Getting to Know Kickback

Vibrational feedback comes from Kickback, the haptic accessibility application. Most users consider it an important part of their Eyes-Free experience.

What Kickback Does

Kickback emits short vibrational bursts when the navigational control moves focus to a new item, when buttons on the touch screen are pressed, when controls are activated using the physical keyboard, when the state of a checkbox changes, and often when the screen refreshes.

This is very helpful as it can provide feedback when speech isn't available. For example, when users are arrowing around a screen that is fully or partially inaccessible, it signals that focus is on a new icon, and when users must activate buttons on the touch screen by dead reckoning, it lets them know they've successfully found the soft control.

Turning on Kickback

To turn on Kickback, do the following:

1. Unlock the screen if necessary.
2. While on the Home screen, press the Menu button. This may be a soft button on the touch screen or a physical key on the handset.
3. Navigate to the Settings item and activate it by pressing the selector .
4. Navigate to the Accessibility item and activate it by pressing the selector .
5. Navigate past the Accessibility and other options to Kickback.
6. Check the Kickback option by pressing the selector .
7. Return to the Home screen by pressing the Back button several times or by pressing the Home button once. Back and Home may be soft buttons on the touch screen or physical keys on the handset.