Evernote accessibility with Voiceover on the Iphone 6S with IOS 9

Lately I have been hearing a lot about an app called Evernote. According to the testimony of friends and acquaintances, as well as information I have read online, Evernote can help me organize my life. And there is a free version.

Well, who can say no to a free app and better organization? So I downloaded Evernote to see whether I would benefit from what it has to offer.

I had several questions:

  • Was Evernote accessible using Voiceover on the IPhone?
  • Could it do anything for me that I was not doing with other apps and organization techniques?
  • Would Evernote be accessible on the PC and Android using JAWS and Talk Back?

Evernote works reasonably well using Voiceover, minus a couple of things. To get into the app in the first place, it is necessary to get past an initial screen that says, “Do your best work”.

In order to get past this screen, do the following:

  • Turn off voiceover.
  • Perform a three finger right swipe. Your phone may need to be in landscape mode to do this.
  • Turn Voiceover on.
  • You may need to repeat this to get past a second screen.
  • Double tap the Get Started button.

Most of the controls in Evernote are clearly labeled and accessible with Voiceover. It is possible to access notes, notebooks, etc. and to record new notes, etc.

The question of how useful this is to me is very important. I have been using my phone and other systems to take notes, record various kinds of information, set reminders and appointments, etc, for a long time. Do I need a new system for doing this?

Not really.

It is conceivable to me that the appeal of Evernote is high to a sighted user who can use it to visualize an ortanizational structure that cannot be achieved in other ways. I do not need this visual structure, and I am not convinced that Evernote is a necessary addition to my suite of apps. It is a redundancy that I don’t need.

If anyone is curious about the accessibility of the desktop and Android apps, I am happy to go ahead and test them. Please leave a comment if you want that info and I will go ahead and post a follow-up to this post.

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About Sarah Blake LaRose

Sarah Blake LaRose teaches Biblical Hebrew and Greek at Anderson University School of Theology and Christian Ministry in Anderson, Indiana. She is one of three blind academic scholars who received the Jacob Bolotin Award from the National Federation of the Blind in 2016 in recognition of innovative work in the field of access to biblical language texts and tools for people who are blind. In addition to her work as a professor, she provides braille transcription services specializing in ancient languages. Her research interests concern the intersection of disability, poverty, and biblical studies.

About Sarah Blake LaRose

Sarah Blake LaRose teaches Biblical Hebrew and Greek at Anderson University School of Theology and Christian Ministry in Anderson, Indiana. She is one of three blind academic scholars who received the Jacob Bolotin Award from the National Federation of the Blind in 2016 in recognition of innovative work in the field of access to biblical language texts and tools for people who are blind. In addition to her work as a professor, she provides braille transcription services specializing in ancient languages. Her research interests concern the intersection of disability, poverty, and biblical studies.

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