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setting up Droid 2 for my blind sister

My sister lost her vision last year at the age of 24 due to diabetic retinapothy. She is missing be able to text message, facebook, celeb gossip... you know, the important things in life We initially bought the Droid X for her, but It's going back in exchange for the Droid 2, which should be here on 9/9/10.
Problem with the X is the Android Eyes Free Shell and the Talking Dialer make use of either a trackball or a directional pad. The Droid X has neither. It's also difficult to navigate pretty much everything blind without a d-pad. Should of thought of that earlier. Oh well, the exchange process is very easy. The Android Eyes Free team developed the software around the Nexus one i assume, which has a trackball. Personally i think a d-pad is better for a blind person, as you can press down once to go down once. A trackball you might go down 2 or 3 depending on how much you rotate it.
I'm going to be updating this thread with our progress as well as what steps we took along the way. Hopefully this will end up being helpful for someone else in a similar situation. Blind people DO use the internet (even youtube!).
Here are the initial changes I want to make:
Locating Touch Sensitive buttons
I will go to a craft store and find something to put below the 4 touch sensitive buttons on the front of the phone, this way she will be able to find them. Im thinking 4 drops of some puffy glitter glue or something to that effect. Being diabetic she's also lost somesensitivity in her fingers, so something with texture will be needed.
Removing the Lock Screen
Slide to unlock is basically an impossible task for a blind person. The Droid 2 uses the stock vanilla lock screen I believe, does anyone know how to remove it? I could potentially replace it with a "shake to unlock" or whatever, and ideas here are appreciated.
Answering the phone
Again, here slide to answer isn't going to fly. Does anyone know: If you slide the keyboard out while the phone is ringing does it answer the call? Most slider phones I've seen operated like that, I'm hoping the Droid 2 does too. She will also have a bluetooth headset which should make it easy to answer, but if your blind trying to find your bluetooth headset in time to answer the call can be a problem, so i'd like her to be able to answer the phone without a headset as well.
Hanging up the phone
Can you slide the keyboard shut to end a call? What happens if your on a call and you slide the keyboard out and then closed, does that hang up the call? Another solution would be to make it so the power button hangs up the call, surely it can be remapped do that. Or is there an end call button somewhere on the hardware qwerty?
Ok, those are the first major things. Actually dialing a call is no problem once we get past the lock screen issue. She can double tap the home button to launch the voice dialer, or she can use the Android Eyes Free "Talking Dialer" to dial a number with her finger using swipe motions. It's pretty neat actually, give it a try if you haven't already. The Eyes Free Shell and the Moto Voice Command will take care of pretty much everything else.
Thanks in advance for your help!

I can confirm that the Droid 2 does NOT answer when sliding the phone open and does NOT hang up when sliding closed. Just tested this.
Edit: forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=762101
View that thread and search the app "no lock" in the market. Seems to do what you are looking for in the marketplace. You may also want to contact the developer to see about source code or see if it was a .apk that was removed.
Also in response to the glue idea:
I would test on another device because the screen has to be able to sense your impulse as well because it wont trigger unless it has a touch by a human hand. My guess it it reads the electronic pulse by the skin and that is how it picks it up.

about the unlock screen, I can say is once you do it enough times you know where is on the screen, I usually unlock mine while its not even all the way out of my pocket, also it vibrates when you touch the unlock area and it vibrates again as you pull it to the right...hope this helps

I don't have an Android phone yet, but I've seen a nice replacement for the stock locker, called WidgetLocker. You can modify it a lot (add your own apps, widgets etc.) but the most important thing for you is that you can move the unlock slider down to the bottom of the screen so it would be easier to unlock it.
Of course, the best solution is to remove completely the locker, but I don't know whether it's possible, so I'm just giving you another option

Kamill said:
I don't have an Android phone yet, but I've seen a nice replacement for the stock locker, called WidgetLocker. You can modify it a lot (add your own apps, widgets etc.) but the most important thing for you is that you can move the unlock slider down to the bottom of the screen so it would be easier to unlock it.
Of course, the best solution is to remove completely the locker, but I don't know whether it's possible, so I'm just giving you another option
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This page has been a big help: http://eyes-free.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/documentation/android_access/basics.html
Above link talked about No Lock, an app on the market that removes the lock screen. Although it turns out she is actually able to unlock the phone blindly, but it usually takes her a few tries. For now we are going with no lock...
Also the Droid 2 has an option in the Accessibility page to enable "use power button to end call" so that has been a big help.
So far the biggest problem with the Droid 2 is the keyboard really sucks for a blind person. The navigation keys are kind of awkwardly placed, and the keys are very flat. I wish I would of known about the LG Ally, as the appears to be the best Android phone for a blind person. Has physical buttons on the front to start/end calls, and the keyboard is WAY better (for a blind person anyways). Unfortunately Verizon only lets you exchange a phone 1 time, and we already bought the Droid X. So looks like I'd have to sell the Droid 2 and buy the LG Ally on eBay. Not sure if we are going to go that route.. might just try and make the best of it with the Droid 2.

I have a LG Ally wits a protective rubber case, invisible shield screen protector, and 2 batteries which I'm not currently using. I'll do a straight up trade for your Droid 2.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App

Made my account to reply to this (And because I got my Droid 2 2 days ago). Will be watching this thread. My son is 2 and nearly blind. We are exploring any and all ways to work around it. I'm currently learning braille so I can teach him, and looking into how to make phones and computers more usable for him. Hopefully your sister handles what's happened well and finds ways to keep up her life, goals, and hobbies
Thanks for posting this. Good luck with the project and keep us updated, please!

Need some help here too
Hi there,
This seems to be the only forum that I can find on this subject. I will definitely be checking out the LG Ally but I'm also looking at the Droid 2 Global (which my partner has bought for himself and I have been testing out).
I am a blind person with little vision and I have to find a smart phone that works for me, as I have hit the point where I need to access my work email, work calendar, and browser functions do be more efficient and effective.
The blackberry is out, as it doesn't work for blind people through Verizon.
The IPhone, though just coming out from Verizon, does seem to have a great VoiceOver application which works great for a blind person. However, I'm not sure I'm patient enough to type without a keyboard--though it is possible for a blind person to use it.
Your points about the LG Ally are helpful for me. Does it have an accessibility application like the Droid 2 Global?
In testing out the Droid Two Global, I have enabled the "accessibility application" and checked the read out checkbox in the settings. It has abled me to see most stuff and some of the pieces you put up on the post will help. What I am struggling with is the following:
When I access any part of the browser application, it doesn't read the page of the web site or any of the links. I'm wondering if there are key combinations I am not femiliar with that would make this work or does it do it at all?
Also, the calendar is not reading things to me as well. Any ideas?
In general, is there a button that I can press, that will get it to repete something or to read a screen. I currently am just arrowing back and forth to choose something. I also can hit the OK button when typing a message to read what is in the edit box.
The last issue, though I think it would get much easier as I used it, is that to dial just a phone number seems to take a bit longer. But, I just tried using the voice dialer and it quickly got much easier. lol
I also wonder if the Accessibility application is the only one you are installing. Should I be installing something else to give me more functionality
Sorry for the long-winded questions but I really can't seem to find other assistance on this.
Thanks,
Jeremy Grandstaff
614-519-3026

Hi Jeremy,
I think you will get the best answers to your questions on Google's eyes-free group (I'm not allowed to post outside links on this forum, or I would have given you the URL).
On that list many blind Android phone users report accessibility issues and workarounds, and the list is monitored by Google's Android accessibility developers. Android web accessibility is indeed still very limited, as is text editing support.
Best regards,

Posted my question also to the eyes-free group
Thanks for the reply. I did post my message to the Google eyes-free group, but felt I would get a fuller response here as well.

[Q] Android and Hardware-Buttons

Android is great. It looks better than every WinMo build I've seen, it's got a real browser (Skyfire is horrible, IMHO) and apparently its also faster.
I just refrain from using it on regular basis for to the stress it puts upon the HD2's crappy hardware buttons (I allready had them replaced once, took 2 frigging months!).
I mean, you have to push the back and home button like all the time to navigate, mostly due to the lack of something like a taskbar. The buttons will a) start to disolve over time (seriously, they should use that material on plastic bags and such, one more enviroment issue solved) and b) become looser and looser to the point where they just feel horrible.
So question: Is there such a thing as a workaround for problem? Like a hidden gesture-input that puts you back to homescreen, or a ROM/App/whatever that introduces a taskbar? Is it possible to use Android without mashing those poor buttons nonstop?
ps.: This is like my first post, so I just want to thank the guys who put their time and effort into ROM developement and publish it for free. You guys rock.

i too am little bothered with pressing the hardware buttons..in winmo i rarely used them except the end key to open/ close the screen
i would prefer something like swiping on the screen to the left would take me back and other similar gestures..........
any devs listening??

I think it's the way they code Android apps, nothing devs here can do about it.

[Q] Coming from D-Pad device - will i miss it?

One of my biggest concerns with a lot of the new devices that launch is that none seem to have a d-pad any more.
I use that more than anything on my current phone and wonder if those who also were fond of their d-pads are suffering w/out it or do you just adjust and not look back?
I don't like doing everything on screen and prefer hard static buttons...makes it easier to do stuff sans looking

I came from the Nexus One with a trackball. I don't really miss it, but it was nice when I could use it to go back in a sentence to fix any problems. Other than that, it has not been missed.

At first you'll curse every time you need to scroll pages or navigate around, but you'll quickly get used to it

I came from a Droid 1 and honestly I dont miss the keyboard or d-pad one bit.

[Q] Stop screen from rotating

So I bought one of the cases recommended over in the accessories forum, which holds the tab propped up at an angle. It really helps with typing and all around use when you set the Tab on a desk or table. The way the case works, the camera is on the side closest to the user. Whenever I open any game (Angry Birds, Vendetta Online, etc) it flips the orientation so that the camera side is on top, instead of on the bottom. This has made it unusable! The case designer had the right idea, since putting the tab in the other way would expose the charging port (It's a folio style case). I've tried turning off the automatic screen orientation setting, but it didn't help. Any ideas?

Blaine12 said:
So I bought one of the cases recommended over in the accessories forum, which holds the tab propped up at an angle. It really helps with typing and all around use when you set the Tab on a desk or table. The way the case works, the camera is on the side closest to the user. Whenever I open any game (Angry Birds, Vendetta Online, etc) it flips the orientation so that the camera side is on top, instead of on the bottom. This has made it unusable! The case designer had the right idea, since putting the tab in the other way would expose the charging port (It's a folio style case). I've tried turning off the automatic screen orientation setting, but it didn't help. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure I'm following your description of how the case functions. Something like this? Could you link the case model?

I've been wondering about this as well. I really don't think there's anything we can do about it..

pandamaja said:
I'm not sure I'm following your description of how the case functions. Something like this? Could you link the case model?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is a link to the case I bought.
Pics here & here of how the case folds.
Regardless of all that, the real question is... How do I run games and such with the bottom of the screen being the camera side? I thought the whole point of doing away with all the physical buttons was so that it could be rotated any which way?!?

smaskell said:
I've been wondering about this as well. I really don't think there's anything we can do about it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well there is one thing we could do...
Spend $59.99 on the Samsung case

Blaine12 said:
I thought the whole point of doing away with all the physical buttons was so that it could be rotated any which way?!?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Total guess here, but maybe it has something to do with applications that need to track orientation (like Vendetta) and/or programming decisions by the developers (Angry Birds?).
If its a programming thing, maybe theres a way to send a bug report to the developers about the orientation issue and they could roll it into a future update.
Or ... just learn to play Vendetta with the thumb controls and Angry Birds must be a whole new experience upside down ;-)

HTC Messaging jumping and keyboard shortcut

I don't know if anyone of you guys here have experienced screen jumping around the conversation thread while texting, but I've seen pretty much elsewhere. I haven't seen any similar thread around, so just to share it.
According to my interpretation, it is both a feature and a bug.
As for the feature part, the T, B and Backspace buttons are actually keyboard shortcut in a conversation thread. Once you've selected an sms with the trackpad, pressing T will get you to the top of the thread, vice versa for B and Backspace is for deleting.
What bugs me badly is that these things happen right when I was texting. Once or twice, I thought I was accidentally touching the trackpad, but considering my hand positioning and the cursor was still in the composing box when it happened, it was rather impossible.
It seems to be an universal Sense problem as well, since I came across this in multiple Sense Rom.
The best workaround I could come up with was to press B to get it back to the composing box, and use the trackpad to reposition the cursor. Nevertheless, it was still disruptive and annoying as hell.
Please share in the thread your experience/workaround/solution regarding this

Wish I could help more than to say you're not going nuts, it happens. it's incredibly annoying, i have no idea what does it. I don't use the roms that it happens in. If you like sense roms, but hate that try out myVision, I haven't seen that happen at all. Only downside I've found to myVision is the 'favs' crap that I'm amazed tmobile still tries to call a feature.

myVision is still in RC, that's the main reason why I still haven't tried it yet, but thanks for letting me know, will see how it works then

I think they only things keeping the dev from calling it complete are:
wants to add:
Will be adding 4-way reboot (when I figure out how to do it)
Will be editing updater-script so that you aren't just looking at a blank screen while it is installing (again when I figure out how to do it.)
And there is one bug:
HTC FM radio is not working on RC3.1 - working on a fix now.
I've been using it since for a few days now and have had no problems at all (I don't use the radio because I don't carry around headphones). It seems to get good battery life for a sense rom also. I think the only thing that could get me away from this rom is a Doubleshot rom with the lock screen app shortcuts like in Unity... couldn't hurt if it were updated to the newer doubleshot base either.

This is one of the many things that drives me away from Sense.
It's pretty, but I do 10,000 texts a month, and less than 100 minutes. So little things like this kill me.