How to Read a Book on an iPad Using a Pillow Switch

Step-by-Step Guide

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   Step 1: Obtain an iPad and a switch control device.

   The iOS 8 operating system for Apple products includes extensive accessibility options that can be accessed via the Settings on an iPad.
   
   These options include a Switch Control system.  However, the iPad does not contain jacks that permit a switch to be connected directly to it. Instead one must connect a switch control device, such as the Tecla Shield, to the iPad via a wireless Bluetooth connection, and then plug a pillow switch, or some other switch such as a puff sip switch, into the switch control device.
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   Step 2: Get a pillow switch or some other switch

   This will allow you to control the iPad. , iBooks seems to be the best iPad reader for single switch use, much easier to use than Read2Go or the Kindle app.
   
   It allows you to turn a page by clicking and then waiting for the scanner to move only two times, before clicking twice again. If you want to turn several pages or more at a time (in effect, skimming ahead or back), you can do that with any number of rapid clicks (not waiting between clicks).
   
   It allows a smooth adjustment of font sizes so that you can pick the one that is perfect for you. It never causes a reading page to extend beyond the page boundaries, so that you never have to scroll up or down, except when you are looking through an index. As an Apple proprietary app, its performance seems pretty solid. , Bookshare.org is a wonderful resource, providing access to many excellent books, magazines and newspapers that you can download without charge (after paying $25 to join and a $50 annual fee). You must have a disability and be able to get a professional to certify to that fact in order to join Bookshare. Unfortunately, Bookshare’s DAISY files will not work with iBooks, which uses the EPUB format. Therefore, you will need to convert the DAISY files you get from Bookshare to the EPUB format – see the instructions below. ,, If you're using a Tecla Shield, you should see a fairly rapid (1 blink per second) flashing white light coming from the circuit board inside. This means that the device is in “Switch Control” mode and also that it is ready to pair.  If you want to pair the Tecla to a new device, you must first unpair it from the old one.  If the light is flashing some other color, use the tip of a pen and push on either the “-“ or the “+” button until the light begins to flash rapidly.  The light will eventually begin to flash a different color.  Repeat this step until the light is flashing white, about one blink per second, indicating that the Tecla is ready for pairing. ,  This will reduce the amount of time required to press and hold the pillow switch in order to return to the iPad’s Home screen. , This is primarily useful for reading incoming emails in the iPad's Mail app.
   
   Go to Settings, Display and Brightness, Text Size, and adjust the slider to change the text size.
   
   Check the results by looking at an incoming message in the Mail app.
   
   If you need to use even larger text, go to Settings, General, Accessibility, Larger Text, and then turn Larger Accessibility Sizes on.
   
   You can now move another slider to adjust text size.
   
   Again, check the results in the Mail app.
   
   If the text size is set too large, the lines of text may overlap and become unreadable. , Turn Bluetooth on, and pair the iPad with the switch control device.  To do this, click the name of the device (e.g.
   
   TeclaShieldDOS) listed under Devices. The status should change from Not Paired to Connected.   If the pairing doesn’t work, try removing the device from My Devices by pushing the small “i” button to the right of it and clicking Forget This Device.  Then try pairing again.
   
   After the switch control device is paired, the white light will flash much more slowly. ,  Remove any previous settings.  Set Accessibility Shortcut to Switch Control.  This will allow you to turn switch control off and on by triple-tapping rapidly on the iPad’s home button. ,  Activate the pillow switch by pressing it. Click Save.  Choose Select Item from the switch action menu that will pop up. , Go to Settings, General > Accessibility > Switch Control.
   
   The following settings are recommended:
   Set Auto Scanning to on.  You may adjust the Auto Scanning Time.
   
   Two seconds or less may work for somewhat experienced users, but beginners may need a longer time. This sets the speed in Item Scanning (as opposed to Point Scanning).
   
   Turn Pause on First Item on.  Set the pause duration to 1 second, initially.  This setting allows the user to think for a moment when a new menu line pops up, before deciding what to do next.
   
   Set the Loops to 2, initially. This is the number of times that the scanner will circle the available options before it stops. Having more loops gives you more time to choose from the different options while the scanner lines are moving, but it slows things down.
   
   Turn Auto Tap off.
   
   Turn Move Repeat off.
   
   Turn Hold Duration off.
   
   Turn Ignore Repeat off.
   
   Set Gliding Cursor speed to
   15. You may need to set this speed to a lower number at first. This sets the speed in Point Scanning (as opposed to Item Scanning).
   
   Set Sound Effects off.
   
   Set Speech off.
   
   Set Included Menu items to all.
   
   Set Group Items to on.
   
   Set Large Cursor to on (All).
   
   Set Cursor Color to Blue (or whatever color you like).
   
   Set Saved Gestures to None. , Go to the iPad’s Settings > General > Accessibility, Switch Control. Turn Switch Control on.  Note that you may also turn switch control off and on by triple-tapping rapidly on the iPad’s Home button (the large button on the front).  This is the Accessibility Shortcut mentioned above.  Turning switch control off will allow someone to use the iPad in the normal way.  Turning switch control on will cause scanning to start. , Switch control on the iPad relies on two very different scanning methods:  item scanning and point scanning.  Item scanning, in which the scanner jumps from one item or group of items to another, is much easier to use, since it requires fewer clicks once you have settled into an activity like reading.  However, it’s important to learn how to use point scanning as well, since it gives you more control and flexibility.  Point scanning employs lines that move smoothly across the screen, horizontally and then vertically, requiring the user to click at precise locations to form X’s (or crosses).  You cannot switch between item scanning and point scanning by using the iPad’s Options settings.  Instead, you must use the submenus that pop up after you have selected a point on the screen with either scanning method – see the instructions below. , Item scanning highlights an item or a group of items for a short time and then jumps to another item or group of items. To change to item scanning, select something on the screen, click on the tiny Oval icon that pops up, click on the second row of the first submenu that pops up, and click on Item mode. , Point scanning uses lines that move smoothly across the screen.  To change to point scanning, select something on the screen, click on the tiny Oval icon that pops up, click on the second row of the submenu that pops up, and click on Point mode. , Note that anyone can practice operating an iPad with a single switch, even if he or she doesn’t have a Tecla Shield and a pillow switch.  To do this, set up your switch type by going to Settings > General > Accessibility > Switch Control > Switches, Add New Switch
   - all as described above
   - but this time choose Screen rather than External as the switch type.  Then choose Full Screen, Select Item.  After these steps have been taken, a caretaker with an iPad can simulate using a pillow switch by simply touching anywhere on the iPad’s screen and thus gain valuable experience in controlling the iPad with a single switch. , Make sure that Item Scanning is on.
   
   Make sure that Groups are set to On.
   
   Make sure that Passcode in the iPad is turned Off.
   
   Go to Settings, Passcode. , If the iPad is asleep, wake it up by clicking once on the pillow switch.
   
   If the iPad is locked, click the pillow switch.
   
   Scanning will start.  When the highlight reaches the Slide to Unlock area, click it again.  Note that, when you click the switch, a small black Popup menu will often be displayed.  The Popup menu contains choices.  The first choice is Tap.  If you click on Tap, that will select “Slide to Unlock” in the initial screen
   - but you must click right away, before the other choices come up.  If you don’t click Tap in time, or if you click at the wrong time, just wait for the highlight to come around to Tap again.  You should only have to wait for the highlight to go around two times, if you have set the Loops to 2 (see above).  Then, when it stops moving, you can click again to start scanning and wait for the right moment to click a second time in order to choose the option you want. , Suppose you are in the Home screen or some other app screen and you want to open an app.  Stop and wait until a grouping containing that app is highlighted, click that grouping, stop and wait until the app is highlighted, click that app, and then click Tap. , Suppose you are in the Home screen and you want to move to another screen.  Select any app as described above, but this time don’t click Tap.  Instead, wait a moment until the Scroll Right choice is highlighted, and then click that choice to move to the second screen. , Suppose you want to go back to the Home screen.  Click on any app, as described above, but do not click Tap.  Instead wait until the little Oval Icon at the bottom of the popup menu is highlighted and click on that.  Then wait until the top row of choices is highlighted and click on that row.  Then wait until Home is highlighted and click on Home. , Another way to return to the Home screen is to simply press and hold the pillow switch for about five seconds. , See settings directions above. ,  Click on the book you want to read.  When you want to turn a page, click and wait for the scanner to highlight the Progress Bar (the long thin line) at the bottom of the page.  Then click.  This will bring up a menu with three choices:  Decrement, Increment and the Oval icon.  Click on Decrement to turn the page to the left.  Click on Increment to turn the page back to the right.  Click on the Oval icon, to see the first submenu. ,  You get to the first submenu by clicking on the Oval icon, which appears after you have selected something on the screen.  Then you will see Home, Gestures and Escape in the first row.  When the highlight gets to the second row, if you are in Item mode, you will see Point Mode, Device and Settings.  (If you are in Point Mode, you will see Item Mode, Device and Settings.)  Wait until the highlight reaches the row you want, click once, and then wait until the item you want is highlighted before clicking again. ,  If you select Settings in the second row of the first submenu, you go to the second submenu.  Here you will see Back, Speed Up, Slow Down, and Move Menu.  In the second row, you will see Scan Order, Speech Off, Sound Off and Groups On.  To change the Scan Order, click on Scan Order in the second row. , If necessary, you can use the Move Menu choice to move the popup menu so that it is out of the way.  The Bottom or Bottom Right positions are probably best, so that the popup menu will be out of the way when you start reading a page and usually disappear by the time you get to the bottom of the screen. , When reading a book in the iBooks app, it's better to reverse the scan direction, so that the highlight will arrive at the Progress Bar at the bottom of the page more quickly, allowing you to turn a page by clicking and waiting for the scanner highlight to move two times (as opposed to five or six times with forward scanning, depending on whether the iPad is in Landscape or Portrait mode), before clicking twice again to finish turning the page., When scanning in Item Mode, it's faster to group choices together into groups.
   
   If you see Groups Off, click on this icon to turn Groups On., Note:  these instructions are based on experience with a Windows 7 desktop PC, but they could be adapted for use with other PC's. , As mentioned above, Bookshare’s DAISY files will not work with iBooks, which uses the EPUB format.  To convert DAISY files to the EPUB format, a range of options area available; DAISYtoEPUB is recommended ($99).  You should install this program on the same computer where you have installed the iTunes program that you use to control your iPad.  The seller does not allow multiple installations. , When you install the DAISYtoEPUB program on a desktop computer, you may experience problems with Java, which is required for the program to work.  For example, you may see the error message:  “Could not create the Java virtual machine.”  To fix this problem, you may have to increase the amount of RAM allocated to Java to 1024 MB, rather than the 512 MB suggested in this footnote., To download books from Bookshare, use the computer where you have installed DAISYtoEPUB.  Make sure that you are not logged in to Bookshare on any other devices.  Then go to bookshare.org and log in.  Type the name of the author or book that you would like to download in the search box at the top of the page and push Enter.  When you see a book that you like, click on the Download button to the far right of that title.  After the file finishes downloading, you should find it in the Downloads folder on your computer. , To convert books to the EPUB format, open the DAISYtoEPUB program.  When this program opens, you will see 3 boxes to complete.  The second box is already completed for you, and you don’t need to change it, if you don’t mind storing EPUB books in the My Documents folder.  To complete the first box, click the Browse button to the right of the box and find the book that you want to convert, located in the Downloads folder.  If you double-click on this title, both the first and third boxes will get filled in automatically.  Then click on Convert and wait for the file to be converted to EPUB and stored in the My Documents folder. , To do this, start iTunes by clicking on the icon on your laptop’s desktop.  In iTunes, click on File, Add File to Library.  (If you do not see "File" in iTunes, click on the tiny black and white box in the extreme upper left corner of the screen, and then click on Add File to Library.
   
   Alternatively, you may use Control-B to to make "File" visible in the Windows version of iTunes.) Locate the book you want to transfer inside the My Documents folder and double-click on it.  It will be transferred to iTunes. , To transfer your EPUB books to the iPad, start iTunes and then connect the iPad to your computer.  After awhile, a small icon representing your iPad will appear on the main screen of iTunes, in the upper left hand corner of the screen.  Click on this icon.  In the next screen, click on Books in the list on the left.  On the right side of the screen, make sure you have selected Sync Books, All Books (or at least Selected Books, with your new book checked).  If you make any changes to these settings, sync the iPad again.  After the iPad sync is complete, click on the icon in the upper left corner, next to your iPad’s name, which ejects the iPad.  Then disconnect the iPad and open the iBooks app on the iPad.  You should see your new book listed in iBooks. , If you find that the horizontal Progress Bar (long thin line) at the bottom of the screen in iBooks has been replaced by a vertical line on the right side of the screen, that means that someone must have accidentally turned on Scrolling View in iBooks.
   
   Scrolling View will cause the Progress Bar to appear on the right side of the screen, and this will make it much more difficult for you to turn pages.
   
   To correct this problem, click on the AA icon at the top of the screen in iBooks, and then turn off Scrolling View.
   
   If you are using only the pillow switch to perform this action, you will now find yourself "stuck in a box," unable to exit the menu that pops up when you click on the AA icon.
   
   To get out of this box, see the instructions below. , If you ever find that clicking on the pillow switch doesn’t do anything at all, make sure that the Tecla Shield has power and is turned on.
   
   If that isn't the problem, reboot the iPad by pressing the large Home button on the face of the iPad and the Power button on the side of the iPad together for at least 10 seconds.  After the screen becomes dark, wait another 10-20 seconds or so.
   
   If the machine doesn't come back on again by itself, push the iPad’s side Power button briefly to turn it back on. , When you are in item scanning mode and using iBooks, sometimes you may find yourself stuck inside a box and unable to get out.  You will know that you are stuck inside a box if the highlight only flashes on a single box of text, or if it flashes on one box of text and then on another, but it doesn’t flash on other options on the page, so that you are unable to turn pages. , To reproduce this condition of being stuck inside a box, so that you may practice how to deal with it, first turn the pillow switch OFF (or turn the screen switch OFF, if you are using a screen switch in Caretaker Practice Mode).
   
   You may do this either by triple-clicking on the Start button or by going to the iPad’s Settings > General > Accessibility, Switch Control, Switch Control Off.  Next open iBooks and open a book in iBooks.  Notice that when you touch the screen, the Progress Bar (long thin line) at the bottom of the screen will appear and disappear.  When the line is no longer present, turn the pillow switch or the screen switch back ON, either by triple-clicking on the Start button or by going to Settings > General > Accessibility, Switch Control, Switch Control On.  You should now find yourself stuck inside a box. , If you are stuck inside a box, change from item scanning to point scanning.  Carefully select a point near the bottom of the screen, where you know that the Progress Bar (the long thin line) should be, and click on Tap.  The Progress Bar will reappear. , Next click on an Oval icon and go to the first submenu, where you can change from point scanning back to item scanning. , Click on Groups Off, if that is being displayed, or on Groups On, if that is being displayed.  That should fix the problem of being stuck inside a box.
   
   However, if you now find yourself with Groups Off, that will slow scanning down, and you will probably want to turn Groups On again.
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   Step 3: such as a puff sip switch.

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   Step 4: Consider which app you will use for reading on the iPad.

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   Step 5: Think about where you will access books to read on the iPad.

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   Step 6: Plug the pillow switch into the input on the side of the switch control device.

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   Step 7: Turn the power switch on the side of the switch control on.

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   Step 8: Using the tip of a pen

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   Step 9: click the “+” button 30 times.

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    Step 10: Adjust the default text size for the iPad to a setting that is legible for the person who will be using the iPad.

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    Step 11: Go to Settings

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    Step 12: Bluetooth.

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    Step 13: Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut.

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    Step 14: Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Switch Control > Switches

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    Step 15: Add New Switch

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    Step 16: External.

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    Step 17: Adjust all your Switch Control settings to your liking.

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    Step 18: Turn Switch Control on.

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    Step 19: Take a moment to understand Item Scanning and Point Scanning.

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    Step 20: If you are doing Point Scanning

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    Step 21: practice changing to Item Scanning.

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    Step 22: If you are doing Item Scanning

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    Step 23: practice changing to Point Scanning.

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    Step 24: Practice reading on an iPad in Caretaker Practice Mode

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    Step 25: using a Screen Switch rather than a Pillow Switch.

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    Step 26: Make sure all the settings are ready for use: Make sure that Switch Control is on.

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    Step 27: Get the iPad on.

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    Step 28: Open an app.

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    Step 29: Move to another screen.

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    Step 30: Use a menu to move back to the Home Screen.

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    Step 31: Hold the pillow switch down to move back to the Home Screen.

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    Step 32: Make sure that Item Scanning is on.

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    Step 33: Click on iBooks to open it.

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    Step 34: Use the first submenu to get to Home

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    Step 35: Point/Item Mode

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    Step 36: or Settings.

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    Step 37: Use the second submenu to get to Move Menu

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    Step 38: Scan Order

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    Step 39: or Groups.

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    Step 40: Use the Move Menu choice.

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    Step 41: Use the Scan Order choice to reverse the direction of the scan.

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    Step 42: Use the Groups setting.

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    Step 43: Use a PC.

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    Step 44: Convert the DAISY files from Bookshare to the EPUB format.

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    Step 45: Fix problems with Java

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    Step 46: if they occur.

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    Step 47: Download books from Bookshare.

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    Step 48: Convert your books the the EPUB format.

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    Step 49: Transfer your converted EPUB books to iTunes.

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    Step 50: Transfer books from iTunes to your iPad.

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    Step 51: Turn off Scrolling View.

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    Step 52: Reboot your iPad.

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    Step 53: Get out of a box.

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    Step 54: Practice how to get out of a box.

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    Step 55: Change from item scanning to point scanning.

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    Step 56: Go to the first submenu.

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    Step 57: Finally

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    Step 58: turn Groups on or off if needed.

Detailed Guide

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