Let's start with the quick stuff. The next iDevice user group meeting happens Thursday January 19 at 6:30 pm. In response to those requesting a location closer to a subway we're trying a new location.
25 Maitland St. one block south of Wellesley on the east side of Yonge st. in the party room.
As requested by participants at the November meeting we'll feature reading apps. A perfect thing for a winter's night. J
iBook is first, not only because it is wonderfully accessible, but also, because the IOS5 User Guide is available, along with a whole lot of other Apple manuals. In the recreation and pleasure reading department, we'll explore the wonderfully accessible Audible app, as well as Blio. Want to read DAISY books while traveling and leave the extra hardware at home? DAISY Work and InDAISY are two options. If you have others, let us know.
Follow up items I was to investigate
I promised I'd do some follow up research on a question that came up at the November meeting. The question: How can you receive a text message for the next vehicle arriving at your location? In order to have this information sent to your phone you will need your stop number. You can find this by going to a route specific page on the TTC web site where you will find the stops listed along with their corresponding numbers. To illustrate this, let's choose the Bayview 11 bus route. Here are the steps to follow.
- Go to www.ttc.ca.
- Use your screen reader commands to locate the first edit field on the page where you can type in a route number. As we are choosing Bayview 11, type in 11 in this edit field and press enter.
- The next page that is displayed is the list of time stops for Bayview 11 northbound. What are time stops you ask? Major intersections and those calculated as stops at 5 minute intervals. For instance, when viewing the time stop list, the CNIB stop is not shown. You see Bayview at Eglinton, then Sunnybrook hospital. By selecting the all stops link from this page, the CNIB stop will be shown as you are now viewing all of the stops on the Bayview 11 Northbound route.
Reading Tips
Once you have the list of stops to your liking, Use your screen reader's table reading and navigation keys to scan the list. doing this may eliminate some of the extra verbiage you might encounter while reading. column 1 of the table lists the stop name, including street and intersection, while column 2 shows the stop number. Make note of this number as you'll need it to send a text message to request your next vehicle arrival times.
The following info is taken from the TTC text messaging web site where you can read the entire set of instructions. http://www3.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Projects_and_initiatives/Customer_Information_Initiatives/Next_vehicle_information_system/Text_Messaging.jsp
TTC customers using the system have the following options available:
1. For up to the next 6 vehicle arrival times for all routes serving your stop, text:
- multi-digit Stop Number to the 6-digit Short Code 898882 (TXTTTC)
2. For arrival times for one specific route servicing your stop, text:
- multi-digit Stop Number followed by a space and the specific route number to the 6-digit Short Code 898882 (TXTTTC)
3. For arrival times for a specific route servicing your stop in a particular direction, text:
- multi-digit Stop Number, followed by a space, followed by a specific route number, followed by a space, and then followed by a specific direction (N, S, E or W) to the 6-digit Short Code 898882 (TXTTTC)
4. For other information or help, text:
HELP to the 6-digit Short Code 898882 (TXTTTC)
Ah, now that I've completed my task from the previous meeting I look forward to seeing you on Thursday January 19 at 6:30 pm.
Address, 25 Maitland St. in the party room.
Note: there is a charge of $25 to use the party room, if you wish to assist with this let us know at the meeting. Thank you.