wi-Fi or Ethernet. When you use an Ethernet cable, Apple TV automatically uses that connection instead of your Wi-Fi network. If you don’t con- nect an Ethernet cable to your router/modem, Apple TV built-in wireless ability automatically connects to your wireless network. The new Apple TV 4K requires a 4K and HDR TV for 4K and HDR streaming, but can also be used with HD and UHD TVs with HDMI connections. For internet access, it requires 802.11 wire- less, Ethernet network or Broadband Internet access. On the front of the Apple TV, you will see a small, bright light when it’s on. The remote, named the Siri Remote, is 4.8” h x 1.5” w x .25” deep and has a lightning connector for charging. You can use the remote by touch or with your voice (See below for ad- ditional information about Siri and Voice Search.) To use voice, press and hold the Microphone button to talk. To use Touch, swipe up, down, left or right on the top Touch surface, which you can also Press to Select, or Press and Hold for contextual menus. Other Touch functions include a slightly raised, round Menu button which you press to return to the previous menu or press and hold to return to the Home Screen. There is also a TV/ Home button that you can press twice to view open apps and Press and hold to put the Apple TV to sleep. In addition, there is a volume up and volume down switch and a play/pause button. All five buttons have white icons, are slightly raised and can be distinguished by touch and/or vision. The Apple TV provides much more than just the option to watch TV shows. Controlled by a dedicated operating system called tvOS, with current version tvOS 12.3, the Apple TV con-

Apple TV Accessibility Options

Apple TV: Accessibility Options for Media Subtitles and Captioning: These are options that assist the viewer in understanding speech by providing written informa- tion. Both can be helpful for those with hearing impairments, dyslexia, English as a Second Language users, or anyone who might want assistance with listening for any reason. It is also helpful if a user is watching in an environment where sound can- not be used and earphones are not available. Although Closed Captioning and Subtitles seem similar, they are two different options. Subtitles assume that the viewer can hear and provide only the spoken words of the characters or the narrator, while Closed Captions assumes the viewer cannot hear the audio and includes descriptions of background and other noises, sounds or audio cues that help in the understanding of the scene. What- ever is heard is written below as text. For example: comments on sounds such as Music playing, Thunder, a door slams, etc. are included as well as direct speech quotes. Subtitles and Caption- ing can be customized to meet individual visual requirements and preferences. Users can change size, color, background and type of text. Audio Description: This media accessibility option, when turned on, allows the user to hear in detail what is visually dis- played on screen. It is designed to help those with visual im- pairments. The iTunes store has movies that come with audio descriptions of the visual content of each scene. For example, you might hear: “A woman enters from the right. She is wear- ing a long dress. She extends her arms forward as she speaks.”

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You are able to search iTunes to find movies available with au- dio description- these will contain an AD icon under the title. If you have iTunes on your computer or tablet, click this link to connect to iTunes and see the movies available with audio descriptions. https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore. woa/wa/viewMultiRoom?cc=us&fcId=1103547439&ls=1&ap- p=itunes&amp&v0=www-us-accessibility-tv-vision-audio-de- scriptions-available-movies Apple TV: Accessibility Options for Vision VoiceOver: VoiceOver is a built-in screen reader that de- scribes exactly what’s on your TV screen. To activate VoiceOver, triple-click the Menu button and let Apple TV guide you through the setup. You can also turn VoiceOver on from the Accessibility Options, set up a Shortcut or ask Siri. When setting up VoiceOver, you are able to adjust the speech speed (from very slow to very fast) and to change pitch. Apple also includes VoiceOver Prac- tice which guides you in learning its use. For a comprehensive video tutorial on VoiceOver on the 4th Generation Apple TV, see Louis Perez excellent video at https://www.youtube.com/

screen text. To do this, there are four presets for the different kinds of color blindness: Grayscale, Red/Green Filter, Green/Red filter and Blue/Yellow filter. After you choose one, you can then select intensity to adjust the filter’s strength. To help you read onscreen text, select the Color Tint option and then select in- tensity or hue to make adjustments. Once you set your filter, it applies to everything you see on Apple TV. Light Sensitivity lets you lower or increase the overall bright- ness. Reduce White Point can be used to lower or increase the in- tensity of bright colors. (Since Display Accommodations aren’t necessarily needed at all times, you can quickly turn them on and off with a shortcut: Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut

Color Filters on Apple TV

and select any features that you want a shortcut for.)

Apple TV: Accessibility Options: Interface These three additional options will assist the user with visual impairments: Bold Text, Increase Contrast and Reduce Motion (Reduce Mo- tion will limit the amount of animation used when app icons are activated.) Use shortcuts to turn these on and off as needed. Apple TV: Accessibility Options for Hearing Impairments Mono Audio: Typical stereo sound includes distinct left and right channels, so that each listening ear gets different input. If you are hard of hearing or deaf in one ear, this might result in missing words, notes or sounds while watching media with a headset or earphones. With Mono Audio Set, you can set hearing controls so that Apple TV outputs all sound through selected ear. Balance: With this slider, you can adjust the balance of audio between left and right speakers/ears. When you move the slider to one side or the other, that headphone will be much louder than the other.

Louis Perez - VoiceOver on the 4th Generation Apple TV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaclLQ84vPw

watch?v=OaclLQ84vPw Zoom: The Zoom feature provides the user with up to 15X magnification on the Apple TV. You can turn Zoom on from the Accessibility Options area. Once turned on, you can then touch the remote three times to zoom in and out where ever you are. Double tap and slide with 2 fingers to adjust the zoom level. Tap with two fingers to enable the zoom drag mode. Then drag to move around the screen. Set maximum zoom level up to 15X. Display Accommodations: Display Accommodations has three adjustments: Color Filters, Light Sensitivity and Reduce White Point. These are designed for those who are color blind: Color Filters can help differentiate colors and help read on-

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Apple TV: Accessibility Options Switch Control Apple TV’s Accessibility Options for Physical and Motor Skills include Switch Control, which allows users to navigate through onscreen items, using Bluetooth-enabled switch hardware, such as Ablenet’s Blue2 (www.ablenetinc.com). Items are sequen- tially highlighted, and with Switch Control turned on, users can connect their external switch or switches, and choose one of the following scanning options: Auto Scanning (highlighting moves automatically from one item to next after a specified time); Man- ual Scanning (using two switches, Switch #1 moves highlight from one item to next and Switch #2 selects desired option); or Single Switch Step Scanning (one switch moves highlight from one item to next. If no movement is taken to next item in a pre-selected time, the highlighted item is automatically activat- ed.) You can set auto scanning time, pause from first item, and number of loops. Platform Switching: You can also control your Apple TV di- rectly from your iPhone, iPad or Mac, without having to set up your switches on each new device. With the latest version of iOS, the Apple TV Remote is automatically added to Control Center — so you can quickly navigate and control your Apple TV right from the Lock screen on your iOS device. Platform Switching requires all devices to be logged in to the same iCloud account and connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Accessibility Shortcuts : Quickly turn on and off VoiceOver, Zoom, Bold Text, and more using the Accessibility Shortcut. Once the shortcut is enabled in Apple TV, you can simply triple-click the Menu button to access your preferred accessibility features.

Other Options for Accessible Use

Voice Control: You can also use your voice for onscreen nav- igation. With the Siri Remote, you just press the button with the microphone icon and ask Siri to do things for you- such as Find specific movies by name or by actors or genre, ask Siri to rewind exactly 5 minutes, Open Netflix. You can use your voice to spell your user name and password, etc. You can ask Siri to display sports scores, ask for general information, like local weather or current time or stocks, to open apps, turn accessibility features on or off. You can search for movies, TV shows, or music. Siri is context-sensitive so different commands will work depending where you are in Apple TV. While watching media, you can use Siri to repeat dialog you missed. Just say “What did he say?” and Siri rewinds by a few seconds. Tell Siri to pause, play from the be- ginning, skip forward 90 seconds, jump back 10 minutes, turn on closed captioning. In Accessibility setting, you can enable bold, get larger text, zoom or increase contrast. If you are an Apple Music subscriber, you can ask Siri to play songs, etc. To use Voice Control, just press the round button with the Microphone icon on the Siri Remote. Customize the Touch Surface: The top area of the Siri Re- mote is called the Touch Surface. When using the Touch Surface, you can control how far the cursor will move with each move- ment on this area. You can set Tracking to Fast to make your smaller thumb movements go farther on the screen. Or set Tracking to Slow, so your larger movements will move a smaller distance. Open Settings-->Remotes and Devices-->Touch Sur- face Tracking Bluetooth Keyboard: You can also use a Bluetooth keyboard, such as the Logitech 440 Plus Keyboard and Built-in Trackpad (www.logitech.com) to navigate Apple TV with the trackpad and enter text for searching using the letter keys. To connect, set your keyboard to Pairing Mode. Open Settings --> Gener- al --> Bluetooth. The Apple TV will begin searching for nearby

Logitech 440 Plus Bluetooh Keyboard (www.logitech.com)

The Siri Remote

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Streaming TV Controller: (www.rjcooper.com) When the Siri remote is inaccessible because of button size, many Apple TV functions can be controlled with this Bluetooth device. It is an 8” x 4” x ¾” box that has six buttons (each 1.5” round). They control the actions to move right, left, up, down, back and select. All other functions (such as pause/resume, volume, etc.) would still be done with the Siri remote. (I have not reviewed this product firsthand so email rj@rjcooper.com if you have questions about its use.)

Bluetooth devices that are in Pairing Mode and will list them on screen. Just select your keyboard and it’s ready to use. TAP Wearable Keyboard & Mouse: (www.tapwithus.com) If you use the TAP wearable keyboard, mouse and game controller with an iPad tablet, phone, or computer, you can also use it to navi- gate your Apple TV. TAP Wearable Keyboard is placed around your

Streaming TV Controller: (www.rjcooper.com)

TAP Wearable Keyboard & Mouse (www.tapwithus.com)

Ways to Listen to Apple TV Some options for enhanced listening to Apple TV include dif- ferent types of Bluetooth hearing devices, such as the following, previously reviewed in DISKoveries in the Closing The Gap Solu- tions Magazine, 2018-10:

fingers- each finger fitting into an adjustable ring. The mouse glider is on the thumb. There is no need to hold anything —users just tap anywhere, on anything — it is a vision-free, voice-free control of the keyboard and mouse with just the fingers of one hand on any surface. Each letter is assigned a tapping combination — and learning is with a series of tapping games downloaded from the Apple Store or from Google Play. To see TAP, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5J5m- Hdq_Bw&feature=youtu.be or visit https://www.tapwithus.com/ introducing-tap/ for a comprehensive overview.

Ways to Listen to Apple TV (top- AirPods (www.apple.com), Logitech H800 bluetooth Headset (www.logitech.com) , Bottom: AfterShokz Trekz Air Wireless Bone Conduction Headphones (www.aftershokz.com) & Bose SoundWear Companion Speaker (www.bose.com)

TAP Wearable Keyboard and Mouse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5J5mHdq_ Bw&feature=youtu.be

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Apple AirPods (Apple: www.apple.com) These cordless Blue- tooth AirPods rest outside the ear canal and allow you to contin- ue to hear outside noises, can be used with one or both ears, and have built in microphones. Logitech H800 Bluetooth Wireless Headset (Logitech: www.logitech.com) These are wireless, over the ear headphones for those who prefer more tradional headphone listening. AfterShokz Trekz Air Wireless Bone Conduction Head- phones (AfterShokz: www.aftershokz.com) Bone conduction headphones are designed for individuals with conductive hear- ing loss, but are effective for all listeners. They benefit those us- ers who cannot tolerate earphones in their ears, those with mo- tor limitations who might not be able to handle small ear pieces and those who benefit from additional sound for attention and focus. Bose SoundWear Companion Speaker (Bose: www.bose. com) This is a flexible and wearable neckband Bluetooth speak- er that is hands free and ears free. It rests on your shoulders, and conforms to your neck. This design also provides options for those with Special Needs who might not be able to use ear- phones, for those with motor limitations and for others who can benefit from additional sound to help attention and focus. For more detailed information about these items, see DISK- overies 2018-10, or visit the company websites. I hope this brief introduction to Apple TV, tvOS12 and Acces- sibility Options will help you enhance your TV viewing experi- ences, while also bringing you greater ease of use and informa- tion about viewing options.

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