RNIB's Access-IT Review Smart Hal - Part One
It's a big thumbs up
19th Apr, 2007
RNIB's Access-IT magazine this week released their independent review of Dolphin's new screen reader for Smartphones, Smart Hal. In this first of a two part series, trainer and sessional tutor for Modern Eyes, Sue Allard takes her first steps with a Smartphone and quickly gets to grips with the basics.
Sue explains "Once I was accustomed to the basics of the handset, which were the soft keys and the back and forward keys, I was off. Smart Hal seems very straight forward, I didn't need to go through two cds of instructions. The operating system felt familiar and slotted in for me once I had worked out which bits were which on the handset. "
"I have found the Smartphone menu systems a familiar environment, and my ear is tuned into Windows. I knew instinctively what I was listening for and what to expect."
"I did particularly like that Smart Hal beeped when you have successfully entered your character [when texting]. I am not used to this confirmation and found that of definite benefit, I wasn't left wondering whether it was ready for me to enter the next character."
"US Eloquence is included with Smart Hal, but I opted for Orpheus as I am used to it. It sounded like my PC, and I find changing the voices a distraction. It is important to not be listening to the voice and just concentrate on listening to what it is telling me - I find that works best with Orpheus. People that like Eloquence can choose the voice they are familiar with and do the same. Both are good options."
And our favourite quote from Sue's review.
"It appears that Smart Hal has been designed by someone that knows what visually impaired people want, rather than by someone sighted."
The second of the two part review will be included in next month's Access-IT and we understand will include a review of installing Smart Hal, synchronising your contacts, using the camera(!) and more.
Read Part Two of the review.
Read Part Three of the review.
To download a 30 day Smart Hal trial or to read more about the Smart Hal compatible phones, visit the Smart Hal pages on the Dolphin Website.
