For those students enrolled in our Voiceover course, if you have not done so yet this evening, please check iTunes U as soon as possible. We have added a couple new things, particularly details about our first Lab Day and future Lab Days. There is a discussion question for you to consider and respond to at your earliest convenience. Thanks for attending to this matter. If you are not yet enrolled in our iTunes U course for Voiceover and wish to receive an enroll code, please contact me via email. Thank you.
Author: ttjblogowner
Lots New in iTunes U
For those taking our Learning Voiceover In and Out course, several audio recordings and other informational posts have been made available in iTunes U today. Additionally, our first assignment with a due date and with Hand-In support is now live. Please look through all these new posts and respond accordingly with questions etc. you may also bring the assignment to our first Lab Day next Thursday if you do not feel comfortable completing it before that time.
Important Information Regarding the Upcoming Voiceover Course
Great news everyone, the course outline for the upcoming course, “Learning Voiceover In and Out” is now available. Stay tuned, as the iPad course outline will be available by this weekend. If you are already enrolled in the iTunes U portion of the Voiceover course, you can access the course from within the iTunes U app to view the entire outline. If not, we will post a text-only version below, and we will upload a more visually-appealing PDF of the outline, particularly beneficial for sighted folks, before the start of the course on Tuesday.
Please also note that as of the writing of this post, there are still 46 open slots in the iTunes U Voiceover course. If you have received your email containing the Enrollment Code for the iTunes U portions of both the VO course and the iPad course, we strongly encourage you to launch iTunes U and enroll in both courses immediately. These emails were sent out on a first-come first-served basis. Pleased be advised that if any slots remain available in the iTunes U portion of the VO course by the start of the course on Tuesday, slots will be offered to those in attendance, to be claimed on a per-request basis. This means you may forfeit your slot if you have not enrolled by Tuesday, even if you had received an enrollment email.
Now a quick note about the Voiceover course:
We have made a small but important change to the intended course structure. It was originally thought that we would offer an A section and a B section for this course. This is no longer the case. This will now be one continuous course, starting with the most basic foundations and working up to advanced features and functionality. After analyzing our survey results, this seemed like the best way to do it. Now, the Voiceover In and Out course will be structured in such a way that Tuesdays will always be instruction days. Feel free to ask questions and try things out on your own devices as you hear them being taught and discussed, but expect mostly teaching on Tuesdays. Thursdays, with a few exceptions, will be lab days. During lab days, audio for all participants will remain mostly unmuted. People will be free to ask questions, discuss their experiences, try out various gestures and concepts taught on the prior Tuesday, and get assistance from myself as well as from our other instructors. Note that the iPad course will not have separate lab days, though of course questions and trying things on your own iPad is certainly encouraged.
The following topics will be covered in the Voiceover course. Again, please see iTunes U or the PDF (coming soon) for more details:
Voiceover Introduction
Differences from other screen readers
Differences between touchscreen devices and computers
Turning Voiceover on and off
Gesture overview
The VOiceover Cursor
Tapping and swiping
The Double-Tap gesture
Scrolling through content
Home Screen layout
Status Line
Notification Center
Control Center
Spotlight Search
Widgets Panel
Home Button functions
Devices without a Home Button
New gestures to try
Basic text entry
The Voiceover Rotor – overview and use cases
Customizing Voiceover, Voiceover Practice Mode
Learn from the User Guides
Third-party apps and resources for learning VO
Device orientation options
Long Press actions and 3D Touch
Two-Finger Double-Tap
Messages
Phone
Notes
Detectable patterns within apps
Calendar
Reminders
Maps
Music
TV
Photos and Camera
Voice Memos
Apple Books
Other apps
Table Indexes
Value Adjustment Pickers
Reorder Handles
Rearranging Home Screen Layout
Multi-finger gestures
Advanced keyboard functions
Other typing modes
Surfing the Web
Links and link actions
Navigating webpages with the Rotor
Bookmarks
History
Tabs
Reader Mode
Item Chooser
Labeling elements
Online forms
Recaptcha
AutoFill Passwords, contact info, and credit card info with iCloud Keychain
Dictation overview
Editing text
Quick Type
Auto Correct
Fixing misspelled words
Selecting text
Copy and Paste
Overview of Apple Pages
Creating a document
Formatting text
Creating outlines
Styling text
Intro to Voiceover on iPad, AppleTV, Apple Watch, and HomePod
Exploring a few new apps
Best practices when learning new apps
App Exploration Day
All about Voiceover and Keyboards
Using a mechanical keyboard
VO commands versus iOS system and app commands
QuickNav
Braille Screen Input
Using a Braille Display with Voiceover
Course Wrap-up
Any questions let us know.
A Quick Reminder Concerning the Upcoming iPad Course
Attention all students planning to participate in the iPad For All Computing course beginning April 16, this course has a requirement that all participants who plan to use Voiceover with their iPads have a reasonably strong working knowledge of Voiceover on iOS. If you plan to take this course and do not feel reasonably comfortable using Voiceover, we strongly suggest that you join us for our Learning VO In and Out course, beginning next week. As an alternative, we do offer paid training options as well. For questions please get in touch. Thank you.
Important: Instructions and Details On How to Join Live Class Sessions for Upcoming Online Courses
As previously stated, our Spring 2019 TTJ Courses are about to begin. To review, the Voiceover In and Out course will begin next Tuesday, January 22 and will run every Tuesday and Thursday from 3PM-5PM Eastern Time. The iPad For All Computing course will begin April 16 and will also run every Tuesday and Thursday – ending May 23. Below you will find important information regarding how to join live sessions, general policies and procedures, and more – including the Join Link and Meeting ID. Please read all of the information contained in this post if you are enrolled in any of our TTJ courses
Live Session Meeting Times:
All live sessions for both the Voiceover course and the iPad course wil begin at 3:00PM and will run approximately two hours. Remember, this is 3PM Eastern, so please adjust accordingly. For example, if you will be joining us from California, your join time would actually be 12 Noon Pecific Time. Chicago students would join at 2PM Central. If for any reason at all, you are unable to arrive at the start of class, or if you need to leave early, this is no problem at all. We understand that scheduling conflicts and other obligations can arise, so please feel free to join whenever you can. Also, please note that as the meeting host, I must open the meetings at the beginning of each session. I will generally do so between two and five minutes prior to the 3PM session start time, though on the first day of each course I will arrive ten to 15 minutes early. Until I do arrive, the meetings will not be open. Students are free to join, even prior to the host opening the meetings, however you will not be able to communicate with other students until the meetings are open. Again, if you arrive earlier than the host, you will not hear anyone talking, and no one will hear you. This is normal. Do not be alarmed. Audio will begin working as soon as the meeting is officially open.
Basic Joining Instructions and App Details:
As mentioned in prior posts, we will be using the Zoom Cloud Meetings platform to conduct all live sessions. An audio overview was released yesterday to demonstrate use of the Zoom Cloud Meetings app for iOS with Voiceover. If you did not receive email notification of the post containing that audio demo, please explore the blog to find it and listen. In short, Zoom is a video conferencing platform. Students may join by downloading the free Zoom app on their iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. You may also join Zoom meetings from the Zoom website using a Mac or PC.
The basic procedure requires you to join the Zoom sessions, also known as meetings, in one of two ways. You may use the direct join link provided below, or you may open the Zoom app yourself, then manually enter the Meeting ID to join. Please note that the meeting ID will remain the same for all sessions in both courses. You read that right. The meeting ID for the Voiceover course will be exactly the same as the meeting ID for the iPad course. Similarly, the Join Link will be the same for all sessions in both courses. Please save the Join Link and meeting ID for your benefit. Remember, you only need to use one or the other – the link or the meeting ID. Both will be provided below.
Before joining our first session, we strongly recommend that you launch the Zoom app and create a free account. Doing so will enable you to save settings, thus making it easier for you to join future meetings. The first time you actually join a live session from an iOS device, you will need to grant microphone access to the Zoom app. Just follow the prompts to do so. If you accidentally make the wrong choice, you can manually grant mic access to Zoom from Settings, Privacy, and Microphone.
Whenever you join a session, you will be asked how you wish to connect to the meeting audio. Only one option will be available. That option is, “Call Using Internet Audio”. Choose this option to be immediately connected to the meeting. If you have a free Zoom account, you can access Settings within the Zoom app, and make Internet Audio, also called Device Audio, the default option, therefore not having to make this selection every time you join a meeting. Internet Audio, or Device Audio, uses an internet connection – Wi-Fi or Cellular, to connect you to the meetings. By default, your audio will be turned on when you join, but your video will be disabled. You do have the option of enabling video if you wish to do so, but we do not require it.
Once in the live sessions, you always have the option of muting and unmuting your audio as you see fit. Further details will be provided below. You also have the option of starting and stopping your video, leaving the meeting, and more.
Things to Consider:
At the start of each session, all audio will be unmuted. We would ask you to please leave your audio unmuted at first, so that we may all greet one another and ensure that everything is working properly. When it is time to begin teaching, all participant audio will be automatically muted, so that only the host or teacher can be heard. However, should you have any questions during the teaching, please feel free to unmute your audio, ask your question, and then mute yourself again. As we have an extremely large number of students in these courses, we are likely to hear differences in audio quality etc. the following tips should be kept in mind and can be quite helpful to everyone taking the courses:
Be conscious of your environment, your environment, and your activity. When you are unmuted, think about what sounds are heard around you, such as TV or music, loud voices, animals, conversation, etc. trying to minimize these noises will help you and other participants in the course.
Please use a headset of some sort if possible. Though not required, it can help by eliminating the sound of your screen reader for other students.
If you do not have a headset available, please keep your screen reader volume low. We know you may need it, but please just keep it soft.
Conversely, please be kind and patient with everyone. Please try to tolerate audio issues as much as you can, because bringing up every single issue you hear will only interrupt the flow of the course and will perhaps make other students feel uncomfortable. There is no way of avoiding some audio discrepancies, simply due to differences in equipment used, connection speed and quality, and other factors. Some participant voices will be louder or softer than others, some may sound a bit muffled, and you may hear the occasional background noises that would be common in actual in-person live classroom environments as well. Keep in mind that as the host, we hear the same things you are hearing. If we feel that an audio problem is extremely challenging and warrants pausing the teaching to solve, we will do so. Please do not assume the role of policing everyone else in the course. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in this matter.
Zoom Join Link and Meeting ID:
To join the Zoom live sessions, please use This Link, or copy and paste the following URL:
Alternatively, you may open the Zoom app, tap Join, then enter the following meeting ID:
3116952583
Remember, this link and ID will be the same for both courses and for all sessions. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to Get In Touch. We look forward to working with you beginning next week.:)
How To Use the Zoom and iTunes U Apps with Voiceover
For those taking any of our TTJ online courses, you will need two apps. The first is the Zoom Cloud Meetings app, and the second is iTunes U. Note that the Zoom service can also be accessed via a web browser on Mac and PC.
In this audio demo, we describe and discuss both apps, what they do, and how we’ll use them. We also give a quick introduction to the layout of both apps with Voiceover. Should you have any questions, please let us know. Enjoy.:)zoom-itunesu.m4a
Information About Upcoming TTJ Courses
First off I’d like to take a moment to give a great big welcome to all those who have recently joined this blog. We’ve had many new folks join within the last week, and I’m humbled and excited to have all of you. On this blog, we will occasionally post promotional info, but our main purpose for this blog is to help people by providing various written, audio, and video demonstrations, product reviews, and tutorials for your benefit. Go ahead and browse through our previous posts to see what we mean.
Additionally, we will use this blog to communicate information about our upcoming free courses. This post is one such communication. First, a reminder about what’s to come:
Learning Voiceover In and Out, a powerful course designed to teach the Voiceover screen reader from the ground up, will begin in less than one week, next Tuesday, January 22, 2019, at 3PM Eastern. This course will take place every Tuesday and Thursday at 3PM Eastern, through April 4. Following that, our iPad For All Computing course will begin. It starts on April 16, also 3-5PM Eastern, and runs every Tuesday and Thursday through Thursday May 23, 2019. Within the next few hours, several more posts will be made to this blog, including the link to join the live sessions, an audio demo of the Zoom and iTunes U app, and even our course outlines.
A Note Regarding iTunes U:
Our courses have both live sessions and other materials. The materials are distributed through the iTunes U platform. Space in iTunes U is extremely limited and is being handled on a first-come first-served basis. If you have made it in time to get a slot in the iTunes U course, you will be notified directly via email – not through this blog. If you do not receive an email notification, don’t worry. You can still join our live sessions, and you be able to access all course materials through the blog and in other ways to be announced soon. If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
