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VoiceOver is an iOS Accessibility feature that enables your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch to audibly describe to you what's on the screen. To turn on the VoiceOver feature:
tvOS and iOS 8 and higher
Tell Siri, "VoiceOver on" or "Start VoiceOver". To turn VoiceOver off, tell Siri, "VoiceOver off" or "Stop VoiceOver". Note: in iOS, hold down the Home button until you hear a double-beep to activate Siri (this works even when the screen is locked). In tvOS hold down the Siri button on your Apple TV remote control.
[With the Siri remote, you can also triple tap the Menu button to toggle VoiceOver, provided that in the Settings app you have the General->Accessibility->Accessibility Shortcut set to "VoiceOver".]
Important iOS Notes
When VoiceOver is on, use a double-tap instead of a single-tap to activate an object. It is safest to tap once to select the object (confirmed by VoiceOver) then double-tap to activate it (if another object is already selected, an immediate double-tap elsewhere will usually activate the previously selected object, not the new one). Use three fingers instead of one to scroll.
tvOS Notes
In tvOS, some item on the screen always has the focus, and you can swipe on the Dpad to change the focus and click on the Dpad to activate the focused item. For efficiency on the Poker Table screen, the action occurs as soon as you swipe, and a click is not required unless you are checking or calling (the button that has the focus by default).
The THETA Poker Pro app is fully VoiceOver enabled, and the following can make it even easier to use with Accessibility turned on.
VoiceOver (Accessibility) Menu: new top-level menu option provides the following seven choices:
- Message Duration: sets the relative length of the audible game announcements, the large messages that appear in the middle of the poker table.
- Animation Speed: sets the speed of the graphics animations; you might think that slower animation is better, but it actually gives the device more work to do, so Off or Instant Dealing can be the best options.
- Announce Blinds: sets whether the blinds are announced or not as they are put into the pot on each hand.
- Announce Cards: sets whether cards, including your hole cards, are announced when become visible to you.
- ... After Board: Toggle whether or not your hole cards are announced after the community cards when you tap on the latter.
- Bet Window Style: sets the size and features of the Bet/Raise window; e.g., you may want to choose one of the two options "With Extras", that include an "All-In" button and a "Cancel" button.
- Custom Thousands Separator: sets the characters that are used for the thousands separator and decimal if VoiceOver is pronouncing the digits and separators individually. Leave blank to restore the defaults. [Not currently available on tvOS.]
- VoiceOver Help: displays this help page.
Notes: "Message Duration", "Animation Speed", "Announce Blinds", and "Announce Cards" can also be accessed from the Options->Settings->Play Speed menu. "Bet Window Style" is also on the Options->Settings->Miscellaneous->Bet Window menu. "VoiceOver Help" is also on the Options->Help menu.
Speech Rate
If some announcements, like the flop, are being cut off despite slowing down the Message Duration, you may need to decrease the iOS speech rate instead. For example, the enhanced Alex Voice may not work below 30%.
- Poker Actions:
- Use a two-finger scrub ('Z' motion) to fold (or prefold or precheck-fold). [Alternative: select the deck, then double-tap.]
- Use a two-finger double-tap to check or call (or precheck or precall). [Alternative: select your hole cards, then double-tap.]
- Use a three-finger swipe up to bet or raise. [Alternative: select your chips, then double-tap.]
- Use a one-finger double-tap and hold on the middle of the table, then swipe...
- Up to share a screenshot.
- Down to share the hand recap.
- Right to share both a screenshot and the hand recap.
- Left to view your table stats (HUD).
- Table Summary: Shake your device three times for a pop-up window describing the current active players in a hand or all of the players at the table between hands.
- Change Screens:
- To change between the Main, Career, and Options screens, use a three-finger swipe: DOWN to go from the Main view to the Options view, the Options view to the Career view, or the Career view to the Main view. Swipe UP to go from the Career view to the Options view, or the Options view to the Main view.
- Main View (Poker Table):
- SWIPE DOWN on the Dpad to fold (or prefold or precheck-fold).
- CLICK the Dpad to check or call (or precheck or precall).
- SWIPE UP on the Dpad to bet or raise.
- SWIPE LEFT on the Dpad for the hand status (repeats the visible cards and other information).
- SWIPE RIGHT on the Dpad for the hand recap (complete history of the hand).
- Tap the MENU button to bring up the Go To menu or to dismiss any popup.
- Career View and Options Menu:
- SWIPE the Dpad to change focus.
- CLICK the Dpad to activate the focused item.
- Tap the MENU button to bring up the Go To menu or to dismiss any popup.
- Go To Menu:
- SWIPE the Dpad to change focus.
- CLICK the Dpad to activate the focused item.
- Tap the MENU button to exit THETA Poker Pro (you can also tap the HOME button at any time to exit the app).
- Tip of the hat to Matt Gemmell and his "Accessibility for iPhone and iPad apps" article for encouraging developers to add Accessibility to their apps.
- Many thanks to my visually impaired users, whose excellent ideas have helped make THETA Poker Pro even more accessible.
- And of course, thanks to Apple for making their wonderful iOS devices so accessible.