Toddler 2 seems to have an uncanny knack for all things technology. Since this past summer, she has had a special interest in the iphone and its many features. My memory is foggy on this point, but I think it all started when in some desperate situation where I needed to divert her attention, I handed her my phone to let her scroll through some pictures. Yes, that’s when it all began.
Unlike me, Toddler 2 is not afraid to push new buttons and try new tricks in the technology realm. Of course, as she’s learned her way around my phone, she’s deleted many an app and called many a friend, relative, business associate, restaurant, etc. (There was one morning in the fall when she provided my brother-in-law with an unsolicited wake-up call at 4:30 AM while he was on business in Seattle…). At this point, she has a fairly basic mastery over the functions she likes the phone to perform: kid videos, ping-pong, and picture slideshows.
I’ve grown accustomed to the fact that I “share” my phone with Toddler 2. There are certain times and situations when I allow her to play with it, and nine times out of ten, no harm is done. Understandably, the Spouse is a little more protective of his beloved phone. Therefore, Toddler 2 can only see his in the most dire of situations.
Well, one such situation recently arose very early in the morning. And, most unfortunately, the Spouse’s phone became the victim of a Toddler 2 hi-jacking.
Did you know that the iphone has a special accessibility feature for visually impaired users?
We had no idea.
Honestly, it’s brilliant. The Apple corporation has created something called “VoiceOver” that enables a visually impaired or blind user to perform nearly any task on the iphone by listening to audible prompts in the form of a pleasant female voice. Every item that you touch is announced. Powering on, powering off, every number, every action, it’s all audible. The problem is, when you have this feature enabled, the touch screen no longer responds to your normal touch. You can rub your finger over the screen, you can push the screen, you can slap the screen, you can yell at the screen… nothing happens. The voice, however, continues to talk to you.
As one can imagine, the Spouse was in no way amused to discover this fascinating new feature on his phone. He was so upset, in fact, that I knew it was up to Toddler 2 and me to save the day, and quickly. So, we turned to the place we always look to in desperate times: Google.
And, would you believe that others have accidentally discovered this feature, too? Because there in the wonderful world of Google I found a whole forum on “how to turn off accessibility features.” Praise the Lord.
After a few minutes of reading a handy tutorial on how you need to use three fingers to scroll around the screen rather than one (I’m pretty sure we would have NEVER thought of that on our own), I managed to restore the Spouse’s phone to its original settings and thereby restore our day to its normal order.
I feel certain that we’ll be learning many more new tips and tricks for the iphone in the coming days, so if you encounter any technical issues, you know where to turn. And if Toddler 2 can’t take your call, maybe I can help 😉
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