Need an app to open Samsung Tablet accessibility settings

[Pete Barnes]

I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 8 pro, love it the more I use it. But I have a problem I hope someone can resolve for me:

I have a vision problem, whereby I must frequently use the Accessibility/Negative Colors setting in order to be able to read the text information on the screen; this helos nme because I have great difficulty reading, say, black text (or anything else) on a white background, whereas I can easily read white text (or other light colors) info on a black background. It is a contrast problem of sorts, not a low-vision problem, I have a hard time with bright backgrounds.

So the Accessibility setiing for the tablet used to switch to Negative Colors works great for me, but when in that mode, sometimes a screen will display partially as negative, partially as normal. For example, in an ereader (my Kindle App), the main text body may display fine in the negative colors mode, but a popup menu may display in normal mode. When this happens I have to use the Settings app or the Power switch press/hold shortcut to invoke the Power popup screen for the Tablet, select Accessibilty Settings which invokes the Accessibility screen, then switch off the negative colors, then return to the original screen to read the content that is now legible to me, then repeat this process to return to the Negative Colors setting when I want to resume reading the main text.

I can do this switching back and forth pretty easily using either the Samsung Settings app (which is accessible in a background screen that I simply swipe down from the top) or use the Power switch press/hold popup screen that allows me to invoke (amomg other things such as Power Off) the Accessibility screen directly.

This is pretty easy, but when you have to do this more than once or twice while reading a book or anything else, it sure would be much quicker (well, less hassle anyway) if I could eliminate the intermediate steps and simply tap on an app (that I can place on that background page) that immediately displays the Samsung Accessibility Settings page (or even invokes that Power button popup screen) where I can switch modes with one tap and then one tap to return to my book now in the opposite color mode.

So... is there any way to do this, any app that can invoke that Power switch popup screen or directly invoke the Aceesibility screen itself? I would be eternally grateful for such an app, willing to pay any reasonable cost for it if necessary.

Pete B

 

[vosg]

Tasker can do that. You will need the Auto Shortcut plugin as well.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.dinglisch.android.taskerm

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.joaomgcd.autoshortcut

1. Open Tasker and tap the Tasks tab, then the little plus sign to create a new task, and give it a name, eg Accessibility.

2. You are now in the (empty) task you created, so tap plus to add a new command. Select Display, then Status bar, Collapsed. Tap the top left Back arrow when ready.

3. Tap plus again to add a second command. This time, select Plugin, Auto Shortcut, tap the pencil icon to configure, and scroll down to Settings. Select Accessibility Click OK. If Autoshortcut asks to unlock the app, you skip that. Click the checkmark icon to save, then the top left back arrow.

4. Your task should now look like this:

1. Status bar
collapsed

2. Autoshortcut
configuration Settings : accessibility

5. Tap the Play icon at the bottom to test the task.

6. If all works well, return to the Tasker main screen (where you see the Profiles, Tasks etc tabs) and click the three dots menu, then Preferences.

7. Tap the Monitor tab. Here you can put your task in the notification drawer for easy access: enable Notification Access Buttons, and click one of the 3 looking glass icons. Select your task, and return to the main screen by tapping the top left back arrow.

That's it. Now all you have to do to access Accessibility Options, is pull down your notification panel and tap the button.

Maybe, when you're in Tasker preferences, you might want to set it to a dark theme (it's under the UI tab).

Enjoy!

 

[Pete Barnes]

Sounds good, but it is not working the way you state. I managed to install the two apps, then used tasker to start a new app. then did steps 1 and 2 as you state (although it took me a few attempts to figure out how to change the Status Bar command from the (apparently default) setting Display to Collapsed. But then when I tried to do step 3, it diod not go as you describe. I selected PlugIn, Autosshortcut, that caused it to add a Timeout action (which I do not know how to handle), and when I then tapped the pencil, it pops up a list of "Pick your shortcut" to various items like Activities, Book, etc. the closest item I found on the list is Task Shorcutt so I select that hen the screen displays a list of actions labeled "joamgcd apps" none of which items include a Settings selection. If I just back out of those screens, I end up back at the Configuration/Timeout screen with the pencil. If I select "Activities" it seems to popup a list of all the various functions, but it is not the way you describe, I do not know what to do, and the "list" appears to want me to purchase something called autoapps to eliminate ads.

So I simply cancelled that entire action using the CANCEL button at the top of the app. BTW how do I delete that task?

I don't know if I have done anything wrong, but I am dead in the water. Please tell me what is going on because I think the tasker app should be what I need. Now, I am using this on a Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8 which uses Android v 4.4.2, not the latest Sam tablet that uses the new Lollipop(?) version 5, if that matters.

Help, please!!

Pete B

 

[vosg]

I don't know where you went wrong, so I made this video for you. You can pause if necessary.

Accessibility shortcut:

You can long-press a task if you want to delete it.

 

[AZgl1500]

I don't know where you went wrong, so I made this video for you. You can pause if necessary.

Accessibility shortcut:

You can long-press a task if you want to delete it.

vosg;

I want to personally thank you for the great help on Tasker.
I bought it, and then was totally stumped.... it was useless to me, and when I asked how to make it work, all I got was a bunch of ass-holes telling me how dumb I was....

Thanks for that video, I am now going to resurrect Tasker out of my App Drawer and learn to do something with it.

I am using MacroDroid which can do a lot, but it does have its' own limitations.

 

[Pete Barnes]

I will have to study your video very carefully, because my version of the Tasker and AutoShortcut appa do not show the same screens as yours in some cases. And after running the video in a full screen YouTube vision, I see some steps that you did not mention being performed (such as the steps on displays).

So I will give it a try, may take some time. Thanks for the help. I am a very new Android user, so all of this is new to me....

Pete B

 

[K Rize]

You could try Nova launcher's shortcuts

 

[Pete Barnes]

You could try Nova launcher's shortcuts

I have Nova Launcher Prime. How do I do what you state? I have tried several "autoshortcut" apps but they are all confusing to a newbie like me. I do not even know how to (as one article mentioned) "open my widgets drawer". How do I do that??? I swipe my home screen and other screens slide in from the left or right; what are those other screens (they look similar to my home screen)?

See how bad it is? I have no idea about doing this stuff, I need step by step instructions.

HELP :=)

Pete B

 

[Pete Barnes]

Well, some progress... I did manage to create na shortcut via the Nova launcher, so now I have a shortcut to Accessibility options on my Nova homepage. But this is not quite the same as using the Power button to call up the Power/Accessibility/AirplaneMode/Restart dialog whereby you can go to change Accessibility settings from >>within<< another application **without shutting down that application**, then return to the running application after changing the setting. I can get by with this limitation, it just means I have to use the two softkeys < and > to return to Home, then use my shortcut to go to the Accessibility, then use the < softkey to return to my running app.

Thanks for resolving my problem!! I may now make up some further shortcuts, like adding the Power shortcut.

Peter B