Which Accessibility Features Do You Use?

[SocietyGirl]

Hey all,

This is more of a curiosity thing, as Accessibility options don't seem to get much spotlight. We don't tend to speak about what's there, but we know some of the features are crucial for some people to be able to use their devices.

Of course, if you're not comfortable mentioning the reasons why you use what you do, then please don't feel obliged. I myself only really use the Eye Comfort Shield, so that the screen isn't as fierce at night, but this isn't 'quite' an Accessibility feature.

This is a new section for the community, so if we can make your lives easier with these types of features, let us know!

[Jem62]

Further to my post about adapt sound. As you probably know, you cannot adjust the volume when you run the test, so you are already at the mercy of the sensitivity of whatever headphones you are using. Today I tried running adapt sound on my S8 tablet and my note 10 lite phone. I also ran it on an old galaxy mega - but that has an older version of android so it might not be a valid comparison. So guess what? Using the same headphones (those supplied with the note) I heard a different number of beeps when running the test on each device. So the test is both headphone dependant and device dependant. So please can someone tweak this to make it more useful?

[Tumppi]

I have the same experience with S20 fe and tab S7 fe and I hear the same amount of beeps but when I was using Samsung A3 2015 that is running android 5 and there is a noticeable difference with beeps results are not the same device by device you can hear beeps more or less, that is a fault as you cannot change volume maybe write to hearing results that user changed volume while testing.

[Jem62]

Cheers @Tumppi. Incidentally I just noticed that the font-size in this app doesn't seem to follow the main settings size. The font is pretty small for my old eyes. Could this be, ahem, an accessibility issue? 😣

[Tumppi]

What setting in accessibility you are talking about there is plenty of options?

[Jem62]

Hi @Tumppi, the display and accessibility menus both lead me to the same "font size and style" menu. Changing font size here does not change the font size in this app. When using the app om my tablet (but not my phone) there are a series of options displayed along the botttom of the screen, including a "settings" gear-wheel - I wonder if the options are connected with me having a bluetooth keyboard. But whatever, If I select that setting option there is a font-size option but it is greyed out.

[Tumppi]

That's a strange fault maybe a factory reset will fix it, but before doing that backup your files and passwords and you can take screenshots for important settings transfer to computer.

[Jem62]

Hi @Trumppi Given that I'm getting the same behaviour on two devices (one of which is only a few weeks old) I doubt if it is a glitch that a reset will fix. Apps aren't forced to use the system-set font sizes. For example the BBC news app uses the system font sizes, the Guardian news app sets it's own sizes independently of the system size. But, hey, thanks for spending time thinking about it. It is a slight inconvenience compared to my issues with adapt sound - I rarely use this app whereas I listen to my phone every day!

[Jem62]

I've done a little more investigation and that greyed-out font-size option I mentioned earlier is for the font-size of the keyboard keys. If you have a mechanical keyboard then - surprise - you can't chage the size of the keyboard characters so the option is greyed out. If I switch off my bluetooth keyboard and revert to the on-screen keyboard the option is enabled. I checked and it does only affect the font-size of the keys. So that's one red-herring eliminated.

[AnneMendelson]

A question: Why can't I dial 111 for the NHS on my phone...???

[AndrewL]

@AnneMendelson: Are you able to use calls, texts and mobile data as normal i.e. is 111 the only affected number? What happens when you head to the Phone app > Keypad > Dial '111' > Tap the green phone symbol? Do you get any error messages or notifications?