- How to choose a phone for a blind person?
- Can a completely blind person use a touchscreen smartphone?
- Can a blind person control their smartphone with their voice?
- Are there special phones for the blind that are fully adapted to the capabilities of the blind user?
We will answer these and other questions about phones for the blind
"Invented the telephone for the blind"! Such announcements appear in the media with enviable frequency and regularity. It’s just amazing how many hunters once again invent the wheel and how many non-professional journalists, without studying the issue, pick up and inflate another “sensation” about a “unique” discovery ..
Let's see what's really going on with the phone for the blind!
The need for communication for a blind person with their relatives, friends and acquaintances does not seem to raise questions.
- But how can a blind person dial a number?
- How to find it in the notebook?
- How to blindly type an SMS or, moreover, read it?
Let's start with history:
In the era of rotary telephones, the subscriber had to insert his finger into the corresponding hole of the telephone disk and stretch it clockwise to the limiter, then release and dial other digits of the telephone number in the same way. Remembered? It seems so long ago, although many older people still have such devices. It was quite simple to use them blindly - you had to count the required number of holes in the disk by touch and dial the number.
After rotary telephones, push-button telephones appeared. It was also easy for a blind person to "figure out" the right button, even if it wasn't labeled with tactile cues and Braille numerals. Fortunately, there were only 12 such buttons on the remote control. When more functional push-button phones appeared with caller ID, alarm clocks, changing melodies, and so on, special voiced versions of such phones (AON) appeared almost immediately, the most popular among which were models "Rus". Not all functions were voiced, but a blind person could hear the number he dialed and the number of the subscriber calling him, could find out the time, turn on and listen to the answering machine.
When radios and mobile phones replaced fixed telephones, the situation for blind people worsened. For more than 10 years, both mobile phones and radios have not been adapted for use by blind subscribers.
Approximately in 2005-2006, almost simultaneously, smartphone models under the Symbian operating system appeared on the market, on which it became possible to install special voice access programs, as well as mobile phones of the company Samsung, for which special firmware patches were written, allowing you to voice the phone menu, address book, dialer, and more. The first phone to be voiced was the Samsung SGH-X100 . Since 2006, more than 10 models of the Korean manufacturer have been announced, the latest of which is the Samsung GT-E1200M , released in 2012. Further work, according to the staff of the Slepsung project, is underway, however, in recent years, no new voiced Samsung models for blind people have yet appeared.
For voiced smartphones, new speech access programs were written for each new version of Symbian, the most popular of which were "Talks" and "Mobile speak". Smartphones, despite their high cost, were quite popular among the blind, especially young people. This is despite the fact that, in terms of functionality, Symbian-based smartphones could not boast of a significant advantage compared to the top Slepsung models, which also had MP3 players, voice recorders, the ability to install external memory, and listen to the radio. However, there were still advantages: the ability to use the GPS module and navigation programs, the choice of voice synthesizers, the ability to access the Internet, use e-mail, Skype and other applications.
The next factor that changed the distribution of the market for mobile communication devices for the blind was the development of Apple, which presented the first iPhones with touch screens in 2006. And if at first no one took seriously the possibility of using such phones by the blind, then a few years later, thanks to Apple's efforts in this direction, special adaptation programs, high-quality speech synthesizers and services for blind users were developed. By 2010, Apple devices were out of competition in terms of adaptation and functionality for blind people, but due to the high price of the iPhone, blind people most often preferred Symbian smartphones or voiced Samsung phones to them.
Since 2010, a new serious player has appeared on the touch phone market - Google with the Android operating system and a fairly large number of Android smartphones from many manufacturers. And if at the beginning of Google was in the role of catching up, in terms of standards for adapting devices for the blind, since 2014 it is already difficult to determine the leader in this regard. Due to the openness of the system, a lot of useful programs are being written for Android, including those for the blind. And the accepted standard for manufacturers of mobile communications has become the presence in most phones of special tools for people with hearing and vision problems . Some manufacturers, especially Chinese ones, sin by cutting out "superfluous", in their opinion, functions for the sake of the speed of their devices and freeing up space. However, reputable companies are even trying to contribute to the adaptation of devices for the blind and supplement the standard Android toolkit with their useful applications, voice synthesizers.
And what about special phones for blind people?
Slepsung
Talking phone NOKIA
Under the guise of new Nokia push-button phones, models E51, E52, N70 and other models, very old smartphones that we mentioned above are being sold. They were produced in 2005-2008. No one resumed their production in China, the manufacturer did not release special speaking versions, with the exception of the functions of voicing the incoming number and dialing number. All this is assembled on a very old element base from a landfill with home-made screen access programs and very poor-quality speech synthesis.Elari, LandRower and other Russian-Chinese crafts
Is everything so bad with special phones for blind people?
Despite the rather large audience of blind mobile users in the world, none of the major players has bothered to develop a special device for blind users. There were several different projects at the level of small companies and startups. All of them are not widely used due to various technical and software problems, high cost and low functionality. This situation was observed until the end of 2018, when a new player with a new device appeared on the mobile communication market for blind users.
Phone for blind people BlindShell Classic
The BlindShell Classic, a specially designed feature phone for the blind, has set new standards for mobile phone accessibility for the blind and visually impaired. excellent tactilely distinguishable keyboard, excellent speech synthesis, smartphone functionality and amazing ease of learning and use. Large fonts, icons, a choice of different color schemes make this phone a good choice for people with little vision left. Voice commands and voice typing enhance user experience by enhancing phone control for blind and visually impaired users. It is difficult to write briefly about the features and benefits of BlindShell Classic , so we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the description and parameters of the phone using the link in the header title.
What should a modern blind person choose?
Modern active blind people want and can use the full potential of modern means of communication to solve everyday problems at work, study and at home. For many, a mobile phone / smartphone has long ceased to be a phone in the first place. The possibilities of the Internet, instant messengers, e-mail exchange, work with financial applications, etc. are much more often used.
First-tier smartphone manufacturers are trying to keep their devices and software accessible to blind and visually impaired users. Samsung and Apple continue to be leaders in accessibility.
Accessibility and convenience of smartphones for blind users
Modern touchscreen smartphones from leading manufacturers are available for totally blind people.
Accessibility, however, is not always synonymous with convenience. For quick and comfortable work with smartphones, it is desirable to have two hands free, silence for good audibility of the voice synthesizer and for correct recognition of speech commands and typing. Ideal conditions can only be at home or in a quiet office. To use the device while standing in transport or running on the street, you always have to resort to certain tricks: stop, hang a bag of food on your forearm, or try to hold a cane or your hand luggage under your armpit. And since we are talking about active blind people, whose activity is almost always associated with their active mobility and moving around the city, various organizations, using a smartphone on the go is their daily feat and ... inconvenience.
A specialized push-button telephone for blind users, in these conditions, is excellent, if not as the main interaction device, then certainly as an actively used second phone.
And which phone is suitable for blind people of middle and older age?
Unfortunately, mastering a touchscreen smartphone for many blind users remains an overwhelming or not very easy and enjoyable task. Often there are problems in women who are not predisposed to technical tasks. Not everyone’s temperament allows them to calmly and methodically master the device, make mistakes, return, correct typos or exit accidentally activated programs, undo completed actions and curse the day when their beloved Slepsung broke down and had to master this torture device.
The myth of full voice control is quickly dispelled, since the intellectual abilities of virtual assistants are not yet ideal and perform only auxiliary and simplest functions. In this case, clearly, a phone for the blind with a keypad and speech synthesis will be the number one choice without competition. Moreover, he is able to perform most of the tasks of an unpretentious user and much faster and easier than a touch smartphone.
Special phone for blind people
In fact, the only modern specialized phone for blind and visually impaired people is the Czech phone BlindShell . With a two-year factory warranty, a clear interface, clear synthesized voice, extensive features and the prospect of upgrades with new features. And here it can be argued that its relatively high price is fully justified by the thoughtfulness, functionality and quality of the device, which will serve you for many years and replace a voice recorder, radio, player, color determiner and object marker, TV and calculator, flashlight and timer, navigator and much more. .