智能手机(Smartphones)是很棒的设备，但它们实际上给有特殊无障碍需求的人带来了一些问题。
一方面，智能手机界面现在具有很强的视觉性。使用图标和其他视觉元素让用户与设备交互。多点触摸屏也剥夺了仅通过触摸操作设备的能力。另一方面，智能手机足够强大，可以使用语音识别等技术来帮助弥补这一转变。
您还可以使用USB端口轻松地将辅助设备添加到智能手机。但是，如果您没有专门编写的软件将它们结合在一起，作为对有各种障碍的用户有用的功能，那么这些都不重要。这(Which)就是Android Accessibility Suite的用武之地。
Android无障碍套件(Android Accessibility Suite)组件
Android Accessibility Suite是在一个保护伞下对几个Google应用程序进行的相当新的品牌重塑。它实际上由三个不同的应用程序组成：
- 辅助功能菜单(Accessibility Menu)：专为视障用户设计的大型控制菜单
- TalkBack ： Android的屏幕阅读器，可以大声朗读屏幕上的任何内容。它包括基于手势的控件和屏幕盲文(Braille)键盘。
- 选择(Select to Speak)朗读：这允许您选择屏幕上的项目并让它们大声朗读。
- 开关访问(Switch Access)：这使您可以将物理开关或键盘连接到Android设备而不是触摸屏来控制它。
让我们回顾一下每个组件并讨论如何使用它。
如何激活Android 无障碍套件(Android Accessibility Suite)
在大多数情况下，您可能不必在Android手机上安装该套件。默认情况下应该已经安装了它。您只需访问Google Play 商店(Google Play store)，搜索套件并检查它是否已安装，即可轻松检查。
这就是它变得有点复杂的地方。在运行库存（或几乎库存）版本的Android的设备上，激活套件中的工具非常简单：
问题是每个供应商都有自己的Android自定义界面。因此，如果您使用的是 LG 手机，与三星(Samsung)或小米(Xiaomi)设备相比，情况可能会大不相同。我们在这里使用的是Samsung Galaxy Note 10+，但您可能需要四处寻找特定手机上的选项。
此外，请记住，您的手机上也可能有特定于品牌的辅助功能。就我们手头的三星手机而言，(Samsung)谷歌(Google)套件 中混合了一些三星特定的应用程序。(Samsung)
虽然Google应用程序旨在协同工作，但同时运行其他辅助功能应用程序很有可能会导致冲突或奇怪的行为。因此，请注意仅激活您需要和将要使用的应用程序。
设置辅助功能快捷方式(Accessibility Shortcut)
大多数人可能只使用套件的一个应用程序，但他们可能不希望它一直处于活动状态。幸运的是，有一个方便的快捷方式可以在几秒钟内激活您的主要工具。您所要做的就是同时按住音量增大和减小按钮几秒钟。
第一次执行此操作时，系统会要求您指定要将哪些不同的辅助工具链接到快捷方式。完成后，您现在可以随意打开和关闭套件中的首选工具。
如果您想稍后更改它，您可以在高级辅助功能设置下找到该设置。
如果您能够在屏幕上看得很清楚，您还可以在激活任何这些工具时点击出现在Android快捷方式栏右侧的小辅助功能图标。(Android)
如何使用Android 无障碍套件菜单(Android Accessibility Suite Menu)
辅助功能菜单(Accessibility Menu)是一个大而易读的系统菜单，包含一些您希望快速访问的最常见功能：
- 制作屏幕截图
- 锁定手机
- 调节音量和亮度
- 设置和通知
- 谷歌助理
Android 辅助功能菜单(Android Accessibility Menu)也有自己的专用快捷方式。所以它不会占用音量按钮快捷方式。假设您已激活它，您只需用两根手指向上滑动即可。如果TalkBack也在运行，则改为三指轻扫。或者使用上面提到的辅助功能图标。
使用它就像任何其他菜单一样，只需选择您想要的选项！
如何使用对讲
激活TalkBack并将其设置为选择的音量按钮快捷工具后，您几乎可以立即激活并开始使用它。
使用TalkBack可能需要一些时间来适应。您可以通过几种不同的基本方式使用它在手机上找到自己的方式。最简单的方法是在屏幕上慢慢拖动手指。当您的手指在每个屏幕元素上移动时，TalkBack会告诉您它是什么。找到所需的按钮或其他交互元素后，您可以双击屏幕上的任意位置来激活它。
如何使用切换访问
开关(Switch)访问允许您使用USB或蓝牙(Bluetooth)开关来控制您的手机。当您第一次设置Switch Access时，您还会告诉它您正在使用哪些开关以及它们应该如何操作。该向导非常全面，因此您可以轻松完成所有工作。
这只是我们在设置向导中所做选择的一个示例。它会根据您的需求和您使用的交换机解决方案而有所不同。
我们使用通过USB 连接(USB)到手机的标准Xbox One S控制器。(Xbox One S)Switch Access立即检测到它，我们能够将这两种开关功能分配给设备上的任何按钮。
在设置过程结束时，您可以使用开关玩井字游戏，以确保一切正常。
如何使用选择发言
在“辅助功能(Accessibility)工具”下激活“选择发言(Select to Speak)”后，您所要做的就是点击屏幕上的任何项目。图像中的文本(Text)和文本工作，您可以拖动手指来选择项目组。还有一个播放按钮，它会说出屏幕上的所有内容。
更好的是，您可以打开相机应用程序并将相机对准任何东西。然后“选择(Select)朗读”将朗读您的相机正在大声查看的任何文本。(Speak)只需(Just)在相机应用程序中点击辅助功能按钮即可将其激活。
但是，我们实际上无法让它发挥作用。只收到“该位置没有文本”错误。老实说，我们强烈推荐Microsoft Seeing AI应用程序，它使用机器学习来描述你周围的世界。不仅是文本，任何对象也是如此。
Android 无障碍套件的工作情况(Android Accessibility Suite Work)如何？
没有完美的可访问性解决方案。尤其是因为没有两个人在视力、听力和行动能力方面面临完全相同的挑战。我们应该赞扬Google在(Google)Android中内置了一套相当全面的可访问性工具。
我们很难判断这些应用程序在满足每个人的独特设置和可访问性需求方面做得如何，但根据我们的尝试，Accessibility Suite似乎确实做到了它的承诺。
话虽如此，总有改进的余地，我们认为谷歌(Google)应该考虑整合更多的人工智能(artificial machine intelligence)技术。使用(Using)语音、面部识别和预测技术来增强这些相对简单的可访问性工具。
然而，令人印象深刻的是，您基本上可以将任何USB控制器与Android设备一起使用，这意味着很多人可以买到便宜的现成设备，并让行动不便的人使用。
What Is Android Accessibility Suite? A Review
Smartphones are wonderful devices, but they have actually introduced a few problems for people that have special accessibility needs.
For one thing, smartphone interfaces are now strongly visual in nature. Using icons and other visual elements let the user interface with the device. Multi-touch screens have also taken away the ability to operate the device by touch alone. On the other hand, smartphones are powerful enough to employ technologies such as voice recognition to help make up for this shift.
You can also easily add accessibility devices to a smartphone using the USB port. However, none of that matters if you don’t have software written specifically to tie it all together as useful functions for users with various impairments. Which is where the Android Accessibility Suite comes into the picture.
The Android Accessibility Suite Components
The Android Accessibility Suite is a fairly recent rebranding of several Google apps under one umbrella. It actually consists of three different applications:
- Accessibility Menu: A massive control menu designed for visually impaired users
- TalkBack: a screen reader for Android, which reads aloud whatever is on-screen. It includes gesture-based controls and an on-screen Braille keyboard.
- Select to Speak: This allows you to select items on the screen and have them read aloud.
- Switch Access: This lets you connect physical switches or a keyboard to the Android device to control it rather than the touch screen.
Let’s review each component and discuss how to use it.
How To Activate the Android Accessibility Suite
In most cases, you probably don’t have to install the suite on your Android phone. It should already be installed by default. You can easily check this by simply going to the Google Play store, searching for the suite and checking if it’s already installed.
Here’s where it gets a tad complicated. On a device running a stock (or almost stock) version of Android, it’s pretty simple to activate the tools in the suite:
- Select the suite app you want to activate and configure
The problem is that every vendor has their own custom interface for Android. So if you’re on an LG handset, things might look quite different compared to a Samsung or Xiaomi device. We’re using a Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ here, but you may have to hunt around a little for the options on your specific phone.
Also, bear in mind that there are likely to be brand-specific accessibility features on your phone as well. In the case of the Samsung phone we have at hand there are a few Samsung-specific apps mixed in with the Google suite.
While the Google apps are designed to work together, there’s a good chance that running other accessibility apps at the same time will cause conflicts or weird behavior. So take care only to activate the apps you need and are going to use.
Setting Up the Accessibility Shortcut
Most people are likely to only use one of the suite’s apps, but they probably don’t want it to be active all of the time. Luckily there’s a handy shortcut to activate your primary tool in seconds. All you have to do is hold the volume up and down buttons in at the same time for a few seconds.
The first time you do this, you’ll be asked to specify which of the different accessibility tools you’d like to link to the shortcut. With that done, you can now switch your preferred tool from the suite on and off at will.
If you want to change it later, you can find the setting under advanced accessibility settings.
If you’re able to see well enough on the screen, you can also tap the small accessibility icon that appears on the right of the Android shortcuts bar whenever any of these tools are activated.
How To Use the Android Accessibility Suite Menu
The Accessibility Menu is a big, easy to read system menu that hosts some of the most common functions you’d want quick access to:
- Make a screenshot
- Lock the phone
- Adjust volume and brightness
- Settings and notifications
- Google Assistant
The Android Accessibility Menu also has its own dedicated shortcut. So it doesn’t take up the volume button shortcut. Assuming that you’ve activated it, you simply swipe up with two fingers. If TalkBack is also running, it’s a three-finger swipe instead. Alternatively use the accessibility icon mentioned above.
Using it works just like any other menu, just select the option you want!
How To Use Talkback
After activating TalkBack and setting it as the volume button shortcut tool of choice, you can activate and start using it pretty much right away.
Using TalkBack can take some getting used to. There are a few different basic ways you can use it to find your way around the phone. The simplest way is to slowly drag your finger over the screen. As your finger moves over each screen element, TalkBack will tell you what it is. Once you’ve found the button or other interactive element you want, you can double-tap anywhere on the screen to activate it.
How To Use Switch Access
Switch access lets you use a USB or Bluetooth switch to control your phone. When you first set up Switch Access you’ll also tell it which switches you’re using and how they should act. The wizard is very comprehensive, so you’ll have no trouble getting it all working.
This is only an example of the choices we made in the setup wizard. It will differ depending on your needs and what you are using as a switch solution.
We used a standard Xbox One S controller connected via USB to the phone. Switch Access detected it immediately and we were able to assign both switch functions to any buttons on the device.
At the end of the setup process you can play a game of tic-tac-toe with the switches to make sure everything is working as it should.
How To Use Select To Speak
After activating Select to Speak under Accessibility tools, all you have to do is tap on any item on the screen. Text and text in images work and you can drag your finger to select groups of items. There’s also a play button, which will speak everything that’s on the screen.
Even better, you can open the camera app and point the camera at anything. Then Select to Speak will read any text your camera is looking at out loud. Just tap the accessibility button when in the camera app to activate it.
However, we couldn’t actually get that to work. Only getting a “no text at that location” error. Honestly, we’d strongly recommend the Microsoft Seeing AI application instead, which uses machine learning to describe the world around you. Not just text, but any objects as well.
How Well Does Android Accessibility Suite Work?
There is no such thing as a perfect accessibility solution. Especially since no two people have exactly the same challenges in vision, hearing and mobility. We should give Google credit for having a fairly comprehensive set of accessibility tools built into Android.
It’s hard for us to judge how well these applications do their job for each person’s unique set up and accessibility needs, but based on what we tried the Accessibility Suite does seem to do what it promises.
That being said, there’s always room for improvement and we think Google should look into integrating more of its artificial machine intelligence technology. Using voice, facial recognition and predictive technologies to enhance these relatively simple accessibility tools.
However, it is impressive that you can use essentially any USB controller with an Android device, which means plenty of people can grab cheap off the shelf devices and give access to someone with very limited mobility.
