How do I set and use alarms on Android?

Android phones come with an accessible alarm clock app, which is surprisingly handy. On the road, users can have their phones wake them up in the morning. At home, they can set alarms for the start or end of their exercise routines, the time needed to boil an egg, the beginning of a favorite TV show, or the times they normally take any medication. At work, they can set alarms for specific tasks (e.g., work on X for an hour before moving on to Y for today). This post covers setting, using, and managing alarms with the stock alarms app in Android 2.2.

The process is similar in 2.1, but the app to search for is called Alarms, not clock.

Finding the Alarms

The Alarms app is part of an app called Clock. To find it, users start at their home screens, find the All Applications list, navigate to Clock, and launch the app. Once in Clock, users scroll to and press the selector on Alarms. The steps are as follows:

• From the stock home screen, scroll to and press the selector on All Applications or on Sliding drawer; then scroll to and press the selector on Clock.
• From the Eyes-Free Shell, down-stroke to Applications; type the letter C and scroll down to Clock, or use stroke dialing. Then press the enter, selector, or Search button.
• From Mobile Accessibility, swipe down to Apps, double tap, swipe to Clock, and double-tap again. The MA suite has it's own alarm clock app called Alarms.

Getting Familiar with the Clock Screen

The clock app has an interesting organization, which is easiest to conceptualize as an interrupted loop. When the app opens, focus is on the Dim button, and scrolling down once moves focus to the Alarms button. If users scroll left from Dim, focus moves to Music, Gallery, and Alarms, and from Alarms, they can scroll up once to return to Dim. If users start at Dim and scroll down once to Alarms, they can scroll right to Gallery, Music, and Launcher, and from Launcher, they can scroll up once to return to Dim.

Pressing the Menu button while on the Clock screen moves focus to Alarms, Add Alarms, and Dock Settings. The Alarms item on the Clock screen and the one accessed from the Menu button open the same screen; likewise, Add Alarms from the Clock Menu options opens the same screen as Add Alarms from the Alarms screen.

Pressing the selector on Gallery, Launcher, or Music while on the Clock screen launches the default photo, music, or home screen app.

Setting an Existing Alarm

A few alarms are preset on the phone, and each time a new one is set, it is added to the chronological list of alarms, so the quickest way for users to set an alarm is to scroll through the list of existing alarms and check one. The steps are these:

1. Launch Clock from the home screen using the steps described in an earlier section of this post.
2. Navigate to and press the selector on Alarms.
3. Scroll through the list. The first item is an Add Alarm button, and the last item is Clock Display, which returns focus to the Clock main screen. All the items in between are individual alarms, listed chronologically (e.g., 9:00 a.m. appears before 3:30 p.m.).
4. Find the desired alarm, and do one of the following:
a. Long-press (2-3 seconds) the selector, scroll to Turn Alarm On, and press the selector there.
b. Short-press the selector, scroll to and press the selector on the Turn on alarm checkbox to check it, scroll through the alarm details and edit if desired, and navigate to and press the selector on Done, or simply press Back to set the alarm and return to the previous screen.
5. Press Back several times or Home to return to the home screen.

Setting a New Alarm

The process of setting a new alarm feels long and tedious the first time or two. After that, it becomes quick and efficient.

1. Launch Clock from the home screen using the steps described in an earlier section of this post.
2. Press Menu.
3. Navigate to and press the selector on Add Alarm.
4. Fill in the alarm information. Initially, the screen appears to have only two items: a Turn On Alarm checkbox and below it a Set item. Scroll up or to the right from Set and more items appear. They form a rough grid and are as follows from left to right and top to bottom :
a. Increment Hour & Increment Minute – Briefly pressing the selector on one of these items adds one hour or one minute to the number that is already in the edit field (e.g., from 10 to 11). Pressing and holding the selector down on these controls increases the hours or minutes, depending on how long the selector is pressed: holding it down a couple of seconds increases by a small amount, and holding it down several seconds increases by a larger amount. When the selector is released, focus returns to the appropriate edit field, but the number does not refresh automatically for the screen reader, so you need to scroll up or down, then back, to hear the new number in the edit field.
b. Hours edit field, Minutes edit field, & AM/PM button – The edit fields show the current time, so if it's 11:35 AM, the Hours edit field shows 11; the Minutes edit field shows 35; and the AM/PM button is set to AM. Enter the time you want the alarm to go off by typing into the edit fields or by pressing the selector on the Increment or Decrement controls (above or below). On many phones, it may be necessary to erase the current time before entering new numbers with the keyboard. If your phone does not have a number row, it may be necessary to press the alt key twice in each edit field before typing numbers. Scroll left to and press the selector on the AM/PM button to toggle between AM and PM. If the Talkback keyboard is enabled and you have trouble scrolling out of the edit fields, try pressing alt twice, then once more, before attempting to navigate away from the edit fields again.
c. Decrement Hour & Decrement Minute – Briefly pressing the selector on one of these items subtracts one hour or one minute from the number that is already in the edit field (e.g., from 10 to 9). Pressing and holding the selector down on these controls decreases the hours or minutes, depending on how long the selector is pressed: holding it down a couple of seconds decreases by a small amount, and holding it down several seconds decreases by a larger amount. When the selector is released, focus returns to the appropriate edit field, but the number does not refresh automatically for the screen reader, so you need to scroll up or down, then back, to hear the new number in the edit field.
d. Set & Cancel – Pressing the selector on these confirms or clears the alarm time and returns focus to the previous screen.
5. Once the alarm has been set, focus moves to a screen with additional options. Scroll through them and make any changes. Options are as follows:
a. Turn Alarm On – This checkbox is already checked for you. Press the selector to uncheck it if you don't want to hear the alarm.
b. Time – This shows the time you expect the alarm to go off. Pressing the selector here moves focus to the Alarm Set screen described in Step 4.
c. Repeat – This dropdown list is set to Never by default. Pressing the selector here moves focus to a list of the days of the week. If you want the alarm to go off on Monday through Friday, but not on Saturday or Sunday, SCROLL TO AND press the selector ON Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to check those days; then scroll to and press the selector on OK.
d. Ringtone – The default alarm ringtone sounds like an old fashion alarm clock. To change it, press the selector on this item, navigate to and press the selector on the ringtone of your choice, then jump to the bottom of the ringtone list with alt+down-arrow, scrolling down one more time and pressing the selector on OK.
e. Vibrate – This checkbox is checked by default. Press the selector here to uncheck it if you do not want the phone to vibrate when the alarm goes off.
f. Label – This item allows you to name the alarm. Press the selector here, type the label name in the edit field, then scroll to and press the selector on OK. The label name is spoken when the alarm goes off. This is a handy feature as names simplify choosing an alarm and act as reminders of what the alarm is for. So if you have a favorite show, you can set an alarm for it, then find it quickly by naming the alarm after the show, and if you're busy getting dinner ready, you can have two alarms set for the same general period of time, one called Casserole for turning off the oven and another called pudding for chilling the dessert.
g. Done, Revert, Delete – These three items appear at the bottom of the list of options. Done saves the alarm information. Revert clears the alarm settings. Delete discards the alarm. Navigate to and press the selector on any of these, or press back to accept the current settings and return to the previous screen.
6. When the alarm goes off, press the hardware volume or camera button to stop or snooze the alarm.

Setting Alarm Behavior

The Clock app offers users the option to determine alarm behavior through the Settings item on the alarm screen. The choices made in this Settings screen affect all alarms and remain in place until they are changed to something else.

To set alarm behavior, do the following:

1. Launch Clock from the home screen using the steps described in an earlier section of this post.
2. Navigate to and press the selector on Alarms.
3. Press the Menu button.
4. Navigate to and press the selector on Settings; then scroll through the following items, making changes as desired.
a. Alarm in silent mode – Checking this item allows the alarm to ring even when the phone is set to vibrate or silent mode. This item is checked by default as many users silence their phones at night.
b. Alarm volume – Pressing the selector here pulls up a screen with a seek control and OK and Cancel buttons. Arrowing right on the seek control increases the volume of the alarm while arrowing left decreases it. Pressing the selector on OK sets the volume level and moves focus to the previous screen.
c. Snooze duration – Pressing the selector here opens a list for setting the interval between snoozes. Options are 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 minutes. Navigate to and press the selector on the desired item. Then press Back to return to the previous screen.
d. Volume and camera button – Pressing the selector here pulls up options that determine what effect the volume and camera buttons have on the alarms. Options are None, Snooze, Dismiss, and Cancel. Choosing None means that pushing the volume or camera button does nothing while the alarm is ringing. Snooze means that pressing the volume or camera button stops the alarm temporarily, and Dismiss means that pressing Volume or Camera stops the alarm once and for all. Press Back to return to the previous screen.
5. Press Back several times or Home once to return to the home screen.

Stopping and Snoozing Alarms

When an alarm rings, users can stop it temporarily (snooze) or completely (dismiss), depending on their setting in the Volume and Camera option described in the previous section of this post.

What to do when the alarm rings:

• If the option is set to Dismiss, press the physical volume or camera button to stop the alarm permanently.
• If the option is set to Snooze, Press the physical volume or camera button to stop the alarm temporarily. When the alarm rings again, press the camera or volume button again. To stop the alarm permanently, pull down the status bar (by touching the top of the screen and sliding your finger down until you hear, "Status bar" or "Notifications"), scroll through the items, pressing the selector on the alarm label (e.g., Casserole), and press the selector to dismiss the alarm.
• If the option is set to None, press the physical navigational controller or open the keyboard to wake up the phone, then down-arrow once to the Snooze item, and press the selector. To stop the alarm permanently, left-arrow from Snooze to Dismiss, and press The selector. This method of snoozing or dismissing alarms requires practice, unless screen reader volume is set to maximum, because the ringing alarm drowns out speech.

Deleting and Editing Alarms

When a new alarm is set, it is added to the chronological list of existing alarms so users can quickly access and reuse it at any time.

To quickly turn on an existing alarm – While on the list of alarms, scroll to the desired alarm, long-press the selector, then scroll to and press the selector on Turn on Alarm.

To delete an alarm you no longer need – While on the list of alarms, scroll to the desired alarm, long-press the selector, then scroll to and press the selector on Delete Alarm. A confirmation screen appears asking if you're sure you want to delete the alarm. Press the selector on OK.

To edit an alarm (e.g., to pick the children up from school early) – While on the list of alarms, scroll to the desired alarm, long-press the selector, then scroll to and press the selector on Edit Alarm. Focus moves to the screen for setting a new alarm, described earlier in this post.

How do I work with the call log in Touchwiz on my Samsung phone running Android 2.1?

Contributed by John J. Herzog

I am a Samsung epic user. My phone has the Touchwiz UI, and in my opinion, it's pretty accessible with Android 2.1, the only noticeable exception being the call log. This is not the case for the Epic running Android 2.2, which has a number of accessibility issues and which I discuss in another post. Here I describe how to work with the call log in Touchwiz devices running Android 2.1.

In the epic running 2.1, the initial screen of the call log does not speak with either Talkback or Spiel. As you navigate up and down the list of calls, you hear a click each time you move the arrow keys, but nothing is spoken. This is not a show stopper, though, because you can press enter on the keypad to get a list of details that you can navigate through accessibly.

So if I go into the call log and hit the down arrow a couple of times, I don't hear anything. But when I hit enter on a random spot, I find out that I called my dad. Talkback speaks his number, and the phone shows me a list of all the times I have previously called him.

At the top of this Details screen is a set of buttons, which the phone also reads correctly. They are Call, Add to Contacts, Delete, and so on, and I can use the left and right arrows to move from one button to the other.

Below the buttons is the first entry/call--the most recent. The line below that is the call I made several days ago, etc., all the way down the screen from newest at the top to oldest at the bottom.

To get back to the main screen of the Call Log, I press the back button. Once there, I can continue scrolling down the list to other calls, pressing enter every time I want to know whom I called or who called me. I know this is not the most convenient way of doing things, but every other screen on the Epic with 2.1 works better than this one.

You can use the Details screen to delete one or more calls from the same person. Deleting all but the most recent call makes navigating your call log easier. If you don't delete things, you may find yourself returning to the same list of calls over and over as you arrow through the main Call Log screen and press enter on another call to or from the same person. So to save yourself aggravation, review all the times you called a certain number, and delete all calls or any repetitions in one fell swoop.

To delete call entries, open the Details screen, where the calls for a specific person are listed. from here, press Menu. Right-arrow to the Delete button, and press enter. Focus moves to a list of check boxes. Select all the calls you want to delete by arrowing to each check box and pressing enter. At the bottom of the list is a delete button. Press enter on it to get rid of the entries you selected.

Note that, for some strange reason, the select all check box is spoken by Talkback, but it is not clickable. It would be great to just click that and arrow to delete, but that does not appear to be possible.

The information in this post covers working with the call log of the Samsung Epic, a phone running the Touchwiz UI with Android 2.1. This is the only aspect of the phone that is negatively affected by the UI; however, before considering a Touchwiz phone, please read my post on the Epic with Android 2.2.

How do I add and edit contacts in Motoblur on my Motorola phone?

Contributed by Chris Gilland
cgilland1@carolina.rr.com

If you are a Motoblur user, one of the things you notice is that the Contacts manager isn't as accessible for you as it is for vanilla android users. Where accessibility is especially broken is in the new contact screen. This post gives you information about how to add or edit a contact in Motoblur as well as how to do some basic contact management.

I don't know how much variation there is in Motoblur, so I don't know how much your mileage will vary. But we tested this information on two Moto blur phones, one running Android 2.1 and another running 2.2, and we found that Both brought up the same screens and responded in the same way. The only differences were minor changes of terminology (e.g., the "add new contact" option in 2.1 is simply called "new" in 2.2, and the given/family name fields of 2.1 are the first/last name fields of 2.2).

Getting Familiar with the Contacts Manager in Motoblur

When you open the contacts manager on a phone running Moto Blur, you land in a list of all your contacts. Here, you can hit the selector to filter your contacts by Groups, Favorites, or All Contacts. By default, you're set to All Contacts.

If you down-arrow you highlight each contact individually as you go, so think of this screen as a vertical list like Settings or any other group of options.

Managing Contacts in Motoblur

To find someone, You don't have to just down-arrow contact by contact. If you start typing part of the first or last name, the phone finds the contact, if no results are found, you get an option that says, "New contact using," followed by whatever you typed. So this makes it really easy to jump to a contact quickly.

To read a contact's details, Arrow to or search for the person and press the selector. That opens up the details for that contact. This is information like Home Phone, Mobile Phone, Work Phone, Other Phone, Email, Street Address, and IM Address. So if you've added a home number and want to find it, down-arrow here to read items like, "Home: 555-1212.

To contact the person, you can move to an item in the Details screen and press the selector. For example, Short-pressing the selector on the phone number calls the person, or long-pressing on the phone number brings up options you can arrow through like Call Contact and Send Text Message.

To make changes in Contacts, start by viewing a contact's details as described in the previous paragraphs; then press the Menu key on the bottom left of the screen to bring up things like Edit and Delete. Edit let's you make changes to a contact's details and works like the screen for a new contact. Delete removes the contact.

To completely delete a contact, you don't have to go into the contact detail's page. There's a shorter way. Out on the main contacts screen, highlight the contact, and long-press The selector. That gets you a somewhat lengthy context menu. Down-arrowing through that list of options gets you to Delete.

Whatever way you delete a contact, you get to exactly the same confirmation screen. You're asked to confirm your decision. At this point you have two buttons. Yes is on the left, and no is on the right. Arrow left or right to the button of your choice, just like you would for any other screen, then hit the selector. Whichever you do, you are then taken back to your contact list.

Adding a Contact in Motoblur: Explained

Some of the instructions in this section seem counterintuitive, but they work, so put on your seatbelt: it's going to be a rough ride.

As I said before, when you open the contacts manager, you land in a list of all your contacts. You can down-arrow through the list of contacts or press the Menu button to access other options.

A word of warning, If you down-arrow to a contact after opening the app, your menu on the bottom left of the screen gets disabled, So don't down-arrow after opening the app. Just go straight to the menu. If it's too late and you already started arrowing, then hit the Back key or touch the bottom right of the screen like you'd do normally to return to a previous screen. In this context, pressing the Back button unselects everything.

So when you're on the main contacts page, before you highlight anything, touch the menu button at the bottom left of the screen. The first option on the top row of your menu here is new contact. Press the selector there.

When you do that, the first thing that happens is that you land in a text box where you can now write the contact's given name. Type the contact's first name, for example, John.

Now, hit your down-arrow one time. That puts you in an edit box. Visually, this is located directly below the given name box. This is for the family name. Type Doe, and by the way, if you need to put Sr. or JR. here, that's fine, do it.

Here is where the road starts getting rocky. So follow along carefully.

After you type the last letter of the last name, down-arrow one time. Now, be aware, Talkback doesn't say anything, Nada, Absolutely nothing. That's okay. What just happened is that you've landed on a green plus sign, which is an Add icon. It's not labeled. That's why Talkback isn't saying anything.

But go ahead and hit the selector. When you do, a box that wasn't on the screen suddenly appears. That's where you can type the phone number. You're not in the box itself yet. you're on a drop down button that says, "Home, dropdown button."

Push the selector on this button, and a context menu comes up. here, you can simply up and down-arrow through labels like Home, Mobile, and Work.

Arrow up or down to go to the label you need, and hit the selector. If you don't like any of the labels in the list, you can make up your own.

To make up your own label, down-arrow to Custom, which is an edit box. Type Skype. Down-arrow to OK, and hit the selector. Boom, we made a custom Skype label.

Now, whether you picked a label or made one up, you're back again at the Label dropdown button, Only instead of Home, you hear whatever label you picked for that number.

the box for the phone number is next to this Label button. Right-arrow one time to get into it; then type the phone number associated with that label for your contact. Type 5555555555 for the area code and phone number, no hyphens needed. You also don't need to press the alt twice before typing. The phone knows it's a number edit field and expects to type numbers.

When you finish adding contact details, press alt+down-arrow to get to the bottom of the screen, where you find two buttons. On the left is Save, and on the right is Discard. arrow to Save and press the selector.

Adding Another Phone Number/Email for a Contact in Motoblur: Explained

Now, if you want to create a contact with two or more phone numbers, the ride gets all-terrain in a big way. You have to follow me exactly for this to work.

Do what I discussed in the previous section only don't save the contact yet, so you're on the New Contact screen, and you have a first and last name and a phone number for this person.

It helps if I explain what the screen looks like at this point. If you were to down-arrow, you'd get another icon which Talkback doesn't read. This is to add a field for an email address. It works on the same principle. You press the selector to open a dropdown box for your email label; then after finding the one you want and selecting it, you right-arrow to get to where you type the actual email address.

However, we're not going to do that quite yet. You just typed the last digit of the first phone number, and you want to add a second phone number. To the right of this phone number field, you have two buttons: The first is a green plus sign for adding another number, and the second is a red minus sign for clearing the phone number edit field. It works this way on all the other fields on this screen, so keep that in mind as you read this post.

Because accessibility is broken, you can't just arrow once to the right to get to that green plus sign, after you type the last digit of the first phone number. You're going to have to do something different. It's tricky but not that tricky. The important thing is to ignore Talkback as you do the next part to keep from getting thrown.

after typing the last digit of the phone number 5555555555, up-arrow one time. this lands you to the right of the letter e in Doe. In other words, you're right after the last character in the family name/last name field.

Then right-arrow once. This puts you on a button where if you hit the selector, you get more fields like middle name, phonetic name, etc. don't hit enter on that.

Instead, down-arrow once. I know, you're thinking that'll land you in the phone number box. No, it won't. It puts you on an unlabeled image button.

Hit the selector. Boom! You did it! Now you're on the dropdown label for your next phone number. Set it, move to your right, and type the next number.

Need a 3rd number? okay, cool. up-arrow to the family name box, then right-arrow, then down-arrow, then hit the selector.

It's important to understand that the first phone number you enter is at the bottom. In other words, every field you add, regardless of the detail type, gets pushed down and the new one goes on top. So if the first number I added is a home number and the second is a mobile, the mobile number shows up above the home phone.

When you finish adding phone numbers, down-arrow to move to another icon that Talkback doesn't read. This is to add a field for an email address. It works on the same principle: press the selector to open a dropdown box for your email label; after finding the one you want and selecting it, right-arrow to get to where you type the actual email address; finally, if you want to type additional addresses, up-arrow, right-arrow, and down-arrow, pressing the selector on the unlabeled image button with the green plus sign to bring up a new Label option, and so on.

In other words, to get to the plus symbol that adds another of the same contact detail for any given item, like phone, email, etc. you have to up-arrow to the previous field, then right-arrow once from the previous field, then down-arrow. Last, you hit the selector to open the Label dropdown list.

I know it's totally cock-eyed, but That method works.

Finally, when you finish adding contact details, press alt+down-arrow to get to the bottom of the screen, where you find Save (on the left) and Discard (on the right). arrow to Save and press the selector.

Adding a Contact in Motoblur: Step by Step

Let's repeat what we did to add a new contact only this time I'm giving you a step-by-step description of the process.

1. Open contacts, and press menu at bottom left of screen.
2. Arrow to and press the selector on new contact.
3. In the given name field, type John, and down-arrow once.
4. In Family name, type Doe, and down-arrow once.
5. There is absolutely no spoken feedback where you land. Press the selector anyway to get to the Label button, and press it again to open the dropdown list of labels.
6. Down-arrow to the label you want and hit the selector to choose it.
7. Right-arrow once to an edit box, and type the number with area code, 5555555555 (no hyphens).
8. Down-arrow once from the phone number to add an email address.
9. There is absolutely no spoken feedback where you land. Press the selector anyway to get to the Label button, and press it again to open the dropdown list of labels.
10. Down-arrow to the label you want and hit the selector to choose it.
11. Right-arrow once to an edit box, and type the email address, john.doe@gmail.com.
12. Save your changes by pressing alt+down-arrow to get to the bottom of the screen. Arrow to Save and press the selector.

Adding Another Phone Number/Email for a Contact in Motoblur: Step-by-Step

Let's repeat what we did to add a second or third contact only this time I'm giving you a step-by-step description of the process. We'll add some hone numbers first, then some email addresses.

1. Follow steps 1-7 of the previous section to start a new contact and to type in his or her name and phone number.
2. After the last digit of the number, add another phone number by up-arrowing to the family/last name, right-arrowing once, then immediately down-arrowing once, and pressing the selector, not enter, on an unlabeled image button.
3. You're now on the Label button. Press the selector to go in, arrow to the phone label for the next number, and hit the selector again to pick it.
4. Right-arrow to the Phone edit box, and type the number.
5. Repeat Steps 2-4 for each additional phone number.
6. After finishing Step 4, add the first email address by down-arrowing once to a silent item, hitting the selector twice to bring up and open the Label dropdown list for email, navigating to the label you want, choosing it with the selector, right-arrowing to the Email edit field, and typing the first address (Steps 8-11 of the previous section).
7. Add a second email address by doing the following:
a. Up-arrow once to the edit field of the last phone number you find. If it's not the last one you typed, don't panic. Remember that, when you're adding fields to a contact detail, the new field is going to pop up above, not below, the last one.
b. Right-arrow, then down-arrow, once. This is just like adding more phone numbers.
c. Hit the selector, NOT Enter, on an unlabeled image button, and boom, now you're on the Label dropdown for the 2nd email address. Arrow to your label, and press the selector on it.
d. Right-arrow once, and type the second email address.
8. Save your changes by pressing alt+down-arrow to get to the bottom of the screen. Arrow to Save and press the selector.

Mission accomplished. The process isn't as convoluted as it sounds.

How do I import vCards and groups of contacts?

As users begin to feel comfortable with their phones, one of their first major tasks is to add contacts, a list of names, phone numbers, and email addresses to their devices. Contacts can be added from electronic business cards via email attachments, brought in from VCF files stored on the phone's SD card, or imported from the computer via the Google cloud, which refers to the online address book associated with a Gmail account. At this time, adding the sender of an email to contacts is not accessible in K-9 Mail.

The information in this post covers working with electronic business cards (VCards), using VCF files stored on the phone's SD card, and importing contacts from the Google cloud.

For information on adding individual contacts from the Call Log, the text messenger, and the contacts app or on managing and using contacts in general, refer to the previous post.

Users coming to Android from Nokia may be interested in J.J. Meddaugh's post on transferring contacts from Nokia to Android.

Users working with the Motorola Motoblur UI may find more helpful information about adding and managing individual contacts in Motoblur in the post by Chris Gilland.

Users working with the Samsung Touchwiz UI may find more helpful information about navigating the Touchwiz Call Log in the post by John J. Herzog.

Adding Contacts from an Email Attachment in K-9 Mail

Users who receive electronic business cards can quickly and easily copy the information from the vCard to Contacts, using K-9 Mail. The steps are as follows:

1. In K-9 Mail, open the message with the vCard attachment.
2. In the open message, navigate to and press the selector on the Open button on screen. The button can also be accessed by pressing the Menu button on the device.
3. If the Android system screen opens, navigate to and press the selector on Contacts, or navigate to and press the selector first on Use by Default for this Action, then on Contacts.

The Contacts app opens, and focus moves to the View Details screen for the newly imported contact. Users can edit or simply close with the Back key.

Adding Contacts from the SD Card

Contacts can be added from VCF files stored on the SD card. VCF is the file format used for electronic business cards or vCards, and it is also commonly used for sharing contact information among applications. Files of this type may contain single contacts or groups of VCF files. To import information from VCF files to the phone, do the following:

1. Open Contacts.
2. Press the Menu button.
3. Navigate to and press the selector on Import/Export.
4. Navigate to and press the selector on Import from SD card.
5. Wait a few seconds for the phone to search the SD card and import the files.

Focus returns to the main Contacts screen, so users may search for the new contact to make sure it has been properly added to the list.

Adding contacts from the Computer

Moving Contacts from the computer to the Android phone is a 3-step process. First, Contacts are collected into a file from the email reader on the computer. Second, the Contacts file is uploaded to Google. Third, the Contacts are downloaded from Google to the phone. In some cases, there's a fourth step, which is to ensure that new contacts added to the phone are uploaded to Google. While the process may seem complicated, it’s actually just a matter of following these steps:

1. Turn the Contacts on your computer into a CSV or VCF File. CSV and VCF files are simple text files that contain address book information. The acronyms stand for comma separated values and vCard files. For specific instructions on how to make these types of files, run an internet search by typing the name of your email reader and the term “CSV file” for Windows or the name of the app and "VCF" for Mac. Most likely, the procedure for individual contacts will include going into Files, then Save As, and for groups of files, it will probably involve going into Files, then Export.
2. Upload the CSV or VCF file to Google.
a. Go to your Gmail page on the computer.
b. Make sure you are in Standard View by using your screen reader or browser to locate the word "standard." You should find a line of text that says, "Gmail view: standard." If what you find is a Standard View link, pres enter on it and check the screen again.
c. Find the Contacts link, and press enter to open a new page.
d. Find the More Actions button, and press enter to access additional options.
e. Find the Import Contacts link, and Press enter to reach the upload screen.
f. Find a combo box that asks where you want your contacts imported. Open it with alt+down-arrow and select the My Contacts option. Tab once to get out of that combo box.
g. Find the Browse button, press it, and navigate through your hard drive to the CSV file you made in Step 1, pressing open/choose when you locate it. Your computer takes a moment to upload the file.
h. Tab to the Import button and press enter to move the contacts into Google.
i. After a few seconds, find the word "CSV" or "VCF." If the upload process is successful, a notification that X number of contacts has been imported from the CSV/VCF file appears on the screen.
3. Most likely, your contacts sync to the phone automatically. If they do not appear on the phone within a few minutes, adjust the sync settings on the device by going into Settings, then Accounts and Sync and doing the following:
a. Navigate to Background Data and check it.
b. Navigate to Autosync and check it.
c. Navigate to the item with your Gmail account and press the selector; then check Sync contacts.
4. Make sure the new contacts you add to the phone are synced to the Google Cloud. In most cases, contacts added to the phone are also uploaded to the cloud, but if they are not, try the following procedure, which you should only have to do once:
a. Go to your Gmail page on the computer.
b. Make sure you are in Standard View by using your screen reader or browser to locate the word "standard." You should find a message that says, "Gmail view: standard." If what you find is a Standard View link, pres enter on it and check the screen again.
c. Find the Contacts link, and press enter to open a new page.
d. Find the More Actions button, and press enter to access additional options.
e. Find the Import Contacts link, and Press enter to reach the upload screen.
f. Find a combo box that asks where you want your contacts imported. Open it with alt+down-arrow and select the Start with Android option. Tab once to get out of that combo box.
g. Tab to the Import button and press enter.

How do I add individual contacts?

As users begin to feel comfortable with their phones, one of their first major tasks is to add contacts, a list of names, phone numbers, and email addresses to their devices. Contacts can be added from the Call Log, the text messenger, or the contacts app. At this time, adding the sender of an email to contacts is not accessible in K-9 Mail.

The information in this post covers adding individual contacts from the Call Log, the text messenger, and the contacts app; it also covers a few basic management tasks.

For information on working with electronic business cards (VCards), on using VCF files stored on the phone's SD card, or on importing contacts from the Google cloud, refer to the next post.

Users coming to Android from Nokia may be interested in J.J. Meddaugh's post on transferring contacts from Nokia to Android.

Users working with the Motorola Motoblur UI may find more helpful information about adding and managing individual contacts in Motoblur in the post by Chris Gilland.

Users working with the Samsung Touchwiz UI may find more helpful information about navigating the Touchwiz Call Log in the post by John J. Herzog.

Adding Contacts from the Call Log

The simplest way to add a contact is by using the Call Log. This is a list of recent incoming and outgoing calls. It opens automatically after each call, including calls to voicemail, and it can be accessed from the Contacts and phone apps.

1. Access the Call Log using one of the following methods:
a. Make or receive a call; then hang up.
b. Go to contacts from the Home screen and open the app; then left/-right arrow to Call Log. You must be at the very top of the screen for this to work.
c. Go to the Phone app from the Home screen and open it. Up-arrow from the number edit field to Phone; then left/right-arrow to the Call Log.
2. Arrow up and down through the list of calls, stopping at the one you wish to add to Contacts; then press the selector.
3. Navigate to and press the selector on Add to Contacts. Available options vary, depending on how the Call Log is entered, but they include Call/return call, Edit number before call, Send Text Message, Add to Contacts, and Remove from Call Log.
4. Create or edit the Contact.
a. If the contact is not in your address book, press the selector on Create New Contact.
b. If the contact is in your address book, but you do not have a phone number for him or her, arrow to the name and press the selector.
5. Fill out the contact details, typing in as many or as few of the following fields as desired. Notice that the phone number has been added automatically.
a. Contact photo image—press the selector to take a picture of the contact or select an image from a gallery.
b. First name—type in the provided edit field.
c. Last name—Type in the provided edit field.
d. Phone (include area code with or without hyphens)—The phone actually announces, "Home," which is the label of the first available edit field for a telephone number. Press the selector on that icon and arrow down to select a different label for the number. Label options include Home, Mobile, Work, Work Fax, Home Fax, Pager, Other, and Custom. Press the selector on the option you want. Once the label has been selected, focus moves to the edit field where you type a number. If you simply press the selector repeatedly on the Phone icon, a new edit field appears for each label, Home being at the top, Mobile being second from the top, Work being third from the top, and so on. To change the label of a phone number, arrow left to the Label dropdown list from the Phone edit field, press the selector, arrow to the correct label, and press the selector again. To clear the edit field for a new number, arrow once to the right from the Phone edit field and press the selector on a minus image button.
e. Email—The phone actually announces, "Home," again, which is the label of the first available edit field for an email address. Press the selector on that icon and arrow down to select a different label for the number. Label options include Home, Work, Other, and Custom. Press the selector on the option you want. Once the label has been selected, focus moves to the edit field where you type an email address. If you simply press the selector repeatedly on the Email icon, a new edit field appears for each label, Home being at the top, work being second from the top, Other being third from the top, and so on. To change the label of an email address, arrow left to the Label dropdown list from the Email edit field, press the selector, arrow to the correct label, and press the selector again. To clear the edit field for a new email, arrow once to the right from the Email edit field and press the selector on a minus image button.
f. Postal Address—press the selector to enter details.
g. Organization —press the selector to enter details.
h. More—press the selector to provide additional information: IM, notes, nickname, and website, . If an edit field isn't available for an item, press the selector on the icon to bring one up.
6. Press Menu, then Done, or simply press Back when finished.

Adding contacts from Messaging

Contacts can also be added from the stock text messenger.

1. Go to Messaging from the Home screen and open the app.
a. From the Eyes-Free Shell, down-stroke to Applications, type the letter M, arrow down to Messaging, and press enter.
b. From the stock Home screen, arrow to and press the selector on Applications, then on Messaging.
2. When the app opens, focus moves to “New message: Compose New Message.” Arrow down to a message that comes from someone whose phone number is not in your address book. Do not open the message.
3. Long press (2 to 3 seconds) the selector on the message; then arrow to Add to Contacts or View Contact if the former is not available. Options may be View Thread, Add to Contact, View Contact, and Delete Thread.
4. Create or edit the Contact.
a. If the contact is not in your address book, press the selector on Create New Contact.
b. If the contact is in your address book, but you do not have a phone number for him or her, navigate to the person's name and press the selector.
5. Fill out the contact details, typing in as many or as few of the following fields as desired. Notice that the phone number has been added automatically.
a. Contact photo image—press the selector to take a picture of the contact or select an image from a gallery.
b. First name—type in the provided edit field.
c. Last name—Type in the provided edit field.
d. Phone (include area code with or without hyphens)—The phone actually announces, "Home," which is the label of the first available edit field for a telephone number. Press the selector on that icon and arrow down to select a different label for the number. Label options include Home, Mobile, Work, Work Fax, Home Fax, Pager, Other, and Custom. Press the selector on the option you want. Once the label has been selected, focus moves to the edit field where you type a number. If you simply press the selector repeatedly on the Phone icon, a new edit field appears for each label, Home being at the top, Mobile being second from the top, Work being third from the top, and so on. To change the label of a phone number, arrow left to the Label dropdown list from the Phone edit field, press the selector, arrow to the correct label, and press the selector again. To clear the edit field for a new number, arrow once to the right from the Phone edit field and press the selector on a minus image button.
e. Email—The phone actually announces, "Home," again, which is the label of the first available edit field for an email address. Press the selector on that icon and arrow down to select a different label for the number. Label options include Home, Work, Other, and Custom. Press the selector on the option you want. Once the label has been selected, focus moves to the edit field where you type an email address. If you simply press the selector repeatedly on the Email icon, a new edit field appears for each label, Home being at the top, work being second from the top, Other being third from the top, and so on. To change the label of an email address, arrow left to the Label dropdown list from the Email edit field, press the selector, arrow to the correct label, and press the selector again. To clear the edit field for a new email, arrow once to the right from the Email edit field and press the selector on a minus image button.
f. Postal Address—press the selector to enter details.
g. Organization —press the selector to enter details.
h. More—press the selector to provide additional information: IM, notes, nickname, website, . If edit fields aren’t available for an item, press the selector on it to bring one up.
6. Press Menu, then Done, or simply press Back when finished.

Adding Contacts from the Contacts App

The most obvious way to add contacts to an Android phone is by going into the Contacts app and typing the new contact’s details manually. The steps are as follows:

1. From the Home screen, go to Contacts and open the app.
a. From the Eyes-Free Shell, down-stroke to Applications, type the letter C, arrow down to Contacts, and press enter.
b. From the stock Home screen, arrow to and press the selector on Contacts.
2. Press Menu.
3. Arrow to and press the selector on New Contact.
4. Fill out the contact details, typing in as many or as few fields as desired.
a. Contact photo image—press the selector to take a picture of the contact or select an image from a gallery.
b. First name—type in the provided edit field.
c. Last name—Type in the provided edit field.
d. Phone (include area code with or without hyphens)—The phone actually announces, "Home," which is the label of the first available edit field for a telephone number. Press the selector on that icon and arrow down to select a different label for the number. Label options include Home, Mobile, Work, Work Fax, Home Fax, Pager, Other, and Custom. Press the selector on the option you want. Once the label has been selected, focus moves to the edit field where you type a number. If you simply press the selector repeatedly on the Phone icon, a new edit field appears for each label, Home being at the top, Mobile being second from the top, Work being third from the top, and so on. To change the label of a phone number, arrow left to the Label dropdown list from the Phone edit field, press the selector, arrow to the correct label, and press the selector again. To clear the edit field for a new number, arrow once to the right from the Phone edit field and press the selector on a minus image button.
e. Email—The phone actually announces, "Home," again, which is the label of the first available edit field for an email address. Press the selector on that icon and arrow down to select a different label for the number. Label options include Home, Work, Other, and Custom. Press the selector on the option you want. Once the label has been selected, focus moves to the edit field where you type an email address. If you simply press the selector repeatedly on the Email icon, a new edit field appears for each label, Home being at the top, work being second from the top, Other being third from the top, and so on. To change the label of an email address, arrow left to the Label dropdown list from the Email edit field, press the selector, arrow to the correct label, and press the selector again. To clear the edit field for a new email, arrow once to the right from the Email edit field and press the selector on a minus image button.
f. Postal Address—press the selector to enter details.
g. Organization —press the selector to enter details.
h. More—press the selector to provide additional information: IM, notes, nickname, website, . If edit fields aren’t available for an item, press the selector on it to bring one up.
5. Press Menu, then Done, or simply press Back when finished.

Doing More with contacts: Contacting, Viewing, Editing, and Deleting

Once contact details are on the phone, they can be used to communicate with someone, and the contacts themselves may be reviewed, modified, added to a list of frequently used contacts, or removed altogether.

1. To call or email a contact while in the Contacts app, do one of the following:
a. Find the contact's name.
b. Short press (1 second) the selector on the contact name.
c. On the new screen that opens, which has options like Call Home, Call Mobile, or Email, arrow to and press the selector on the desired item.
1. If you short-press on either of the calling options, the call is sent.
2. If you short-press on email, an email message opens up. Focus is in the To field, which is already filled in. Down-arrow to move to the Subject field, and continue with your message.
2. To text a contact from the Contacts app or Call Log, do one of the following:
a. While in the Contacts app, arrow to and short-press the selector on the person's name. A new set of options appears, which includes Call Mobile if a cell number is listed with the name. Arrow to and long-press (2to 3 seconds) the selector on Call Mobile. The new screen lists options for calling the contact, texting him or her, and making the number the default. Arrow to and press the selector on Text Contact. . A text message opens, and focus is in the message body. Continue with your message.
b. While in the Call Log, arrow to and press the selector on the name of the person you wish to text. A new set of options appears: Call Contact, Send Text Message, and View Contact. Arrow to and press the selector on Send Text Message. A text message opens, and focus is in the message body. Continue with your message.
3. To view the contact details, do one of the following:
a. While in the Contacts app, long press (2 to 3 seconds) the selector on the contact name. A new list of options appears: View, Add to Favorites, Edit, and Delete. Arrow to and press the selector on View. Then arrow through the details for that contact. Press Back when finished.
b. While in the Call Log, arrow to the person's name and short- or long-press the selector. A new set of options appears. For a short-press, they are Call, Send Text Message, and View Contact. For a long-press, they are Call, View contact, Edit Number before Call, Send Text Message, Remove from call Log. Arrow to and press the selector on View. Then arrow through the details for that contact. Press Back when finished.
c. While in Messaging, arrow to the text from the person whose details you're interested in. Then do one of the following:
1. Short-press (1 second) the selector to open the message, and press Menu for additional options. They are View Contact, Add Subject, Attach, Insert Smiley, Delete Thread, and All Threads. Arrow to and press the selector on View. Then arrow through the details for that contact. Press Back when finished.
2. Long-press (2-3 seconds) the selector on the closed thread for additional options. They are View Thread, View contact, and Delete Thread. Arrow to and press the selector on View. Then arrow through the details for that contact. Press Back when finished.
4. To make changes or add information to the contact details, do one of the following:
a. While in the Contacts app, arrow to the person's name and
1. Either short-press (1 second) the selector on the contact name, press Menu, then press the selector on Edit, arrowing through the following fields to provide new or revised details as described in previous sections of this post: the contact's photo, first name, last name, phone numbers, email, postal address, organization , IM, notes, nickname, and website. To clear an edit field that already contains text, right-arrow from the edit box to a minus image button and press the selector.
2. Or long press (2 to 3 seconds) the selector on the contact name. A new set of options appears: View, Add to Favorites, Edit, and Delete. Arrow to and press the selector on Edit. Then arrow through the following fields to provide new or revised details as described in previous sections of this post: the contact's photo, first name, last name, phone numbers, email, postal address, organization , IM, notes, nickname, and website. To clear an edit field that already contains text, right-arrow from the edit box to a minus image button and press the selector. Press Back when finished.
b. While in the Call Log, arrow to the person's name. Then either short- (1 second) or long-press (2 to 3 seconds) the selector. A new set of options appears. For short-press, they are Call, Send Text Message, and View Contact. For Long-press, they are Call, View contact, Edit Number before Call, Send Text Message, Remove from call Log. Arrow to and press the selector on View Contact, as if you were simply going to review the person's details. Then press the Menu button, arrow to and press the selector on Edit, and down-arrow to provide new or revised details for the following fields as described in previous sections of this post: the contact's photo, first name, last name, phone numbers, email, postal address, organization , IM, notes, nickname, and website. To clear an edit field that already contains text, right-arrow from the edit box to a minus image button and press the selector. Press Back when finished.
c. While in Messaging, arrow to the thread from the contact. Then either press Menu on the open message or long-press on the closed thread, navigating to and pressing the selector on View, as if you were simply going to review the person's details. Then press the Menu button, arrow to and press the selector on Edit, and down-arrow to provide new or revised details for the following fields as described in previous sections of this post: the contact's photo, first name, last name, phone numbers, email, postal address, organization , IM, notes, nickname, and website. To clear an edit field that already contains text, right-arrow from the edit box to a minus image button and press the selector. Press Back when finished.
5. To delete a contact, do one of the following:
a. Go into the Call Log. Arrow to and press the selector first on the person's name, then on View Contact. Press the Menu button, and arrow to and press the selector on Delete. A confirmation screen appears, asking if you're sure you want to delete the contact. Press the selector on OK.
b. Open the contacts app, arrow to the person's name, then do one of the following:
1. Press the backspace button on the physical keyboard. A confirmation screen appears, asking if you're sure you want to delete the contact. Press the selector on OK.
2. Short-press as if to call or email the contact. Then press Menu and arrow to and press the selector on Delete. Options are Edit Contact, Share, Options, and Delete Contact. A confirmation screen appears, asking if you're sure you want to delete the contact. Press the selector on OK.
3. Long-press (2 to 3 seconds); then arrow to and press the selector on Delete. Options are View Contact, Add to Favorites, Edit, and Delete. A confirmation screen appears, asking if you're sure you want to delete the contact. Press the selector on OK.
c. Open Messaging, and arrow to the thread from the contact. Then either press Menu on the open message or long-press on the closed thread, navigating to and pressing the selector on View, as if you were simply going to review the person's details. Then press the Menu button. Options are Edit Contact, Share, Options, and Delete Contact. Arrow to and press the selector on Delete Contact. A confirmation screen appears, asking if you're sure you want to delete the contact. Press the selector on OK.

Working with Favorites: Finding Favorites, Adding to Favorites, and Removing from Favorites

Since contact lists can get very long very fast, users find it convenient to separate frequently used contacts into a shorter list they can scroll through quickly. This list behaves exactly like contacts, and the items found in it remain in Contacts, even after they are removed from favorites.

To find Favorites, do the following:

1. Open the contacts app, navigate to the top of the list, and up-arrow one more time. This moves focus to a set of four tabs--Call Log, Contacts, Favorites, and Phone—though the order varies from handset to handset.
2. Navigate to Favorites; then down-arrow or press the selector.

Note: Some handsets do not allow users to reach these tabs with the navigational control. If this is the case, touch the top of the screen to move focus to any one of the tabs; then arrow left or right.

To include a contact in Favorites, do the following:

1. While in the Contacts app, arrow to the person's name. Then either short- (1 second) or long-press (2-3 seconds) the selector. A new list of options appears. For short-pres, they are Favorite and options to call or email if those details are part of the contact. For long-press, they are View Contact, Add to Favorites, Edit Contact, and Delete Contact. Arrow to and press the selector on Favorite or Add to Favorites to check the item. Press Back when finished.
2. While in the Call Log, arrow to and press the selector on the person's name, then on View Contact, and finally on Add to Favorites to find and check that item. Press Back when finished.
3. While in Messaging, arrow to the thread from the person whose details you're interested in. Then either press Menu on the open message or long-press on the closed thread, navigating to and pressing the selector on View, as if you were simply going to review the person's details. Arrow up and down through the list of information for the contact. At the top of the list is a Favorites checkbox. Arrow to and press the selector on it to check the item.

To Remove someone from Favorites, but not from the general Contacts list, do either of the following:

1. While in the Call log, arrow to and press the selector on the person's name, on View contact, then on Favorite. Press the selector to clear the Favorite checkbox. Press Back when finished.
2. While in the Contacts app, go into Favorites. Use the arrow keys to find the person you want to remove from the Favorites list, short- or long-press the selector to open additional options, and uncheck the Favorites item by navigating to it and pressing the selector. Press Back when finished.
3. While in Messaging, arrow to the thread from the contact. Then either press Menu on the open message or long-press on the closed thread, navigating to and pressing the selector on View, as if you were simply going to review the person's details. Arrow up and down through the list of information for the contact. At the top of the list is a Favorites checkbox. Arrow to and press the selector on it to uncheck the item.

How Do I Make a Phone Call, Using a Dialer?

Smart phones are such sophisticated devices that it isn’t unusual for users to need help learning to make calls. Calls can be made by selecting a name in a contact manager or by entering a phone number into a dialing screen. This post is about using a phone number to place calls.

Users can "dial a number" in one of four ways. Three are accessible to Eyes-Free users. A fourth depends on the users’ ability to silence speech. A fifth, using Google Voice Search, does not appear to be accessible, though one user reports having success with the method.

Dialing with Android Search

The simplest way to make a call is to use the Search button from the stock Home or Recent Applications screen.

1. Go to the stock Home screen by long pressing (6 seconds) the Back button, or go to the Recent Applications screen by long pressing the Home button.
2. Press the Search button.
3. Type the phone number, using the top row of the physical keyboard. If your phone does not have a dedicated number row, press the alt or function key twice quickly before you begin typing.
4. Send the call.
a. Press Send if your phone has a dedicated Send key.
b. Down-arrow once to "Dial Using" followed by the phone number, and press enter if your phone does not have a dedicated Send key.
5. Wait for the phone to ring.

Dialing with the Phone App

The most obvious way to make a call is to use the phone app.

1. Go to the Phone app.
a. From the stock Home screen, long press (6 seconds) the Back button. Arrow to and press the selector on All Applications, then on Phone. It’s possible that Phone is one of the items on your launch screen. If so, simply arrow to and press the selector on Phone.
b. From the Eyes-Free Shell, down-stroke to Applications, type P, arrow down to Phone if necessary, and press enter.
2. Type the phone number, using the top row of the physical keyboard. If you do not have a dedicated number row, there is no need to press the alt or function key twice before typing.
3. Press enter.
4. Wait for the phone to ring.

Dialing with Voice Dialer

Android phones include a built-in voice-dialer. It can not be used as is because the phone picks up the screen reader before it picks up the user’s voice, so the dialer consistently misinterprets the first few digits of the number being spoken. Some users report success when they cover the phone’s speaker or interrupt speech with the proximity sensor immediately after opening the app; others report no success.

1. Go to Voice Dialer.
a. From the stock Home screen, arrow to and press the selector on All Applications, then Voice Dialer.
b. From the Eyes-Free Shell, down-stroke to Applications; then type the letter V, arrow down to Voice Dialer, and press enter, or use stroke dialing, which is described in a future post.
2. The phone vibrates as the app opens. Then it beeps as Talkback announces, "Voice Dialer." Your goal is to prevent the screen reader from saying the name of the app, so after the phone vibrates, but before Talkback says, "Voice Dialer," cover the speaker of your phone, or wave a finger over the proximity sensor, which is located near the lower left-hand corner of the screen (landscape orientation). Remember that, for the proximity sensor to silence speech, the appropriate setting must be made in Accessibility Preferences.
3. After the beep, say the phone number you wish to call, speaking at a moderate conversational rate, without pauses. The phone emits 2 sharp beeps and announces a result.
4. Send the call.
a. If the result is correct, press enter.
b. If the result is incorrect, arrow through the available options, and press enter on the appropriate item, or press Cancel and start the process over. The phone appears to go through a training period. The first 10 to 20 attempts produce inaccurate results. Over time, the results of voice dialing improve, but they definitely vary.
5. Wait for the phone to ring.

Changing the Input Language for Voice Dialer

For best results, make sure your voice input setting is correct. To check and adjust the input language in Android 2.2, do the following:

1. Go to Settings.
a. From the stock Launcher, press Menu, then arrow to and press the selector on Settings.
b. From the Eyes-Free Shell, down-stroke to Applications, type the letter S, arrow down to Settings if necessary, and press enter.
2. Arrow to and press the selector on Voice Input and Output.
3. Arrow to and press the selector on Voice Recognizer Settings.
4. Arrow to and press the selector on "Language, Choose an Input Language."
5. Arrow through the list of options and press the selector on your preferred language. Choices include American, Australian, British, Canadian, generic, Indian, and New Zeeland English as well as other languages.
6. Return to the Home screen by pressing the Back button several times or pressing Home once.

Dialing with Talking Dialer

Talking Dialer is a free self-voicing app developed by the Eyes-Free Project and available through Android Market. It is accessed through the Eyes-Free Shell and enables users to dial phone numbers and contacts from the touch screen. The next few sections in this post cover its dialing feature.

Opening the Talking Dialer

Users can access the Talking dialer either from the Eyes-Free Shell or from the All Applications screen of the stock Launcher.

To enter the Talking dialer, do one of the following:

1. Press the Home button to go to the eyes-Free Shell; then press the Search button to open the Talking Dialer. Home and Search may be soft buttons on the touch screen or physical controls.
2. Press the Home button to go to the stock Launcher; then arrow to and press the selector on All Applications first and Talking Dialer second.
3. Press the Menu button if necessary to enter Dialing mode.

Keying a Number with Talking Dialer

The Talking dialer is designed on the same principle as the eyes-Free Shell. Users touch the screen at any point, ideally in the general center. That point is the 5 on an imaginary telephone keypad. Then users slide their fingers diagonally, horizontally, or vertically to the relative location of each of the other keys on the phone, stopping when they hear the digit they wish to dial. Like the Shell and its Shortcuts menus, selection is made by breaking contact with the touch screen. Unlike the Shell and its menus, Talking Dialer has 12 keys, not 9, so users must also down-stroke to the star, zero, and number sign positions. Once users finish dialing the number, Send or Search is pressed to put the call through.

1. Place a finger in the general center of the touch screen.
2. Dial each number.
a. To Dial the 1, touch the screen; then up-stroke diagonally to the left; lift your finger when the phone announces, "1." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and a second time as you reach the 1 position.
b. To Dial the 2, touch the screen; then up-stroke vertically; lift your finger when the phone announces, "2." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and a second time as you reach the 2 position.
c. To Dial the 3, touch the screen; then up-stroke diagonally to the right; lift your finger when the phone announces, "3." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and a second time as you reach the 3 position.
d. To Dial the 4, touch the screen; then side-stroke horizontally to the left; lift your finger when the phone announces, "4." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and a second time as you reach the 4 position.
e. To Dial the 5, touch the screen; lift your finger when the phone announces, "5." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen to signal you are in the 5 position.
f. To Dial the 6, touch the screen; then side-stroke horizontally to the right; lift your finger when the phone announces, "6." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and a second time as you reach the 6 position.
g. To Dial the 7, touch the screen; then down-stroke diagonally to the left; lift your finger when the phone announces, "7." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and a second time as you reach the 7 position.
h. To Dial the 8, touch the screen; then down-stroke vertically; lift your finger when the phone announces, "8." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and a second time as you reach the 8 position.
i. To Dial the 9, touch the screen; then down-stroke diagonally to the right; lift your finger when the phone announces, "9." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and a second time as you reach the 9 position.
j. To Dial the star, touch the screen; then down-stroke in a long diagonal to the left; lift your finger when the phone announces, "star." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and two more times as you go through the 7 and star positions. The diagonal is steeper than for the 7.
k. To Dial the 0, touch the screen; then down-stroke in a long vertical; lift your finger when the phone announces, "0." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and two more times as you go through the 8 and 0 positions.
l. To Dial the number sign, touch the screen; then down-stroke in a long diagonal to the right; lift your finger when the phone announces, "pound." The phone vibrates once when you touch the screen and two more times as you go through the 9 and number sign positions. The diagonal is steeper than for the 9.
3. When you finish dialing, do one of the following:
a. Press Send if your phone has a Send button.
b. Press the Search button if your phone does not have a Send button.
4. Talking dialer Announces: "You are about to dial," followed by the number. Press Send or Search a second time to confirm.

Deleting Misdialed Digits in Talking Dialer

It’s easy to misdial. Deleting numbers is even easier, and there are two ways to do it.

To delete misdialed digits, do one of the following:

1. Shake the phone.
a. To delete one digit, shake the phone twice from side to side.
b. To delete several digits, shake the phone from side to side 3 or 4 times.
2. Left-stroke to the backspace key.
a. Place your finger in the general center of the screen. Slide your finger horizontally to the left of the 1 or 4 until the phone announces, "Backspace." Lift your finger.
b. Repeat this process for each digit. Do not touch the edge of the screen, expecting to find the backspace key in the same position. Instead, start in the center (the 5 position) and long-stroke to the left.

Noting Keypad Orientation and Keyboard Behavior While in the Talking Dialer

1. When the phone is closed (i.e., the keyboard is tucked under the touch screen), the dialing keypad is used with the phone in portrait orientation. When the phone is open (i.e., the physical keyboard is available to the user), the dialing keypad is oriented to landscape.
2. While the eyes-Free shell, the Eyes-Free shortcuts, and the Talking Dialer screens are up, the physical controls on the keyboard do not behave in the usual way. Most physical controls are unresponsive while in the Shell and Shortcuts, and in Dialer, arrow keys are unresponsive and different characters are assigned to the typing keys.
a. Back moves focus to the Eyes-Free Shell, whether pressed for a short or long period of time.
b. Home works as expected. A short-press moves focus to the default home screen. A long press moves focus to the Recent Applications screen.
c. Both Menu and Search toggle between Dialing Mode and Phonebook in the Talking Dialer.
d. Search+letter works as expected, opening the app assigned to the Android shortcut.

Making Calls

Speaking on an Android phone can be more adventurous than speaking on any other. First, the touch screen is a contrary companion. On the one hand, it’s so sensitive that users often inadvertently press soft buttons while speaking on the phone. On the other, it locks unexpectedly when users want access to other apps. Then for users running Android 2.1 and earlier without a dedicated end key, hanging up can be inconvenient.

1. Once the number has been dialed, send the call, as described above. To summarize:
a. If your phone has a dedicated Send button, press Send.
b. If your phone does not have a dedicated Send button, do the following:
i. Press enter if you make the call with Android Search or the Phone app.
ii. Press the selector if you make the call with Voice Search.
iii. Press Search if you make the call with Talking dialer.
2. While on the phone, keep in mind that the touch screen is very sensitive. The best way to avoid mishaps is to use apps like Quick Lock and Lock Now Free to freeze the screen during calls. Other alternatives are to do the following:
a. Avoid touching even the edges of the screen; otherwise, you may activate buttons accidentally. Some users have had great success using earphones.
b. Hold both the phone and your head still. Moving one or the other from side to side keeps the screen on and makes it responsive to touch.
c. Keep the proximity sensor (upper left-hand corner while in portrait orientation) close to your face; otherwise, you press buttons with your chin or cheek. This means that it’s not a good idea to hold the phone with your shoulder while rummaging for something to write with. Touching the proximity sensor to put the phone down or pick it up doesn’t always freeze the screen either.
d. Unlock the screen, if you need to, by first sliding the keyboard out or scrolling the trackball, then swiping in the unlock gesture. Interestingly, freezing the screen with the proximity sensor seems to pause the lock delay. In other words, if the lock delay is 1 minute and the proximity sensor is tripped after 10 seconds, the screen locks 50 seconds after the proximity sensor has been "released." The delay is also interrupted when the phone is shaken.
e. Use the typing keyboard to respond to menu prompts during calls to automated customer service lines (as when calling the bank to check the account balance).
3. End the call when you are done, using one of the following:
a. Press End if you have a dedicated End button.
b. Press Power if you are running Android 2.2 or later and have no dedicated End Button. Remember to set this option in Accessibility Preferences.
c. Press End Call on the In-Call screen if you are running Android 2.1 or earlier and have no dedicated end button, using one of these methods:
i. Using the physical keyboard, move focus to the in-call screen, arrow to End Call, and press the selector. This process can be challenging because of an unfortunate series of events. The phone is moved away from the face to access the arrow keys. The proximity sensor stops preventing the screen from responding to movement or touch, but the face can not be moved out of range of the screen’s sensors because Talkback volume is low. The result is that soft buttons are activated and focus moves away from the desired screen, often requiring more than one attempt.
ii. On the touch screen, tap the End call soft button, which is about halfway across the imaginary horizontal line that unlocks the screen. Practice locating this button by calling your landline or a friend and hanging up before the call goes to voicemail.

Exiting the Call Log

At the end of each call, focus moves to the call log, a list of incoming and outgoing calls. Three options are available to users.

1. Return to the Home screen by pressing Back or Home, or move directly into another application with an Android shortcut.
2. Review the Call Log by arrowing up and down through the list of incoming and outgoing calls; then return to the Home screen by pressing Back or Home.
3. Perform other actions by arrowing to and pressing the selector on any of the entries in the Call Log. Doing so moves focus to a Details screen, which offers the 3 following choices:
a. Call again.
b. Send a text message.
c. Add to Contacts.

Using the In-Call Screen

While a call is in progress, certain options are available to users through the in-call screen, which can be accessed via the arrow keys. Its contents are described here since Eyes-Free users aren’t always aware of this screen early in their Android experience, but knowing what’s available and how to find it can be very handy.

Getting to Know the In-Call Screen

During a call, the In-Call screen can be reviewed by sliding out the keyboard and arrowing over the 6 options, which are arranged in 2 columns and 3 rows. Volume level is very low, consistent with the sound level set for the phone call, so the handset must be held close to the user’s face, which is likely to open another app, shifting focus to another screen. The available items on the In-Call screen are as follows:

1. Dial pad—pressing the selector here moves focus to the standard dialing pad, which is not accessible.
2. End call—pressing the selector here hangs up. If no other option has been selected during the current call, focus tends to move to this option.
3. Add call—pressing the selector here lets users dial a second number on the typing keyboard for conference calling.
4. Speaker—pressing the selector here puts the device in speaker phone or hands-free mode.
5. Mute—pressing the selector here blocks sound from reaching the person being spoken to.
6. Blue Tooth—pressing the selector here connects the Blue Tooth headset that has already been paired with the device.

Returning to the In-Call Screen

If another app has focus, users can return to the in-call screen in one of two ways:

1. Use the Arrow keys.
a. Go to the Phone screen by doing one of the following or by setting up an Android shortcut to Phone, a topic covered in a future post.
i. Long-press the Back button to return to the stock Home screen, arrow to and press the selector on All Applications, then on Phone.
ii. Press Home to return to the Eyes-Free Shell; then down-stroke to Applications, type P, arrow to Phone if necessary, and press enter.
b. When the app opens, Talkback announces, "Phone." Arrow to and press the selector on Return to Call in Progress.
2. Use the Status bar on the touch screen.
a. Slide the keyboard out.
b. Place a finger on the upper edge of the screen and slide it all the way down to the bottom, stopping when you hear, "Status Bar."
c. Down arrow to and press the selector on "Current call" followed by the number.

How Do I Use the Shortcuts Pages of the Eyes-Free Shell?

In addition to the 7 helpful apps on the Eyes-Free shell main screen, users can access a series of home pages, called Menus, with frequently used apps, URLs, contacts, Eyes-Free widgets, and Settings items through the Shell. Each additional Menu contains up to nine shortcuts, also laid out in a 3x3 grid, and users simply touch the left and right edges of the screen to access them.

This post is about how to access, set up, and use the shortcuts screens or menus on the Eyes-Free Shell. for information on the Eyes-Free Shell main screen, refer to the previous post.

Finding Shortcut Menus/Pages on the Eyes-Free Shell

Users can move to various shortcut menus or pages by touching the left and right edges of the screen. Here's how it's done:

1. Touch the left or right edge of the screen.
a. If the phone is in portrait orientation, touch the literal left and right edges of the screen, the glass surface near the plastic or metal casing that holds it in place.
b. If the phone is in landscape orientation, touch the screen along imaginary lines that are about 1 inch or 2.5 cm from the literal left and right edges of the glass surface. When auto rotate is turned off, the phone is in landscape orientation only when the hardware keyboard is pulled out. The literal left edge of the screen is the space ordinarily occupied by the status bar (which does not behave like a status bar in this situation), and the very right edge of the screen is occupied by the Back, Home, Menu, and Search soft keys.
2. Touch the same edge again repeatedly to cycle through available pages, stopping when you hear the name of the page you want. By default, the pages are Home, Shortcuts Left, and Shortcuts Right. Names can be changed to reflect their content, and more pages can be added.

Note: from home (the main screen), touching the left edge of the screen moves directly to Shortcuts Left, and touching the right edge of the screen moves directly to Shortcuts right. Additional left or right menus/pages can be added.

Setting a New Shortcut on an Eyes-Free Shell Menu/Page

The shortcuts can launch any app on the phone, open a bookmarked URL, bring up the details screen for any contact, direct dial or direct message any contact, access the information available on the default Eyes-Free Shell main screen, and get to any item within Settings. The process can seem fiddly and overly complicated the first time or two, but it's actually very predictable.

To cancel the process, press the Back button twice to exit editing mode without making changes at any point.

1. Touch the edge of the screen repeatedly to find the page you want to add shortcuts to. by default, options are Home, Shortcuts Left, and Shortcuts Right, and two more screens can be added.
2. Press the Menu button. The phone announces, "Edit menus."
3. Scroll to and press the selector on Edit Menus, the only option. Simply pressing the selector may not work. Once the selector has been pressed on Edit Menus, the phone announces, "Eyes-Free Shell" or "Edit Shortcuts."
4. If you discover you are not on the correct shortcuts page or that you skipped Step 1, you can tap the right or left edge of the screen one or more times at this point to get to the right page.
5. Select your shortcut position.
a. Touch the general center of the screen (the 5 position).
b. Stroke vertically, horizontally, or diagonally in any direction to the spot where you want the new shortcut to appear. The phone announces, "none," if no shortcut is there already, or it announces the existing shortcut (e.g., "Time," "Pizza Delivery Number," or "Wikipedia") if one is already assigned.
c. Lift your finger to indicate that you want to set the shortcut in this position. The phone announces, "Add to Shell," and displays 8 options.
d. If you stroke to the wrong position, press Back to exit edit mode. An alternative is to try touching the screen again and stroking to another position, but this doesn't work consistently.
6. Scroll through the shortcut options and press the selector on the one you wish to add. Options are Applications, Bookmarks, Contacts, Direct Dial, direct Message, Eyes-Free Widgets, Settings, and None.
7. Scroll to and press the selector on the specific app, bookmark, contact, or Settings item you wish to add.
a. In most cases, you can type the first letter to get results beginning with that letter.
b. In the case of Direct Dial and Direct Message, you can also use stroke dialing to find the contact, and you must press enter a second time on the contact to confirm your selection.
8. Repeat Steps 4-8 to add more shortcuts to the Shell.
9. Press Back twice or until the phone announces, "Exiting Edit Mode." Currently, the phone mispronounces this as "Exciting edit mode."

Deleting Shortcuts, Replacing shortcuts, Renaming Menus, Adding New Menus, and Restoring Default Menus in the Eyes-Free Shell

The Eyes-Free Shell has some useful flexibility. Existing shortcuts can be deleted or replaced with new ones; pages can be named to reflect their content; additional pages can be added; and all pages can be cleared and restored to installation defaults.

1. To delete an existing shortcut, follow the steps for adding a shortcut only in Step 5 select the shortcut you want to remove, and in Step 6, scroll to and select None on the Add to Shell screen.
2. To replace an existing shortcut with a new one, follow the steps for adding a shortcut only, in Step 5, select a position that already has a shortcut. The new shortcut takes the place of the old one.
3. To name a shortcuts page, do the following, assuming that you are not in Edit Mode. If you are in edit mode, start with Step d below.
a. Touch the edge of the screen repeatedly to find the page you want to add shortcuts to. by default, options are Home, Shortcuts Left, and Shortcuts Right.
b. Press the Menu button. The phone announces, "Edit menus."
c. Scroll to and press the selector on Edit Menus, the only option. Simply pressing the selector may not work. Once the selector has been pressed, the phone announces, "Eyes-Free Shell" or "Edit Shortcuts."
d. If you discover you are not on the correct page or that you skipped Step a, you can tap the right or left edge of the screen at this point to get there.
e. Press Menu again.
f. Scroll to and press the selector on Rename Menu. Options are Insert Menu Left, Insert Menu Right, Restore Default Menus, and Rename Menus.
g. Type the name of the menu/page in the edit field (e.g., contacts, work Websites, GPS).
h. Scroll to and press the selector on OK.
i. Press Back twice or until the phone announces, "Exiting Edit Mode." Currently, the phone mispronounces this as "Exciting edit mode."
4. To add new pages, do the following, assuming that you are not in Edit Mode. If you are in edit mode, start with Step d below.
a. Touch the edge of the screen repeatedly to find the page you want to add shortcuts to. by default, options are Home, Shortcuts Left, and Shortcuts Right.
b. Press the Menu button. The phone announces, "Edit menus."
c. Scroll to and press the selector on Edit Menus, the only option. Simply pressing the selector may not work. Once the selector has been pressed, the phone announces, "Eyes-Free Shell" or "Edit Shortcuts."
d. If you discover you are not on the correct page or that you skipped Step a, you can tap the right or left edge of the screen at this point to get there.
e. Press Menu again.
f. Scroll to and press the selector on Insert Menu Left or Insert Menu Right. Options are Insert Menu Left, Insert Menu Right, Restore Default Menus, and Rename Menus.
g. Touch the edge of the screen repeatedly until the phone announces, "New Menu."
h. Add shortcuts to this page or rename it as described above.
i. When you are done, press Back twice or until the phone announces, "Exiting Edit Mode." Currently, the phone mispronounces this as "Exciting edit mode."
5. To clear all pages and recover the items on the default main screen (in case of utter shortcut calamity), Do the following, assuming that you are not in Edit Mode. If you are in edit mode, start with Step c below.
a. Press the Menu button. The phone announces, "Edit menus."
b. Scroll to and press the selector on Edit Menus, the only option. Simply pressing the selector may not work. Once the selector has been pressed, the phone announces, "Eyes-Free Shell" or "Edit Shortcuts."
c. Press Menu again.
d. Scroll to and press the selector on Restore Default Menus. Options are Insert Menu Left, Insert Menu Right, Restore Default Menus, and Rename Menus.
e. Add shortcuts to this page or rename it as described above.
f. When you are done, press Back twice or until the phone announces, "Exiting Edit Mode." Currently, the phone mispronounces this as "Exciting edit mode."

Note: Some users have reported frequent crashes with previous versions of the Eyes-Free Shell. Many report resolving the issue by restoring Default Menus once.

Using the Eyes-Free Shell Shortcuts

Users can set up 7 different types of shortcuts. They can be accessed by touching the edge of the screen to get to the menu/page, then stroking to the assigned position. Following is the behavior to be expected from each type of shortcut.

1. An Application shortcut opens the application,, so touching the screen, stroking to the Market shortcut, and lifting a finger opens the Market.
2. A Bookmark shortcut opens a webpage in the default browser, so touching the screen, stroking to a Wikipedia shortcut, and lifting a finger opens Wikipedia in Ideal Web Reader.
3. A Contact shortcut opens the details screen for the individual, so touching the screen, stroking to the Boss shortcut, and lifting a finger opens the screen that prompts users to call or email their boss at work.
4. A direct Dial shortcut sends a call immediately, so touching the screen, stroking to the Mom shortcut, and lifting a finger starts the call without a confirmation step. Users who stroke to the wrong name can cancel by sliding their finger to a blank spot before breaking contact with the screen.
5. A direct Message shortcut opens the default messaging app and puts the contact in the To field, so touching the screen, stroking to the Best Friend shortcut, and lifting a finger starts a text message and moves focus to the message body edit field. Users who stroke to the wrong name can cancel by sliding their finger to a blank spot before breaking contact with the screen.
6. An Eyes-Free Shell Widget shortcut gives users the kind of information found on the main screen (e.g., signal strength, time, battery status), so touching the screen, stroking to the battery shortcut, and lifting a finger causes the phone to announce the battery level. Users can put important widgets on all shortcut menus or move less important widgets to menus that are used infrequently.
7. A Settings shortcut opens System Settings options, like Accessibility, Accounts and Sync, or Language and Keyboard, so touching the screen, stroking to the Accessibility shortcut, and lifting a finger opens the item where the Accessibility, screen reader, and Kickback checkboxes are located.

Grid Orientation and Keyboard Behavior While in the Eyes-Free Shell

1. When the phone is closed (i.e., the keyboard is tucked under the touch screen), the grid is used with the phone in portrait orientation. When the phone is open (i.e., the physical keyboard is available to the user), the grid is oriented to landscape.
2. While the eyes-Free shell, the Eyes-Free shortcuts, and the Talking Dialer screens are up, the physical controls on the keyboard do not behave in the usual way. Most physical controls are unresponsive while in the Shell and Shortcuts, and in Dialer, arrow keys are unresponsive and different characters are assigned to the typing keys.
a. Back works as expected. A short press moves focus to the previous screen. A long press moves focus to the stock Home screen.
b. Home works as expected. A short press moves focus to the Eyes-Free shell. A long press moves focus to the Recent Applications screen.
c. Menu opens the page editor for the Eyes-Free Shell shortcut screen.
d. Search moves focus to the Talking Dialer. If the Talking Dialer is not installed, Talkback announces, "Application is not installed."
e. Search+letter works as expected, opening the app assigned to the Android shortcut.

How Do I Use the Eyes-Free Shell?

The eyes-Free Shell is an alternative home screen or launcher for drivers and other people who don’t or can’t look at the screen. It gives blind and visually impaired users a way of interacting with the touch screen to check status information, launch other applications, and direct dial or message a contact.

This post is about the Shell's main screen. For information about the Shell's various shortcuts screens, which can be set up to launch other apps, visit bookmarked URLs, open the Details screen for individual contacts, access Eyes-Free Shell widgets, direct dial or message contacts, and quickly move to items within the phone's settings menu, refer to the next post.

Finding the Eyes-Free Shell Main Screen

The Eyes-Free Shell has several parts. The main screen has 7 widgets or mini-apps that offer users quick access to information like time and battery status. It is the screen that opens when the Shell is launched. For information on setting the eyes-Free Shell as the default home screen, refer to the previous post.

In addition to the main screen, the Shell has at least 2 other pages (called menus), where users can place shortcuts to things they use frequently. In fact, if the Shell appears to be blank as users attempt to interact with it, the likely reason is that they are on one of the shortcuts pages, not the main screen.

To return to the main screen of the Eyes-Free Shell, do the following:

1. Touch the left or right edge of the screen.
a. If the phone is in portrait orientation, touch the literal left and right edges of the screen, the glass surface near the plastic or metal casing that holds it in place.
b. If the phone is in landscape orientation, touch the screen along imaginary lines that are about 1 inch or 2.5 cm from the literal left and right edges of the glass surface. When auto rotate is turned off, the phone is in landscape orientation only when the hardware keyboard is pulled out. The literal left edge of the screen is the space ordinarily occupied by the status bar (which does not behave like a status bar in this situation), and the literal right edge of the screen is occupied by the Back, Home, Menu, and Search soft keys.
2. Touch the same edge of the screen repeatedly to cycle through the shortcuts pages, stopping when you hear, "Home."

By default, the pages are Home, Shortcuts Left, and Shortcuts Right. Names can be changed to reflect their content, and more pages can be added.

Interacting with the Eyes-Free Shell

On the Eyes-Free shell, the 7 mini-apps or widgets are arranged in 3 rows of 3, as in a tick-tack-toe game, a 3 by 3 grid, or the top 9 keys of a standard telephone dialing keypad. When the phone is closed (i.e., the keyboard is tucked under the touch screen), the grid is used with the phone in portrait orientation. When the phone is open (i.e., the physical keyboard is available to the user), the grid is oriented to landscape.

This grid isn’t at a fixed location; rather, its center is wherever the screen is touched first. Using the telephone keypad analogy, that center point is the 5 key, and users must stroke vertically up or down, horizontally left or right, or diagonally in any direction to reach another one of the keys on the phone.

When another "key" is reached, the phone vibrates and speaks the name of the widget being touched. To access the widget, users simply break contact with the screen.

For best results with the Eyes-Free shell:

1. Touch the screen in the general center, not close to the edges. Some users touch the phone with the index finger; others use the middle finger, as when they touch a telephone keypad.
2. Move your finger at a moderate rate, neither slow nor fast.
3. Use the vibrations to confirm that you have moved to a new key position. The phone vibrates when you touch the screen, thus identifying the 5 position. It vibrates again as you move to a new key. If you continue to hold your finger in that position, the name of the function is spoken (e.g., time in the 2 position or Battery in the 3 position).
4. Avoid touching the right and left edges of the screen as doing so moves you to a shortcut page. If you touch the edge of the screen by accident, touch the edge again repeatedly until you cycle back to the main screen.
5. Set the Talkback keyboard to Hidden with a long-press of the volume buttons if the Shell is behaving strangely.

Noting Keyboard Behavior While in the Eyes-Free Shell

While the eyes-Free shell, the Eyes-Free shortcuts, and the Talking Dialer screens are open, the physical controls on the keyboard do not behave in the usual way. Most physical controls are unresponsive while in the Shell and Shortcuts, and in Dialer, arrow keys are unresponsive and different characters are assigned to the typing keys.

The following set of keys can be used with the following results:

1. Back works as expected. A short press moves focus to the previous screen. A long press moves focus to the stock Home screen.
2. Home works as expected. A short press moves focus to the Eyes-Free shell. A long press moves focus to the Recent Applications screen.
3. Menu enables editing of the Eyes-Free Shell main screen and of its shortcut screens.
4. Search moves focus to the Talking Dialer. If the Talking Dialer is not installed, The phone announces, "Application is not installed."
5. The quick launch Search+letter works as expected, opening the app assigned to the Android shortcut.
6. The Talkback keyboard should be set to Hidden when working with the Eyes-Free Shell and its shortcut screens.

Using the Widgets on the Eyes-Free Shell

These are instructions for using the widgets available through the Eyes-Free shell:

1. For signal strength and network information, use Steps a and b below. This information is also available by going to Settings/About Phone/ Status, Phone Number, Signal, etc.
a. Up-stroke diagonally to the left to reach the 1 position. The phone announces, "Signal."
b. Lift your finger.
2. For the time, use Steps a and b below. This information is also available by going to Settings/Date and time.
a. Up-stroke vertically to reach the 2 position. The phone announces, "Time."
b. Lift your finger.
3. For battery status information, use Steps a and b below. This information is also available by going to Settings/About Phone/ Status, Phone Number, Signal, etc.
a. Up-stroke diagonally to the right to reach the 3 position. The phone announces, "Battery."
b. Lift your finger.
4. No widget is assigned to the 4 position. This is a useful spot for a frequently used app that requires minimal keyboarding, like Talking compass (by Bill Ray), Intersection Explorer (by Eyes-Free Project), or Checkmark Calendar (by Greenbean Soft).
5. No widget is assigned to the 5 position since it is what determines the relative placement of the other keys. To avoid activating any widget , stroke back to this key and lift your finger. The phone announces, "Home.
6. For information about your current location, use the steps listed below. Repeating the steps produces varying results, alternating between a GPS and a network location. This type of information is also available from Google Maps and other GPS apps, like WalkyTalky by Eyes-Free Project and Location Blind by Bill Ray, available through the Android Market.
a. Side-stroke to the right to reach the 6 position. The phone announces, "Location."
b. Lift your finger.
c. Wait a few seconds for the phone to announce location details.
7. For voicemail, use the steps listed below. This is also available by dialing your carrier's voicemail code (e.g., *86 for Verizon customers), using any of the calling methods described in other posts.
a. Down -stroke diagonally to the left to reach the 7 position. The phone announces, "Voicemail."
b. Lift your finger.
c. Use the physical keyboard to enter your password, and continue with voicemail, using the physical keyboard to enter menu choices. If the number row doesn't behave as expected, try pressing the alt or shift key before typing each number.
8. For a vertical list of All Apps, use the steps listed below. The stock Home screen also includes an All Applications or Sliding Drawer icon, which provides access to all the apps on the phone, presented alphabetically in a grid, so users must remember to arrow left and right as well as up and down.
a. Down-stroke vertically to reach the 8 position. The phone announces, "Applications."
b. Lift your finger.
c. An alphabetical list of all of the apps appears on the screen. Find and enter the application by doing one of the following:
i. Type the first letter of the app you want to use. If the names of several apps begin with that letter, arrow down to find the second, third, and so on. If you meant to type a different letter, arrow up or down once, then type another letter. When the app is located, press Enter, the selector, or the Search button to open it.
ii. Use Stroke dialing.
9. For simple voice searches, use One Vox. Voice searches can also be made from the stock Home screen by long pressing the Search button; however, this feature appears to be mostly inaccessible at this time.
a. down-stroke diagonally to the right to reach the 9 position. The phone announces, "Search."
b. Lift your finger. A soft click is played.
c. Say a search term. Speak at a moderate conversational rate, without pausing between serch terms. Examples of search terms are detailed in another section of this post.
d. Wait for the phone to announce the results. Results are returned quickly. If no results are returned in 10 seconds, press Back briefly and try again, or use the physical navigational controller to scroll to the Speak Again or Cancel button, press the selector, and speak or move on to another activity.

Adjusting screen reader volume with the Eyes-Free Shell

One of the perks of the eyes-Free Shell is that users can adjust screen reader volume while the phone is silent. To do this:

1. Place your finger on the Eyes-Free Shell. A thumb works well for this, with the middle, ring, and pinky fingers under the handset.
2. Press the volume-up/down key repeatedly while your finger is on the screen. The phone beeps more loudly or more softly with each press of the volume control.

Accessing an App's Details Screen from the Eyes-Free Shell

Another perk of the Eyes-Free Shell is that users can quickly launch the details screen for an app. This screen is where users uninstall apps and perform other maintenance tasks, like force closing a troublesome app or clearing defaults so a different app can be launched automatically in certain situations. Normally, getting to that screen involves going into Settings/Applications/Manage Applications, but with the Shell, the process is much shorter.

1. Down-stroke to the 8 position to launch the Applications widget.
2. Scroll to the app, or use first-letter navigation to find it in the list.
3. Press the Menu button.
4. Do one of the following:
a. Scroll to and press the selector on Details to open the details screen. The options on this screen are not arranged in a list; to find your option scroll left and right as well as up and down. Options are Clear Cache, Clear Data, Clear Defaults, Force Stop, Move to SD card, Uninstall.
b. Scroll to and press the selector on Uninstall to uninstall the app.
5. Press Back if necessary when you're done.

Finding Quick Answers with Eyes-Free Voice Search

Users can take advantage of some of Google’s search features to find quick answers in OneVox, the simple voice search app of the Eyes-Free shell. Examples of search terms are listed below. The order of the items in the search string doesn’t seem to matter: users can say, "weather. Mountain View" or "Mountain View weather," to get the same result.

• Calculations – To hear the results of an addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, or percentage problem, say the calculation you'd like done. Examples: 3 plus 4, 20 minus 6, 5 times 8, 39 divided by 13, 20 percent of 3,495.
• Currency Conversion – To hear money equivalents between countries, say, the source currency, the word "in," and the target currency. Example: 100 U.S. dollars in Mexican pesos.
• Dictionary Definitions – To hear a definition for a word or phrase, say, "define" or "definition," and word(s): Example: define, dog.
• Sunrise & Sunset – To hear the precise times of sunrises and sunsets for many U.S. and world cities, say, "sunrise" or "sunset," and the city name. Example: Sunset, San Jose, Costa Rica.
• Time – To hear the time in many cities around the world, say, "time," and the name of the city. Example: time, Madrid.
• Unit Conversion – To hear the equivalents between many different units of measure for distance, height, volume, weight, and more, say the source unit, the word "in," and the target unit. Examples: 40 miles in kilometers, 3 ounces in grams, 1 gallon in liters.
• Weather – to hear the weather for many U.S. and world cities, say, "weather," and the city and state, the U.S. zip code, or the city and country. Example: weather, London, England.