After months of beta testing, Nolan Darilek has released a release candidate version of Spiel to the Android Market. Spiel is an alternative screen reader for Android devices and offers more configurable settings and the ability to submit scripts for troublesome applications. Android allows you to easily switch between screen readers, in case one program works better with a particular application. Like Talkback, Spiel is currently unable to give much access to the touchscreen portion of handsets, but works well with keyboard-based devices. Spiel is available for free from the Android Market.
Source: Go to sourceCategory: Software
It'll be nice to see how this works. Maybe it's a little easier to use then talkback since talkback has such an odd way of doing things. I'm still not sure if android is to point to where we can recommend it to an average blind user.
darknexus Tuesday, 16-Nov-2010 3:10 PM ET:
I don't believe it could be recommended to the average blind user. No amount of screen reader enhancements will change the fact that Android's built-in access facilities are limited and many portions of the os don't interface to the access API at all (such as the webkit engine). The way Android works, if something doesn't interface to the access APIs the screen reader just plain will not see it no matter what you do. It's similar to iOS in that respect, but Apple has put more effort into making sure their own products work with the access API.
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J.J. Meddaugh is an experienced technology writer and computer enthusiast. He is a graduate of Western Michigan University with a major in telecommunications management and a minor in business. When not writing for Blind Bargains, he enjoys travel, playing the keyboard, and meeting new people.
