Smart phone with sight loss

Smart phone: the best accessibility gadget for sight loss in the palm of your hand

There are so many extremely expensive gadgets on the market for helping us visually impaired people read printed materials or magnify anything too small for us to see.  I have a few from when I first lost my sight.  But as someone who still has a small amount of sight I actually have everything I need in the palm of my hand with my smartphone.

Apple have led the way in accessibility on their phones and many people will advise use of Apple products if you're visually impaired.  But over the last few years Android have caught up which is great news for people like me who don't want to spend an arm and a leg on our phones. 

I am not an expert, I want to make that clear from the outset, there are lots ofaof which provide detailed instructions online - just have a Google.  But I will share what I use and how it works for me in straight forward non technical language.

It's worth saying that I have managed to help people in their nineties, who've never used technology, using smartphones; and yes, they've been amazed how wonderful it is - especially in these Lockdown times.

For clarity: I have a small amount of usable sight. I'm registered blind but I'm not completely blind.  My sight is blurry, I can only read size 30 printed text and I can't see faces, but I do have some sight.    

Settings - System - Accessibility

This is the location for all the inbuilt accessibility options on an Android phone.  I'll quickly go through them below.

Font size

I have it set largest, there are five options you can choose from to make it right for you.

Display size

Again set to largest but there are five options.

Magnification of screen

I have this set to triple tap for magnification.  It means if I triple tap the screen I can then pinch the screen with my fingers to zoom in and out.  To move around the screen you just use two fingers instead of one.

Select to speak

This is a great part of the accessibility features. By selecting text the phone will read it to you, and it's surprisingly unrobotic.

Text to speech

Text to speech does exactly what it says, it reads the text aloud.  I use it all the time using my ear buds.  It's particularly helpful when I'm on the go.  And if I'm on my own I like to use the microphone on my keyboard to convert my speech into text.  In fact I'm using that right now! 

Colour inversion

My sight varies a lot depending on the amount of light in the room or on a screen.  Sometimes I invert the colours on the screen to help.

Talk back

I really struggle with talk back but it's essential if you can't see at all.  It literally speaks what's on screen.

Other things that help me use my smartphone

Magnification of text/images

I use my phone camera to magnify things I want to see.  I take a photo and then pinch and zoom to see the detail.  Modern smartphone cameras are amazing quality and this works really well for me.

Some people like to use apps for magnifying.  There are all sorts of magnifiers apps and it's best to download them and try to see which you prefer.  Here's an article I wrote a few years about some 

https://llmcalling.blogspot.com/2015/11/digital-magnifiers-on-s5-reviewed.html

Brightness

I mentioned above that the brightness of a room or screen makes a huge difference to what I can see.  I use my brightness setting ALL THE TIME!  It goes up, it goes down, it goes up again.  On Android phones you can set the volume buttons on the sides to control brightness, or, as I do, you can pull down the top menu and slide the brightness setting there.

And the final top tip if you're reading this and wondering if you could use a smartphone to connect to people and get online - or if you're helping other people….

Play!

See it as play.

I promise can't make mistakes that can't be put right.

Have a go with a friend or family member.

See it as a toy and don't be afraid of it.

Before you know it you could be emailing family, what's apping friends, zooming with church or even videoing yourself on tictoc.  The world is you oyster.