/documentation/android_access/services.html
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1<!-- Copyright 2010 Google Inc. 2 Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); 3 you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. 4 You may obtain a copy of the License at 5 6 http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 7 8 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software 9 distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, 10 WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. 11 See the License for the specific language governing permissions and 12 limitations under the License. --> 13 14<html> 15<head> 16<title>Accessibility Services - Android Accessibility</title> 17<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css"> 18</head> 19 20<body> 21<div id="main_body"> 22 23<h1>Accessibility Services</h1> 24 25<div class="nav"> 26<div class="nav_back"><a href="basics.html">Previous: Accessibility 27Basics</a></div> 28<div class="nav_up"><a href="index.html">Up: Android Accessibility</a></div> 29<div class="nav_next"><a href="market.html">Next: The Android Market</a></div> 30</div> 31 32<p>A number of <strong>Accessibility Services</strong> are available to aid 33in navigating your Android device. Each can be enabled or disabled via the 34Accessibility menu under Settings. The most popular services are described 35below:</p> 36 37<h2>TalkBack</h2> 38<p><strong>TalkBack</strong> is one of the official accessibility services 39provided by Google. It uses synthesized speech to describe the results of 40<em>actions</em>, such as moving to a new control with the directional pad or 41clicking on a control, and <em>events</em> such as a notification or incoming 42call.</p> 43<p>TalkBack comes preinstalled on most Android phones. However, it is under 44active development. You may want to download the app from the Market to get the 45latest features. Once you download it from the Market, you will be notified when 46updates become available. Note that TalkBack cannot be uninstalled.</p> 47 48<h2>Spiel</h2> 49<p><strong>Spiel</strong> is a third-party accessibility service that 50provides an alternative to TalkBack. It also uses synthesized speech to describe 51actions and events, but it has its own rules for speaking that may differ from 52TalkBack's. For more information on Spiel, see <a 53 href="http://spielproject.info/">the Spiel Project webpage</a>.</p> 54<p>Spiel is not available from the Android Market. To install Spiel, follow 55the instructions in <a href="market">Market</a> to enable non-market apps. 56Search for <a href="http://tinyurl.com/aspiel">http://tinyurl.com/aspiel</a> in 57your browser. While the url will load in the browser which is not accessible, it 58will automatically download the app. You can install it via the Notifications 59screen.</p> 60<p>You can have both TalkBack and Spiel installed at the same time, and then 61enable whichever one you want to use. While it's perfectly safe to have both of 62them enabled, only one of them will actually work at a time. Spiel and TalkBack 63work very much the same way, so you shouldn't expect major differences. They're 64both being actively developed independently.</p> 65 66<h2>Voice Readouts</h2> 67<p><strong>Voice Readouts</strong> is the Motorola accessibility service that 68is analogous to TalkBack and Spiel. It also uses synthesized speech to 69describe actions and events according to a set of rules.</p> 70<p>Voice Readouts comes pre-installed on the Droid 2 and Droid X devices. 71You can enable or disable it via the Accessibility menu under Settings.</p> 72 73<h2>KickBack</h2> 74<p><strong>KickBack</strong> is one of the official accessibility services 75provided by Google. It provides haptic feedback by vibrating the device briefly 76when you perform an action on the phone.</p> 77<p>It can be especially useful when using the touch screen. The feedback 78will inform you when you have found a valid control, like the slide-to-unlock 79handle. Additionally, it can be useful when navigating your device using a 80directional controller, as you know when your movement has resulted in an 81action. For example, when navigating through a menu you will feel a bump every 82time you hit a new menu item. When you stop receiving feedback, you know you 83have reached the end of the list.</p> 84<p>On devices running Android 4.0 and above, the functionality of KickBack is 85included in TalkBack.</p> 86<h2>SoundBack</h2> 87<p><strong>SoundBack</strong> is one of the official accessibility services 88provided by Google. It plays a short sound when you perform an action on the 89phone, such as moving to a different control using the directional controller, 90or clicking on a control that performs an action.</p> 91<p>On devices running Android 4.0 and above, the functionality of SoundBack is 92included in TalkBack.</p> 93 94<h2>TTS Extended</h2> 95<p>Android 2.2 includes a new capability for application developers to include 96enhanced text-to-speech capabilities in their app. If you have Android 2.2, you 97do not need to install anything.</p> 98<p>If you have Android 2.1 or earlier, you can install an app called <strong>TTS 99Extended</strong> to take advantaged of these enhanced capabilities in apps that 100use them.</p> 101 102<h2>Conclusion</h2> 103<p>The various accessibility services are designed to complement one 104another. While you should normally only use only one talking accessibility 105service at time, the services that provide alternate feedback can be used 106simultaneously for improved efficiency. While there can be a slight delay before 107speech synthesis can talk after you perform an action, KickBack and SoundBack 108can provide much more immediate feedback.</p> 109 110<div class="nav"> 111<div class="nav_back"><a href="basics.html">Previous: Accessibility 112Basics</a></div> 113<div class="nav_up"><a href="index.html">Up: Android Accessibility</a></div> 114<div class="nav_next"><a href="market.html">Next: The Android Market</a></div> 115</div> 116 117</div> 118</body> 119</html>