Latest iPod Shuffle smallest and accessible

By: Peter Abrahams, Practice Leader - Accessibility and Usability, Bloor Research
Published: 11th March 2009
Copyright Bloor Research © 2009

Apple have just announced the latest iPod Shuffle. It is the smallest iPod yet—about the size of my thumb but thinner. They have managed to make it so small by getting rid of the screen. All the output is by voice; press a button on the earphone lead and it will announce the track that is playing at the time, press and hold the button and it will announce the playlist and then read through all the playlists on the shuffle, wait until you hear the playlist you want and press the button again. The button and the volume control are on the right ear plug cable, so you do not even have to take the Shuffle out of your pocket or your bag.

As there is nothing to see you can control the Shuffle with your eyes closed or when you are concentrating on something else such as jogging or driving.

As my readers may have guessed by now I am really excited about this new product because it is accessible. Anyone with little or no eyesight can use it very effectively, which was not true for most of the previous iPods. The simple button control may also make it easier for some users with limited manual dexterity.

Given that that this is such a nice device I can forgive Apple for a small error in the announcement video. The video claims that the new Shuffle is the first music player that talks to you. This is odd considering Apple announced an iPod Nano with voice output last September see iPod Nano accessible and more usable!

The latest version of iTunes is also accessible so I think the latest Shuffle is an ideal device for people with vision impairments.

Reader Comments

Posted: 13th March 2009 | By Tim O'Brien :

A big use of iPods by the visually impaired is to listen to books. How is the new shuffle with audiobooks? I can see that it works fine with music, but how about moving between sections of a multi-part book? Between and within chapters? I have seen no details on this in any reviews.

As exciting as this advance is, working with books is a sine qua non for many diasabled listeners.

Posted: 26th March 2009 | By Peter Abrahams (Author):

Tim
Just got this answer from Apple "VoiceOver reads the book title and you can skip through the chapters with the skip track function, but chapter names are not read."
We should pop into an Apple store and try it.

Posted: 27th March 2009 | By Tim :

Thanks for looking into this. The next time I am at the local Apple Store I will check. If I remember correctly, they do not usually have an audiobook on the display models.

I was hoping that the Shuffle would treat Audiobooks separately. I would not want the iPod shuffling back and forth between music and books, though this could be solved by implementing the proper playlists. I would not want the Shuffle shuffling between books. Perhaps that would mean one book part per playlist, which begins to become a unnecessary hassle.

Hmmm.

PS I blog extensively about accessibility (and photography) from a visually impaired perspective. A recent focus of mine has been on the iPod and the iPhone. Your thoughts would be welcome. http://www.timobrienphotos.com/large-print-ideas/iphone-access/

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