| What are Text Labels?
Digit-Eyes text labels are a particular kind of bar code
that you create on the Digit-Eyes website and, using standard
address labels, print on the printer attached to your computer
system. This type of label contains text that can be
voiced by the Digit-Eyes application on your phone. You do not need to have a
phone connection or an Internet connection to scan this type of label
because the Digit-Eyes application on your phone is capable of
reading the label to you.
There are two steps to making and using a text label.
- You create text labels by visiting the Digit-Eyes website,
specifying the type of address label you have and entering the
content that you want to have put in the bar codes that you
print on the labels. The website will format the codes
for you and you'll be able to print them on address labels using the printer
attached to your computer. When you want to label something,
you just affix the bar code label to it.
- To read a text label, start the Digit-Eyes application on your phone.
Click the 'scan' button and use the phone to scan the label. When the code
on the label is recognized, the Digit-Eyes application on your phone will
read the content of the label out loud to you.
When are text
labels useful? Digit-Eyes text labels are useful when you know in advance
what you want the label to say or if you want to create labels
that many people can read with their phones (perhaps inventory
tags, labels that identify your canning or even identification
labels for critical household papers.) The content of a text
label is public because anyone who has Digit-Eyes on their
phone can read these labels.
More about text
labels...
What
is involved in this training section? The purpose of this
section is to acquaint you with the process of making and
scanning a Digit-Eyes text label and to let you practice
scanning until the process comes easily.
There are two steps to this process:
- You'll start by specifying what you want the label to
say. The website will create a worksheet that
contains your code and will open a new
window that contains your worksheet. Using the printer attached to your
computer, you'll print the worksheet.
- Using the worksheet you've printed, you'll use the Digit-Eyes application on your phone to practice scanning
the worksheet so you learn how to get the phone to 'capture'
the bar code image. Each time the code is captured,
Digit-Eyes will use VoiceOver on your phone to read the
contents of the bar code aloud to you.
You should repeat this exercise until you are able to scan
your sample text label dependably.
Let's make and scan a
code: What would you like your bar code to
say? You can enter up to 100 characters in the text input box
below. This text will be put into a single bar code on your
worksheet (we'll warn you if your content is too long!)
When you click the "Print label in new window" button above, a new window will open
that has a worksheet. On the worksheet, you'll find a Digit-Eyes bar
code that contains the text you entered above plus an abbreviated
version of these instructions in large print.
Print the worksheet and place it on a flat surface in
reasonably good light. Ordinary indoor light is fine;
Digit-Eyes will warn you if the light is not bright enough to
get a good scan.
The scan distance for Digit-Eyes codes increases with the
size of the code -- the bigger the code, the farther away you
can be and still scan it. Using the iPhone 3GS, the smallest
codes should be scanned at a distance of 2-4 inches (5 cm - 10
cm). A code of 4 inches / 10 cm. can be scanned of a
distance of 2 feet / .66 meter. With the iPhone 4, you can
scan from about twice as far away (4-8 inches for a small code)
and with the iPhone 5, this increases to 8-12 inches for a small code).
Start the Digit-Eyes application on your phone and click the 'Scan' button on
the screen. The Digit-Eyes code that appears on the worksheet is about
1 inch / 2.5 cm. square in size. The top left corner of the
code is located about .25 inch / 5 cm. from the top corner of
the worksheet. You need to start with the camera of the phone close to the
area on the worksheet where the code is located and then move
the camera away using a slow, floating motion. This motion
triggers the autofocus mechanism in the camera which, in turn,
allows the Digit-Eyes app on your phone to capture the code. Please note that the item you are
scanning does not need to be perfectly straight to the camera;
Digit-Eyes can read bar codes in any orientation.
You will hear a beep when Digit-Eyes starts scanning, a recurring clicking
sound while it is scanning and another tone when it finds the
code. If you do not get scan results right away, move your
phone a little farther away or move it slowly to the right or
the left above the worksheet.
After you hear the second tone, Digit-Eyes will voice the
content of the code you created.
If you would like to create more codes for practice, please feel free to do
so.
Digit-Eyes also allows you to create special serial number
labels that can be used to make and retrieve audio recordings
on your phone. These are called 'Audio Labels.' If you are
comfortable with scanning text labels, you are now ready to
try recording an audio label. Click here to go to
the next step and make an audio label.
Tutorial: www.digit-eyes.com/textLabels
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