by Brian Manning
Following on from last week, we will move to that great oracle of the south, as we call it down here the paper more broadly known as the Irish Examiner.
What I really love about this publication is its strong sports content, particularly the GAA, rugby, and if you must have it, soccer.
Its political and general news content is also second to none with correspondence such as Anthony Daly, Eamon Fitzmorris, Ronan O’Gara, Fergus Finley, Terry Prone, etc.
I should also preface this piece by stating that about twenty years ago I contacted the online designers of the paper telling them that they have traditionally had a loyal cohort of readers with a vision impairment the needs of whom should be included in the design of their online offerings. Consequently, there has always been a strong concentration on accessibility and inclusion on the part of the Irish Examiner.
First of all, just follow the subscription process, I signed up last year for €50, which is quite good.
My next suggestion would be to open the Examiner website on your iPhone and add it to the home screen. The steps to do this are to go to the bottom right of the screen and flick with one finger to the right until you hear share, double tap with one finger, and again flick right with one finger until you hear add to home screen double tap again and flick right to save.
You need to do this only the first time, and if you find this a tad daunting just ring the Labs helpdesk and we will talk you through it.
Henceforth that great repository of culture and knowledge from the southern capital will illuminate your very soul.
When reading the paper, it is best to navigate through headings so make sure your rotor is set to headings.
To find the articles flick down with one finger and hear them being read out to you.
Double tap to select an article then flick right with one finger to hear the writer’s name and then flick down with two fingers to have VoiceOver read the piece.
When finished flick up with two fingers to jump to the top of the screen and flick right with one finger through the different sections and again double tap with one finger on the topic of your choice.
If for example, your preferred topic is sport, just flick right until VoiceOver announces sport then double tap and flick down with one finger through the sports offerings.
You can then select an article and read it as above.
Follow these steps to read any of the sections and imagine your joy when you will be as knowledgeable as the average Cork man.