Spanish English Dictionary +
Description of App
THis is a VO friendly Spanish-ENglish dictionary with easily toggled translations and some interesting features. It contains 263,000 translations / definitions, a small selection of commonly used phrases categorized, a conjugated verb reference, and a basic quiz engine. All of those features are fully VO accessible and are accessed via a properly labeled set of buttons along the bottom edge of the screen. The dictionary is stored locally on the i-device so an Internet connection is not required during general use of the app except in cases where you wish to hear the words pronounced by a voice other than those supplied in IOS. . If you want to hear the words pronounced in the native tongue you have two options: 1. Use the rotor to toggle between languages,or 2. Make an Internet connection and click on any of the buttons labeled "speaker.gif" which are found throughout the app.
This app allows the User to add text, photos, videos and voice recordings to a word directly from within the word's page in the app. For instance, if I select the word "dog" (translated as the Spanish "perro"), I am presented with a row of mostly understandable buttons along the bottom of the screen labeled "microphone, play, camera, browse image, email and add text." I can use these buttons to record my dog barking (which she never does), take a photo of her and add it to the definition, browse and add an image from another location, email the definition or type additional text that will be attached to the definition. These options all use standard IOS controls to do their thing with one exception: The microphone button presents the only quirk I've found so far in this app, and I've explained a workaround in the accessibility comments section below.
You can find a fully VO accessible introduction to the application by choosing More / Help from within the app.
This app costs US $9.95 at the time of this writing (29Oct2011) and there is a free version that offers most of the same features but has a much smaller dictionary.
Accessibility Comments
The app is well-labeled and navigable using standard VO gestures. The one issue I encountered is when attempting to create a voice recording from within a definition by using the button labeled "microphone." Choosing this button causesVO to go silent and it is difficult to get out of the scenario. The workaround I found is to plug in the apple earbuds with inline mic, or a compatible set, then double-tap the microphone button, then quickly double-click the center button on the inline mic. This seems to get VO talking again and allows you to record and choose either the cancel or done buttons.