I’m not an expert when it comes to iPad apps and I’m certainly not one when it comes to apps that are suitable for users with vision problems. As part of an iPad Info Class we were running at a local community centre, I needed to find info on this. I got in touch with Chiu Lau, a registered psychologist running a private psychology clinic, Possibilities Psychological Services in Ramsgate. She specialises in helping children with disabilities. She works with autistic children to be more precise, but I thought she might be able to provide some information or have access to people with information. And she indeed came up with a wonderful list of resources:
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First is a community-powered website AppleVis, which is a rich resource for low-vision and blind users of Apple devices.
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Second is a list of over 100 apps that have been found to work well with VoiceOver.
Thank you Chiu!
The following list of over 100 iPhone/iPad applications are the ones that have been found to work well with VoiceOver.
There are similar applications listed, as there are particular features in certain applications that stand out.
Where the name of the application is a bit vague as to its function, there is a brief description (after all, you can click on the link to read more about any application listed). No free or paid applications are identified as the state of an application can change.
The categories into which the applications are sorted is how iTunes categorizes the applications.
Have fun.
You can also download 100+ VoiceOver-friendly apps in PDF format.
Disclaimer: Please note that only because an app is on the list doesn't mean Eurobyte is recommending it. If you're interested in an app from the list, please click on the corresponding link and read more about the app before you download and/or start using it.
- Books
- Business
- Games
- Accessible Minesweeper
- Adaptive Trivia
- AudioRun - Jump from roof top to roof top through a city without falling
- Aurifi (explore sound, movement, and music)
- Blind Fold Ping Pong (quite a fun ping pong game)
- Blind Earth Escape (maze game)
- Blind Memory (memory game)
- Blind Side - Fantastic adventure all done through sound. You are a professor who wakes up and you and your girlfriend cannot see. Can you avoid the monsters and escape?
- Bop-It World (Bop-It itself: shake it, pinch it, tap it etc)
- Cards Alone - A nice Solitaire style game
- Chess-wise
- Choo Choo interactive train
- Cow Tennis Game
- De Steno Games - Several old PC games come to iOS: Blackjack, Casino, Dodge City, Destination Mars, Run for President, and Sounds Like
- Domino Train
- Draughts-wise PRO
- Frotz (text adventures on your iOS device)
- Kings Corner (great card game)
- King of Dragon Pass
- Moxie (word game)
- Naval Combat - The classic Battleship game: sink the computer or other players ships by guessing their positions on the board
- Papa Sangre (rescue the sole from Papa Sangre)
- Ping Pong
- Simon Sings
- Smack Me - How Fast are You (Bop-It style game)
- Stem Stumper (get fertiliser and kill the angry acorn's)
- Sudoku4all
- TappyTunes - Pick a well old melody and tap to try and keep the rhythm
- Tennis Serve - Like the real game
- Tic Tac Toe Score - Drag your finger around the grid to make sense of the game
- Where's My Rubber Ducky - Help the blind person "Jim" to kill all the Zombies who stole his Rubber Ducky by using just your ears. Requires that your iOS device has a GPS and compass. You’re either shooting or cutting to pieces the Zombies, so this is a fairly violent game. However, a good example like Blind Side to show how a purely audio game can be developed and played.
- Zani Touch (Bop-It style game)
- Education`
- 900+ Sound Effects
- Proloquo2Go - Fully featured Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) application. Please be aware of the price: $199.
- Read2Go
- Speaking Spelling Bee
- ViA from the Braille Institute (helps you identify apps that are useful for adults and children who are blind or have low vision)
- Entertainment
- Food and Drink
- Health and fitness
- Lifestyle
- Medical
- BlindSquare - GPS app specifically designed for people who are blind (integrates with 4Square and 3rd party products)
- EyeSight - Use your iPad like a CCTV (video magnifier)
- iHearClearly
- VisionAssist - Use your iOS camera like a video (CCTV) magnifier
- Vizwiz - Take a picture of something with your iOS device and have it crowd sourced (identified) through the internet
- Music
- Navigation
- News
- Photo and Video
- Magnifyer (use your iPHone as a magnifier)
- Productivity - Alarmed Timers, reminders and alarms
- Dropbox
- Droptext - A text editor for Dropbox
- Dropvox - record notes to Dropbox
- Fleksy (pattern recognition keyboard app - game changer for people who are blind and need to type on the on-screen keyboard)
- List Recorder
- MailShot (produce group emails)
- Pages
- Push 4.0 – Push a variety of notifications on your iOS devices including Facebook, Twitter, gmail, etc.
- Remember The Milk (task reminder)
- Single Text - Share quick notes between your iOS devices and the Mac (need to install Single TExt for the Mac: has info in apps store concerning website)
- File App Pro
- Voice Assistant+ - Alternative to Siri or dictation feature on the new iPad
- VoiceBrief (listen to your Twitter, Facebook, feeds, Gmail etc. via audio)
- Reference
- Social networking
- Boxcar (automatic notification from Facebook, Twitter etc.)
- Facebook
- Faceley HD - An alternative to the Facebook app which works fairly well with VoiceOver
- FeeddLer Pro (RSS reader)
- Find My Friends - Lets you find your friends via your iOS device upon request for permanent or temporary tracking based on your iCloud Apple ID
- FourSquare (find out what people think of places and check in to places)
- Heytell (2 way radio)
- IM+ Pro (multiple chat client)
- Skype
- Twitter - The official app from Twitter
- TweetList - A great Twitter client for Twitter lists
- VoiceBook VO - Simple, and easy to use app for accessing Facebook newsfeed (particularly designed for use with VoiceOver)
- Zello Walkie Talkie - Talk with friends or groups, public or private, and is very much like the old fashion CB radio although via the net
- Travel
- TripView Sydney - Great app for checking bus, train and ferry times plus stops, timetabling, setting alarms etc.
- Utilities
- Weather
Author:AlisaAbout: Co-founder of an IT business that sells and repairs computers in Hunters Hill (NSW) and surrounds, she's also a creative web designer with a passion for beautiful and functional websites, CMS, e-commerce... and Haribo Happy Cherries :)
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