Using the "Groups" button in the upper left corner of the Contacts screen, you can choose to have the display only show contacts who are currently online. Additionally, double tapping on a contact’s name will show their current availability.

Skype for iPhone requires a WiFi connection, though Skype claims to have a version ready that will run on 3G networks if it is approved by Apple.

MacSpeech Dictate v1.5.6 is available free of charge to all registered v1.5 customers using the "Check for Updates" option located in the application menu. Users of MacSpeech Dictate Medical, MacSpeech Dictate Legal, and MacSpeech Dictate International can update to the corresponding version 1.5.6 as well.

Version history for MacSpeech Dictate, including release notes, can be found here.

Slau had a chance to visit Digidesign in San Francisco, and got to experience first hand the tremendous progress being made toward ProTools accessibility with VoiceOver. We discuss his experiences with Digidesign, the developer behind ProTools access, the progress being made, and what we can expect from ProTools in the future.

VoiceOver was shown in the survey to have a fifty percent increase in users reporting its usage, only lagging slightly behind the Window-Eyes screen reader from GW Micro. A large percentage of users also stated that VoiceOver and other low or no cost solutions were viable alternatives to pricier third-party screen readers. Fortunately, it appears that the misconceptions about the Mac platform and the VoiceOver screen reader are becoming a thing of the past as users become better aware of their viability.

Unfortunately, however, the survey downplays the problems with accessibility of Adobe Flash content. A note included on the survey reads:

It must be noted that Flash content, like most other items listed here, can be made accessible. In fact, Flash content can have other general accessibility issues listed (e.g., ambiguous links, difficult forms, missing alt text, etc.). While treated here as a distinct item, it’s important to note that Flash is not inaccessible merely because it is present in a page, but because the Flash author has not implemented accessibility.

The above excerpt is only true for Flash content being accessed via Windows. Other operating systems, including Mac OS X, do not have any accessibility for Flash content, and to date, Adobe Systems has been unwilling to change this situation. If you haven’t already, please sign our petition to Adobe System to implement accessibility in Flash for the Mac OS X platform.

We have contacted WebAIM about the ambiguity in the above paragraph in the hopes that they will make changes to clarify that information.

Update — WebAIM has responded very quickly to our note, and has modified the Flash information to note that it is only applicable to the Windows OS. We applaud their quick response.

Unfortunately, a few apps have received substantial updates in the interim which have made them inaccessible. Some developers have begun addressing accessibility issues, like FaceBook, while others such as NetNewsWire from NewsGator.com have, as yet, offered no response to the sudden inaccessibility of their products.

We are pleased to note that the New York Times application, which underwent he transition from accessible to not earlier this summer, has been updated to version 2.3 and includes improved support for VoiceOver.

Hopefully, developers will continue this trend and support accessibility in their iPhone applications.

Unlike its competition, VMWare Fusion has always been quite accessible with VoiceOver, providing visually impaired users with the most accessible installation process for the Windows OS.

Version 3 continues this tradition of accessibility, though the software works somewhat differently from previous versions from a VoiceOver user’s perspective. The most notable difference is when the user wishes to direct keyboard input to the virtual machine. The simplest method to accomplish this task seems to be to turn off VoiceOver with Command-F5, and then press Command-G. At that point, the user can reactivate VoiceOver and use the software as in previous versions.

For more information on VMWare Fusion 3’s fifty-plus new features, click here to read the "What’s New" document.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog published an in depth review of the app, which describes its usage quite succinctly. We highly recommend this review.

You can learn more about this application on Proloquo2Go.com.

We are pleased to see an access technology company embracing Apple’s philosophy of mainstream accessibility, and exploring new ways to service the blind and visually impaired community.

VMware Fusion 3 provides more than 50 new features and enhancements, including optimization for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. The new version will be available on 27/October/2009 for $79.99 USD, or $39.99 for existing VMWare Fusion users.

If Flash Professional CS5 apps for the iPhone do follow Apple’s accessibility guidelines, or provide developers with tools to implement the guidelines themselves, this could mean that iPhone and iPod touch users will have better access to software developed with the popular Flash technology than Mac users. As yet, Adobe has failed to provide any access to Flash, or indeed any of their products, on the Mac platform, which does raise concern that they may neglect accessibility in Flash Professional CS5 as well. We are currently running a petition for Flash accessibility on Mac OS X through the end of the year.

It is still too soon to know for certain if Flash applications will be accessible with VoiceOver on the iPhone and iPod touch. As more details are made available, we will pass them along.

At the end of August, I received an email message from David Gibbons, vice-president of product marketing at Digidesign, informing me that they were about to hire a software engineer who would specifically work on issues of accessibility in Pro Tools. This person would focus on VoiceOver compatibility for approximately six weeks before other duties would take priority. Although we had supplied Digidesign with a sort of "top 10" priority list, we agreed that it would be quite helpful if someone could give Pro Tools a test run once some of the work had been implemented.

The engineer, Xiang Cao, accomplished a great deal in his first week of working on the Pro Tools user interface. He and I exchanged a few email messages discussing specific questions about common practices both for VoiceOver and blind Pro Tools users. I planned a trip to Daly City, California, to visit with Xiang and to spend several hours trying out the newly accessible interface. Also, it was a good opportunity to plan a meeting with some other key people at Digidesign who either already supported this project or were interested in learning more about the issue of Pro Tools accessibility.

On Monday, September 28, I finally got a chance to meet Xiang in person at Digidesign’s headquarters. We sat down in his office and settled in for an in-depth evaluation of his work thus far. He launched VoiceOver and then launched Pro Tools and proceeded to navigate the application’s interface while VoiceOver provided feedback about selected tools, edit modes, counter positions, meter values, etc. It was truly an extraordinary and overwhelming experience to finally have access to items that were, in previous versions, completely inaccessible to blind users.

We spent over three hours going through a plethora of UI elements within numerous windows and dialogs, discussing priorities, evaluating the user experience and planning for future work. It was always clear that, given Pro Tools’ complexity, this was going to be a long-term project and that accessibility improvements would need to be rolled out over several software releases, but I hadn’t expected to see so much progress at this point. I was truly impressed with how much Xiang was able to accomplish over the past couple of weeks, especially having never dealt with accessibility features of VoiceOver before. He informed me that Apple’s documentation was extremely comprehensive and very straightforward.

That afternoon, we took a break for a scheduled meeting with other key people at Digidesign. I shared with them some background information about Rick Boggs’ successes with Pro Tools accessibility in the mid ’90s and how the move to OS X broke the accessibility that blind users had under OS 9 with the outSPOKEN screen reader.

After a few questions and answers, we gathered in Xiang’s office for a brief demonstration of the work done thus far. Xiang was able to effectively demonstrate how VoiceOver was able to identify controls and their various states, manipulate their functions, navigate the interface and interact with many areas of the application. It gave everybody a better understanding of how a blind user could access the very same controls that a sighted user would use without the need for an alternative interface or any extra software.

After our brief demonstration, Xiang and I continued to identify areas that still needed work and we made a new list of priorities for the completion of this phase of the project. I left Digidesign at the end of the day feeling both exhilarated and exhausted, as if I had been on an emotional roller coaster, experiencing rushes of excitement in between moments of concern over certain challenges. More than anything, I felt very optimistic about the achievements thus far and Digidesign’s commitment to future improvements to Pro Tools accessibility. Personally, as a longtime Pro Tools user, finally seeing tangible results after years of planning, meeting and discussing the issues was very encouraging.

That evening, I had dinner in San Francisco with Xiang and David Gibbons, who has taken a personal interest in this project. When we met for the first time several years ago, I could tell that David recognized the complexity of making Pro Tools accessible to blind users but I do believe that he also recognized its importance. Over dinner, we discussed our next steps and made plans for the coming weeks. I asked if I could share the news and update this website to reflect the latest developments. He encouraged me to share whatever information would be helpful and gave me permission to disclose any information I wanted.

In the near future, I’ll be a guest on the Maccessibility Podcast to speak in greater detail about some of the issues we encountered and the problems we’ve had to solve in the process. For now, I would say that it’s probable that an upcoming release of Pro Tools by the early part of next year will include a user interface accessible through VoiceOver with enhancements to be rolled out over several software versions in the future. More details will be available at this website as things develop.

Slau Halatyn

Frotz for iPhone and iPod touch, provides a way to enjoy these titles, and version 1.3, just released, includes tweaks to the interface to make this app a joy to use for VoiceOver users. Additionally, the update includes font sizing and magnification options as well, furthering accessibility for low-vision users.

Frotz comes with dozens of interactive fiction titles, and is available in the AppStore for $0.99 USD. Click here to check it out!

Our thanks to Craig Smith, the developer, for his efforts in assuring a pleasant experience for blind and visually impaired users.

The iPhone OS 3.1 details are scarce as yet, but the update includes pre-cut ring tones from the major record labels.

iTunes 9, the latest version of Apple’s popular media management software, comes with a plethora of new features, including application organization for iPhone/iPod Touch users, iTunes LP to provide extra content with album purchases, Genius Mixes, and iTunes Extras to provide additional content with movie titles.

The iPod Touch has been revamped, now with three models. An 8GB model is available for $199, a 32GB for $299, and a 64GB model for $399. The 32GB and 64GB models include a processor that is 50 percent faster than the previous generation, presumably making it possible to run VoiceOver, though we do not have confirmation of this yet.

The iPod Classic also received a minor boost. Still alive and kicking, Apple’s iPod in the Classic format is now available in a 160GB configuration for the same price of $249.

The iPod Shuffle line also received a minor update, with 2GB models now at $59, and 4GB models for $79. A special edition polished stainless steel model is available for $99. The Shuffles are now available in additional colors, and Apple is working with third-party manufacturers to make additional headsets with controls available.

The iPod Nano received a significant update. The popular media player now doubles as a video camera, capable of recording high quality video with audio and syncing it back to your computer. VoiceOver, presumably the variety available on the Shuffles, is now offered on the Nano, along with a voice recorder, FM radio tuner, and pedometer. The new Nanos are available in 8GB and 16GB models for $149 and $179 respectively.

As soon as we have additional information on accessibility of these new products, we’ll report it.

The application is exceptionally usable now, with only a couple of unlabeled controls which can be quickly memorized. Given the speed at which this update was delivered, we expect even these few controls to be addressed in the near future.

We commend FaceBook for their dedication and quick response, as well as Apple Inc. for giving developers the tools to quickly make such dramatic improvements in their applications where regards accessibility.

Some of Mr. Hewitt’s comments have included a note about learning VoiceOver on the iPhone, an apology that accessibility was overlooked in the update, and an update that accessibility support is coming in version 3.0.2.

This is a tremendously promising turn of events, and all of us at the Mac-cessibility Network would like to thank FaceBook and Mr. Hewitt for their quick response to this issue.

We are advising VoiceOver users not to upgrade the iPhone application.

We encourage all VOiceOver and iPhone users to contact FaceBook regarding this unfortunate leap backwards in accessibility of their iPhone application by clicking here.

Infovox iVox 1.3, the currently shipping version, is not compatible with Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard”. A complete rewrite of the core speech engine was necessary to make Infovox iVox 64-bit compatible and ready for Snow Leopard. Despite the major engineering efforts, Infovox iVox 2.0 is offered as a free update in order to facilitate the migration to Snow Leopard.

Because of the large number of languages available in Infovox iVox, not all languages will be available immediately as part of the public beta. The first languages to be released will be American English, British English, French, German, Italian, Canadian French, Spanish, American Spanish, Swedish, and Norwegian. More languages will follow in the coming weeks.

The full press release on InfoVox iVox v2.0 is available here.

Given the exponentially growing community of blind and visually impaired Mac OS X users, this statement is clearly unfounded. In a constructive attempt to make our voices heard, the Mac-cessibility Network is running its first petition. The ultimate goal of this effort is to obtain a commitment to, and implementation of, accessibility in Adobe’s Flash platform on the Mac OS X operating system, including support for the VoiceOver screen reading solution provided therein.

If you believe mainstream companies like Adobe should be offering accessibility in their products, as we do, we hope you will take just a moment to read and sign our Adobe Petition for Commitment to Action.

We plan on running this petition through the end of December. In January, we will present the petition to Adobe Systems Inc.

We also would encourage you to help spread the word to others, and ask them to sign the petition. For easy reference, the link to the petition is http://maccessibility.net/petition

We thank you for your support in this effort.

Airfoil, Audio Hijack Pro, and Nicecast all require updates to the optional Instant Hijack component. Additionally, Fission needs an update to handle changes in the decoding of Apple Lossless files.

They hope to have these updates out by Friday, but make no promises. You can read the full blog post for details here.