Well said, Ana. When I need portability, I usually use the iPhone with a refreshable Braille display. I have a good friend who uses it successfully with a Bluetooth keyboard for portability.
But, remember as Ana said, there is a learning curve. My friend, whom I taught, was ready to throw the phone out for the first two months, but now he literally wouldn't live without it. Perhaps it was the teacher <lol>, but, seriously, I was ready to throw it out, too. It takes persistence and a determination that you are going to learn it, if you see it as something that would fulfill a need.
I am now looking at the possibility of a Windows tablet, but haven't made the plunge yet.
Keith Bundy
Digital Accessibility Consultant and Trainer
Siteimprove, Inc.
7807 Creekridge Circle
Minneapolis, MN 55439
Tel: 612-259-6350
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-----Original Message-----
From: Visually Impaired Computer Users' Group List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ana G
Sent: Sunday, September 4, 2016 11:16 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VICUG-L] question about tablets
Lisa,
I think tablets are useful if portability is really important; otherwise, I think a netbook or smart phone does the job.
I have a cheapy 7- or 8-inch Windows tablet I sometimes take to school
to get work done. It's an HP Stream, which I bought for $100.00. It may
be discontinued by now. Yes, it has a touch screen, and yes, I can use
it with a keyboard, Blue tooth or wired, though I use an OTG adapter to
plug the wired keyboard in. Since I have the tablet set to boot to the
desktop and to work in desktop mode, I basically have the same
experience as on my computer. The differences are that I can also touch
the screen and that things are sometimes a little slower. Some tablets
are very high-spec so you wouldn't have the second problem.
The iPad runs iOS and Voiceover, and the Kindle Fire uses a modified
version of Android with its own screen reader, which is similar to TalkBack.
Tablets rarely have ports, like for SD cards, so if that's important to
you you need to buy a dock or get used to working with cloud services
like Dropbox, Drive, or One Drive.
I think touch screens are great if you learn to visualize them so you
can find things quickly and navigate efficiently. It's a major
adjustment from working with a keyboard, though, so the first few weeks
can be rough. If the idea of using a touch screen doesn't appeal to you,
or if your plan is to interact with your device mostly via keyboard
(when you're not typing), then there's no real point in getting a tablet.
I feel like I'm not saying anything new. If you have specific questions
or if there are things you're wanting to do with your tablet, please
post again, so we can answer.
Ciao
On 9/4/2016 11:23 AM, Christopher Chaltain wrote:
> Yes, Windows tablets have touch screens.
>
> Yes, you can also plug a keyboard into a tablet. IOS and Android are
> primarily touch screen interfaces. Using a keyboard with them is a bit
> different then it is on your Windows laptop. Typing into an edit field
> is pretty straight forward but using it to interact with the
> interface, such as finding and opening up apps is a bit different.
> Plugging a keyboard into a Windows laptop will give you more of a
> laptop like experience, especially with desktop applications.
>
> I'm not saying one approach is better than the other, since IOS and
> Android have a lot to offer in addition to their keyboard support.
> There are also others who have more experience than I do with Windows
> tablets and using keyboards on IOS and Android tablets, so please
> listen to them.
>
> On 04/09/16 13:06, Lisa McManus wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I would like to have some information on tablets if someone could help.
>>
>> I have never had one or seen one. I just saw an apple ipad. As far as
>> windows goes though what would be a very affordable tablet to purchase?
>> I saw fire tablets that were reasonable.
>>
>> Also, does a windows tablet have a touch screen just like an ipad. Can
>> you plug a keyboard into a tablet?
>>
>> Any help would be appreciated. Thanks very much.
>>
>> Lisa
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