Cell Phone For the Blind? 141
brigc writes "Here's one that's got me stumped. A friend of mine who is blind asked me for help tracking down a cell phone for him. He's interested in a flip phone with well-defined separations between the keys, and as much voice control as possible. Battery life is the only other thing he mentioned. Preferably something that would work on AT&T's network in the US. We spent part of the afternoon in a local AT&T store checking out all the flip phones they had and didn't find one he really loved. Anyone have any ideas?"
There was a story some months back about a phone that would read to you by interpreting pictures from the built-in camera, but it doesn't have much information about usability. I'm sure it'd be handy to have some sort of text-to-speech option for common cell phone features like caller ID and text messaging, or even just reading menu names.
Check web for partially-sighted people's orgs (Score:5, Informative)
Here's a possibility (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.screenlessphone.com/ [screenlessphone.com]
Motorola F3 (Score:5, Informative)
did you search? (Score:3, Informative)
Check out http://www.codefactory.es/en/ (Score:4, Informative)
Check out http://www.codefactory.es/en/
I have a blind daughter and she uses an Nokia N95 and it works verey good, i also know that there is some OCR software for Nokia N82 coming up soon which can read a photo, that could be an even better choice.
Re:Here's a possibility (Score:5, Informative)
And here's an article from the American Foundation for the Blind. It's from 2004 but it mentions the above phone as well as two others: http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw050406 [afb.org]
flip phone with large keys (Score:3, Informative)
He might find this meets some of his needs:
Jitterbug [jitterbug.com]
However, it looks like you have to also buy service through them.
What about the Jitterbug (Score:3, Informative)
I know nothing about this phone,
http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/samsung-jitterbug-dial-sph/4505-6454_7-32115117.html [cnet.com]
but see it recommended often for older folks and those with poor eyesight. A real barebones phone, with limited features, big keys, and decent battery life.
hth,
jeff
HTC with Windows Mobile (Score:5, Informative)
Voice Dialing (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Personal experience (Score:4, Informative)
Have the blind person try the phone himself (Score:2, Informative)
A couple of weeks ago I helped a blind guy, with a service dog, board a commuter train. I watched as, later, he whipped out a phone and called his party to let them know that he's on the way.
I don't remember what model it was, but it looked like a fairly recent phone, with all the usual bells and whistles on it. So, even though I don't know the model, there are definitely some out there which blind people can easily use.
Blind people often have a heightened sense of touch. I'd say you're probably looking for a phone that's on the larger side, not a tiny crumb with teeny keys; but rather something substantial, with individual dial keys that are slightly raised, and can be easily felt, by touch.
The blind person might need some initial help to set up speed dial keys, but once that's done 99% of the time he'll need to press only a couple of keys to do the desired function.
If he didn't like any phones in one AT&T store, he should go to another. Different stores have different phones. Or, if living in a large city, try independent stores that sell unlocked GSM phones (that can be used with AT&T or T-Mobile, here in the US). That's going to be a slightly larger hit in the pocket, but you'll have a larger selection of phones to try out.
Windows Mobile and Voice Commander (Score:4, Informative)
Hands down the best voice commands I've ever used in a phone is Voice Commander for Windows Mobile 5. (I believe it's now included with WM6 as standard.) Not only does it do voice dialling of your contacts and numbers by simply saying "Dial 555 1234" but it also gives you control over the launching apps, mp3 playback, reading SMS messages, signal status and time and appointments.
For a full list take a look at the Microsoft website. [microsoft.com]
It also doesn't need any training or any setup you just press and speak and it works surprisingly well.
As for hardware that'll depend on your budget and availability but there are lots of options for Windows Mobile powered phones including candy bars and and flip phones.
for Symbian Series 60 and Series 80: (Score:1, Informative)
http://www.nuance.com/talks/premium.asp
RAZR2 (Score:5, Informative)
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Pantech Breeze (Score:2, Informative)
Just got my dad a Pantech Breeze from AT&T. It's quad-band GSM, nop gadgety features (like media/mp3/etc), does voice tags, has large buttons, has 3 dedicated speed-dial buttons (actual buttons, not softkeys), has good battery life, and does bluetooth.
It's designed for old people, not blind people, but it has everything you described.
Re:pointless (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Here's a possibility (Score:5, Informative)
Here's another link with 4 phones with large buttons.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/technology/2008/07/29/4-cellphones-for-seniors.html [usnews.com]
Re:Here's a possibility (Score:3, Informative)
Along those lines, I had listened to an NPR snip about this very thing quite a while back. There isn't much more information than this but, well:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18504117 [npr.org]
Kurzweil (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Here's a possibility (Score:3, Informative)
sadly, $250 off the retail price with 2 year commitment is standard for all the wireless carriers. and i mean all of them. ironically, for 1 year commitment you get about $200 off, so most phones are priced just over $200 or more, so that the 'basic' phone is free, the slightly better model free with 2 years, and the premium phones cost $$.
and a phone designed for the blind is a 'premium' although the phone probably runs linux, just like most of the other cell phones out there, blind users need something like orca, and making it screen less compensates for having to run text to speech software.
so it's a premium phone at a premium price. it's too bad my phone is discontinued, because it has a nice set of A-Z keys around the 'number keys' the alphabet keys stick out, making it possible to 'feel' your way around the phone, ah well, my phone would require counting bumps to figure out which key is which. ah well, i guess the blind are getting ripped off, because there aren't as many of them as there are sighted people.
Re:Why Not Jitterbug ??? (Score:1, Informative)
And they have operator service which can make calls for you as part of it. So there is the voice-controlled part of it. And they will look things up for you and then make the call, too.
^Seconded. (Score:3, Informative)
My Grandmother is legally blind.
She LOVES her Jitterbug flip phone because she can open it, hit one button (which is easy to find by feel) & tell the Jitterbug Operator which of her contacts she wants to call.
The phone can be programmed with contacts in a "Speed Dial" arrangement, so she can do it herself, but if she can't remember which Speed Dial Number someone is, it's literally one button to get that info read to her by someone who seems to enjoy being a help.
As she put it, it is THE best birthday present she's ever gotten.
It allows her to keep in touch with her family & friends, even as her glaucoma gets worse, and all for a monthly charge that she can afford while living on her Retirement Funds.
If you have a blind family member, friend, relative, or coworker who wants a cell phone that works well, suggest a Jitterbug phone.
I don't work for them, I have no association with the company, other than as the Grandson of a very happy Grandmother who enjoys her new phone.
=)