65 E. Wacker Place

Suite 1010

Chicago, IL 60601

312-236-8569

Title:The Apple Notetaking Device

Presenter:

David Flament, M.S.

Manager of Adaptive Technology Services

Second Sense

312-236-8569

Using a Bluetooth Keyboard

Pairing

Pairing is the process of wirelessly connecting devices like keyboards or headphones to youriPhone/iPad. Follow these steps to pair a device to your iPhone/iPad.

  1. On your iPhone/iPad, go to: Settings  Bluetooth.
  2. Turn Bluetooth ON if it is not already on.
  3. Hold down the pairing button on your Bluetooth device for 2 seconds. This will usually make your device discoverable by your iPhone/iPad.
  4. After a few seconds your device should show up on the Bluetooth list on your iPhone/iPad, select it

Note:

When pairing input devices such as keyboards or refreshable Braille displays you will be asked to enter a code the first time you pair that device. Be ready, there is a limited amount of time to enter the code before you have to start the process over again.

Also, after the first time they are paired some devices such as headphones and speakers will pair automatically once they are turned on and within range of your iPhone/iPad.

Navigation

Voice Dream Writer

This is a great app for taking notes and even doing some word processing. It is extremelyeasy to navigate and VoiceOver friendly. It includes its own text-to-speech engine and you can do an in-app purchase to get higher quality voices. A three finger swipe left or right will move you between the outline, document and word finder. The phonetic dictionary which includes the ability to search for words by spelling them phonetically and even bring up a list of synonyms for that word is truly amazing. Also, it has the easiest method for selecting, cutting or copying and pasting text I have ever used on a mobile device.

Some of its key features include:

  • Comprehensive settings for text appearance
  • Uncluttered writing area
  • Full text search
  • Synchronize and backup with iCloud
  • Import and export for Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box.
  • Basic markdown support for formatting
  • Export to Microsoft Word format (compatible with Apple Pages)
  • Support for Bluetooth keyboard

Voice Dream Reader

The first of the Voice Dream line of apps, Voice Dream Reader is now one of the most used reading apps by educators and their students. Why is it so popular? Aside from the feature list below one reason is that it is simply easy to use as are all of the apps designed by Winston Chen. Best of all this app not only helps those with all levels of vision loss, it is also great for those with other disabilities.

Some of it’s key features include:

Voice Reading

  • Listen to documents like it's music, with play-pause button, gestures or remote control
  • Continues reading when you lock the screen
  • Change voice and reading speed (50-700 words per minute) on the fly
  • Remembers the voice and speech rate used for each document
  • Correct pronunciation with your own pronunciation dictionary
  • Sleep timer

Visual Reading

  • Switch between original layout and text-only view for PDF documents
  • Synchronized word and line highlighting
  • Improve focus with reduced text area and auto-scrolling
  • Customizable font including OpenDyslexia font
  • Font size up to 80 points for low vision users
  • Adjustable margin, line spacing and character spacing
  • 3 fully customizable color themes

Getting Content

  • Text extraction from PDF, Plain text, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, RTF, Apple Pages, and HTML files
  • Text extraction from DRM-free ePub and DAISY books
  • DAISY audiobooks, and audiobooks as zipped MP3 files
  • Store and view PDF documents in original layout
  • Dropbox and G-Drive
  • Pocket, Instapaper and Evernote
  • Bookshare and Gutenberg
  • Built-in Web Browser to download file and extract text from Web pages
  • Import using USB and iTunes from a PC or Mac
  • Copy-paste and text editor
  • Language translation (in-app purchase)
  • Folders for organizing content
  • Export full text, highlights, and notes

Navigating

  • Navigation by sentence, paragraph, page, chapter, highlights, bookmarks, 15, 30, and 60 seconds
  • Remembers speech and visual location where you stopped
  • Bookmarking, text highlighting and note taking
  • Full-text search
  • Built-in dictionary
  • Playlist

BARD Mobile

While I tend to listen to Talking Books on my victor Reader Stream, it is nice to have a choice. With this app you can download books from NLS BARD and listen to the audio books on your iPhone/iPad. Combined with a refreshable Braille display this app will even let you read Braille books. This app is very VoiceOver friendly and has an easy to use interface.

Note:

You must be registered with the NLS talking Books program and have a BARD username and password to use this app.

Also, this app does not stream books. Books will need to be downloaded from MLS BARD using this app before you can listen to them. Be aware while listening to books does not require Wi-Fi or a cellular connection, downloading books DOES.

Resources

Apple Support: Help Connecting Bluetooth Devices

AppleVis Podcast: A Walk-through and Demonstration of Voice Dream Writer

AppleVis Podcast: Voice Dream Reader: A Powerful And Award Winning Reading Tool For iOS

AppleVis Extra 27: Winston Chen, Developer of Voice Dream Writer

AppleVis Extra #16: BARD Mobile