Re: Prodigy Voice Software Installation Disaster

February 10, 2012

Alan, this is not good. Ruth? Are you reading this? I believe you're savvy

enough to have not been the problem. Unless you've got a hardware issue.

Hopefully Ruth will catch this and contact someone who can provide an answer.

Dave

~~ THE ATTACHÉ -- From Desert Breeze Publishing ~~

Released January, 2012, this debut EBook full-length novel is about a man who

loses his sight, his struggle to find his way, and his growing attraction to a

woman who has a problem of her own. Will Zach be able to climb his mountain

again? Will Jessie find the wandering nomad she thinks she loves? Life is

complicated enough for Zach and Jessie, and a madman on the loose doesn't help.

Learn more about THE ATTACHÉ, and use the direct links to purchase it at:

http://www.authordavidbond.com/newest.php

Diabetes and Visual Impairment: An Update on

Accessible Blood Glucose Meters

AccessWorld ®

Technology and People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired

February 2012 Issue Volume 13 Number 2

Product Evaluations

Diabetes and Visual Impairment: An Update on Accessible Blood Glucose Meters

Darren Burton, Lilly, Enigk, and Ricky Kirkendall

Because of the close relationship between diabetes and vision loss, we in

the AFB Tech product evaluation lab periodically track the accessibility of

the blood glucose meters used to help manage diabetes. Since our January

2008 AccessWorld article on the subject, the number of Americans with vision

loss who have diabetes has risen from 3.2 million to 3.9 million. In the

same time period, the number of accessible meters available on the US market

has also increased; this article reports on the accessibility of those new

meters.

In 2008, we reported that there were five meters available with speech

output, but only one of those had comprehensive speech output that supported

the independent use of all of the features available on the meter. This time

around, we found 13 meters that had speech output, and four of those have

comprehensive speech output supporting all features. This article focuses on

those four meters:

The Prodigy Voice from Prodigy Diabetes Care

The Solo V2 from BioSense Medical Devices

The Fora V20 from Fora Care, Inc

The Fora V22 from Fora Care, Inc

Product Descriptions

Prodigy Voice

The Prodigy Voice ($40) originally came on the market in 2007, and has since

been updated. The meter weighs 2.4 ounces and measures 2.2 by 4.0 by 0.8

inches. The front panel has a 1.2-inch by 1.5-inch monochrome black-on-gray

display with three control buttons below and two directional buttons to the

right. The round power button, also used to enter Memory Recall mode, is in

the right-most position of the control buttons, has a raised " M, " and is

larger than the rest of the buttons. The triangular Settings button is the

center control button and has a raised " S " on it. The Repeat button is the

left control button and has a raised, left-pointing arrow on it. The Repeat

button is used to repeat the last spoken message or test result. The speaker

is located below the control buttons. The directional buttons located to the

right of the display have raised up and down arrows and are used to select

test results and change settings. The Prodigy Voice has a 3.5-millimeter

headphone jack near the bottom right side panel of the meter, which allows

you to connect headphones for privacy or a speaker for amplification. A

mini-USB port below the headphone jack allows you to download the meter's

test results to a computer using Prodigy's download software. There is also

a slot on the bottom left side panel to attach a lanyard for easy carrying.

Fora V20

The Fora V20 from Fora Care, Inc. ($70) weighs 2.08 ounces and measures 3.69

by 2.25 by 0.78 inches. The front panel has a 1.2-inch by 1.5-inch

monochrome black-on-gray display with three buttons below the display, two

directional buttons to the right of the display, and a strip eject slider on

the top right side panel. The Power button is the right-most control button

and has a raised circle with an " M " in the center. This button can be used

to turn the meter on and off and activate the Memory Recall mode. The

Settings button is the middle of the three control buttons and has a raised

square with an " S " in the center. The Recall button is the left-most control

button and is used to repeat the last spoken message or test result. It has

a raised arrow pointing to the left. The directional buttons are located to

the right of the display and have raised arrows pointing up and down. The

directional buttons are used to select different test results in the Memory

Recall mode and to change settings. The speaker is located below the Repeat

and Settings buttons. An eject slider, located on the top right side panel,

ejects test strips when pushed up. A standard 3.5-millimeter headphone jack

on the bottom left side panel allows you to connect headphones for privacy

or a speaker for amplification. Below the headphone jack is a data port with

a rubber cover that reads " PC " in raised letters. The data port is used with

the Fora software to download test results to a computer. There is also a

slot for a lanyard on the bottom right side panel.

Fora V22

The Fora V22 from Fora Care, Inc., ($80) weighs 1.76 ounces and measures

3.75 by 2.00 by 0.44 inches. The Fora V22 has a 1.2-inch by 1.6-inch

circular screen with the strip eject slider to the left and the rest of the

buttons below the display in a circular layout. In the center, the power

button is recessed a little and labeled with a non-tactile " M. " As with the

previously discussed models, the power button on the V22 is also used to

access Memory Recall mode in order to speak previous test results. To the

right of the power button are the Repeat and Settings buttons. The Repeat

button is located above the settings button and is used to repeat the last

spoken message or test result and is labeled with a non-tactile arrow

pointing to the left. The Settings button is located below the Repeat button

and is labeled with a non-tactile " S. " To the left of the power button are

the directional buttons, labeled with non-tactile up and down arrows, which

are used to select different test results and settings. The speaker is

located directly below the power button. The Fora V22 features a built-in

rechargeable battery. A recessed LED light centered on the right side of the

front panel indicates the charging status of the meter. If the meter is

plugged in and charging, the LED is red; if the meter is plugged in and

finished charging, the LED is green. To the left of the display is a

test-strip eject slider with raised bumps; push the slider up to eject a

used test strip. On the bottom panel, there is a 3.5-millimeter headphone

jack on the right that can be used with headphones for privacy or speakers

for amplification. On the left side of the bottom panel is a mini-USB data

port covered by a rubber flap with a raised lightning bolt symbol and raised

USB symbol. The port is used for charging the battery and downloading

information to a computer using Fora's software. On the right corner there

is a slot for a lanyard.

Solo V2

The Solo V2 from BioSense Medical Devices ($17) weighs 2.2 ounces and

measures 3.92 by 2.16 by 0.71 inches. The Solo V2 has a 1.5-inch by 1.9-inch

monochrome black-on-gray display with two buttons below the display and

three buttons on the top of the right side panel. The power button is the

left button located below the display. It is used to turn the meter on and

off and to recall previous test results. It has a non-tactile icon that

resembles a calendar. The repeat button is the right button located below

the display. It is used to repeat the last spoken message or test result and

has a non-tactile arrow pointing left. The buttons below the display are

connected in the middle and are not actually physically separated from each

other. The speaker is located below these buttons. On the top of the right

side panel are two directional buttons and one button for settings. The

directional buttons are located at the very top and have raised arrows

pointing up and down. They are used to select different test results, change

settings, and increase or decrease the volume. The settings button, which is

small and circular, is located below the directional button on the top right

side panel. On the bottom of the right side panel, there is a mini-USB data

port used for downloading test results to a computer using BioSense Medical

Devices' software.

Evaluation Methodology

As with our past evaluations of blood glucose meters, we evaluated how

easily a person who is blind or has low vision could perform each task and

access each feature and function of the meters. We evaluated each meter in

the following seven are as:

Obtaining a blood glucose measurement

Accessing past readings in memory

Settings

Software

Documentation

Warnings and error messages

Low Vision Accessibility

Results

Although all four meters have high-quality recorded human speech that

supports all of their features and functions, there are some differences in

overall ease of use.

Obtaining a Blood Glucose Measurement

The process of obtaining a blood glucose measurement is fully accessible on

all four of these meters, with speech output supporting the process the

entire way. All models:

Speak test results in only 6 or 7 seconds

Have a repeat button in case you miss something that is spoken

Alert you if your reading is out of the normal healthy range

Automatically work with their strips (no need to code the meter for each new

bottle of strips)

Use strips with capillary action, which pulls your blood sample into the

strip, eliminating the need to place a large hanging drop of blood onto the

strip

Have a tactile notch to indicate where to insert the strip; the strips

protrude enough from the meters so that you don't have to clean the meters

after use

All four meters require a small sample of blood: the Prodigy Voice requires

0.6 microliters and the others require 0.7 microliters. The two Fora meters

have a handy eject button, so you can dispose of used strips without

touching them. All but the Solo V2 have a headphone jack, which is useful

for private use or for attaching speakers to amplify the speech for a person

who is hard of hearing.

Although it can be difficult to quantify how tactually identifiable a

control button is, the buttons on the Prodigy Voice and the Fora V20 are

definitely the easiest to distinguish from one another non-visually. The

Solo V2's Memory and Back buttons are right next to each other and were

somewhat difficult to distinguish from one another. Although the buttons on

the Solo V2 for adjusting the Settings are easy to feel, it does take

considerable force to activate them. Most of the buttons on the Fora V22 are

nearly flush with the panel and so are difficult to feel and activate

non-visually. However, even though the buttons on the Solo V2 and Fora V22

can be somewhat difficult to use, proper practice should make those meters

usable with no problems.

Accessing Past Readings in Memory

The memory functions of the Prodigy Voice and both Fora meters are fully

accessible and supported entirely by speech output. It's easy to scroll

through the individual records to hear the glucose level, time, and date for

each reading. The memory function of the Solo V2 is not quite as fully

accessible, because it will not speak the time of each reading, even though

the time is shown visually on the display screen. All four meters will speak

their 7, 14, 21, 28, 60, and 90 day averages, and the Solo V2 can hold 500

readings in memory while the others can hold 450 readings.

Settings

The process for adjusting the various settings on all of these meters is

accessible, with speech supporting all the steps along the way.

On the Prodigy Voice, you can adjust the volume, date, and time, and you can

choose between mg/dL and mmol/L as the measurement unit. The Prodigy Voice's

settings also allow you to delete your readings from memory. The Fora and

Solo V2 meters include those settings and an additional language setting,

and the Solo V2 also has an alarm setting as well.

Software

All four meters have free software available for transferring results to a

PC. The software creates charts and graphs for monitoring your test history

and prepares reports that you can send to your health care provider so he or

she can track your blood sugar levels over time.

The PC software for the two Fora meters is not compatible with screen

reading technology at all, but parts of the Prodigy Voice and Solo V2

software are compatible. The Prodigy Voice has more compatible components

than the Solo V2. Although neither allows a screen reader user to access

reports of test results, both can export the reports to accessible spread

sheets.

Documentation

The Prodigy Voice, the Solo V2, and the Fora V22 all have manuals available

in an electronic format that is compatible with screen reading software used

by people with vision loss. The electronic manual for the Fora V20, however,

contains several graphics and important instructions that can't be accessed.

Warnings and Error Messages

All four meters speak the warnings and error messages that are occasionally

displayed on their screens. You know that you've inserted a strip

incorrectly when the meters do not speak their instructional messages after

insertion. The Prodigy Voice and Solo V2 also have the added benefit of a

" Not enough blood " warning, which can help people with vision loss avoid

false low test results.

Low Vision Accessibility

All of these meters feature monochromatic displays with large fonts that

should be readable by many people with low vision. The Solo V2 leads the way

with very large, 1- inch tall characters; the Prodigy Voice's display uses

0.63-inch characters; the characters on both Fora displays are 0.55 inches

tall. Contrast is another strong indicator of readability, and the Prodigy's

display leads the way with a high 83.6% contrast ratio. The Solo V2 has a

fairly high contrast ratio at 73.9%; the Fora meters have a low 53% ratio.

Of course, the speech output on these meters will accommodate a person whose

vision is such that he or she cannot read the display screen.

As far as the visual nature of the other physical characteristics of these

meters, our testers with low vision said that the labels on the buttons are

too small for most people with low vision to read. Also, the button labels

on both monitors are nearly the same color as the buttons themselves,

providing no contrast to accommodate the reader with low vision. Many people

with low vision may need to use tactile methods to identify and use the

buttons on these meters.

The Bottom Line

All four of the meters evaluated in this article are usable by people with

vision loss, but the testers in our AFB Tech labs found the Prodigy Voice to

be the most accessible of the four. Overall, the Prodigy Voice did a bit

better than the others in the seven areas we tested.

Things have certainly improved with blood glucose meter accessibility since

we began tracking it in our AFB Tech labs nearly ten years ago. Back then,

meters all had displays with poor readability, and the only meter with

speech output that used modern technology was a large $500 contraption you

had to carry around in a backpack. Now we have four highly portable meters

with comprehensive speech output from which to choose, and all of them have

improved visual displays. That said, none of these talking meters are among

the most popular in use today; none of the four we tested are among the top

selling meters as listed by Amazon.com. This is an ongoing problem for

people who have diabetes and vision loss, because the most popular meters,

such as the Accu-Chek Compact and the One Touch Ultra 2, are far more likely

to be prescribed by physicians and are also more likely to be covered by

insurance carriers. When the leading BGM manufacturers build accessible

meters, more people with vision loss will have greater access to the proper

tools to independently manage their diabetes.

Resources

The Websites we provide in the next section for both the Prodigy Voice and

Solo V2 contain some very useful training resources. Also, AFB's own Center

for Vision Loss has developed the following resources:

Diabetes Basics

Diabetes and Vision Loss

The Carroll Center has added a third course on diabetes to its online

offerings. Diabetes and Visual Impairment: A New View for Health

Professionals is currently free, accessible to all who wish to enroll, and

various accrediting agencies provide continuing education credits.

Product Information

Product: Prodigy Voice.

Prodigy Diabetes Care, LLC

P.O. Box 481928

Charlotte, NC 28269

24/7 Customer Care Center:

Sales:

Product: Solo V2.

BioSense Medical Devices

Phone:

E-mail: info@... <mailto:info%40biosensemd.com>

<mailto:info%40biosensemd.com>

6555 Sugarloaf Pkwy, Suite 307-168

Duluth, GA 30097

Product: Fora V20 and Fora V22.

Fora Care, Inc.

810 Lawrence Drive, Suite 104

Newbury Park, CA 91320 USA

Phone: 1- or

E-mail: service@... <mailto:service%40foracare.com>

<mailto:service%40foracare.com>

Comment on This Article

AccessWorld is a trademark of the American Foundation for the Blind.

February 10, 2012

Gee, , now I’m afraid to try it!

_____

From: blind-diabetics

[mailto:blind-diabetics ] On Behalf Of Alan Lemly

Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2012 6:23 PM

To: blind-diabetics

Subject: Prodigy Voice Software Installation Disaster

Well, I downloaded the Prodigy Voice software from the Windows XP link I

posted earlier today. I tried installing it around noon and made sure all

that was running was my ZoomText screen reader program. The installation

dialog box seemed to hang at some point with no movement in the progress bar

and the words Installing prerequisite software on the screen. I think I

noticed it was installing something related to Microsoft SQL server. I

cancelled out of the installation because I thought it was hung. I could not

get my computer to reboot successfully afterward. I couldn't get it to boot

in safe mode or any other mode. Fortunately I make image backups from time

to time and started a restore of one of those after copying important files

that I've changed since the last backup. I'm working from my laptop now

since my image restore takes about 24 hours.

I just wanted to caution those thinking about installing this software and

also to ask what was the experience of others who've installed it.

Alan Lemly

Re: Prodigy Voice Software Download Lings

Anyone try the software lately? Ruth? What say you?

Dave

~~ THE ATTACHÉ -- From Desert Breeze Publishing ~~

Released January, 2012, this debut EBook full-length novel is about a man

who loses his sight, his struggle to find his way, and his growing

attraction to a woman who has a problem of her own. Will Zach be able to

climb his mountain again? Will Jessie find the wandering nomad she thinks

she loves? Life is complicated enough for Zach and Jessie, and a madman on

the loose doesn't help.