People with vision loss can't use most cell phones. It's time to change that.

Posted by Carl Augusto on 7/16/2007 4:49:26 PM

From Paul Schroeder, VP, Programs and Policy Group

Imagine walking into a store, purchasing a new cell phone, and not being able to use most of its features. Frustrating, no? Cell phones have revolutionized life for most people. But for people with vision loss, finding a cell phone with screens we can read or with voice output of essential features like menus or text messages is almost impossible. There is a federal law known as Section 255 that requires cell phones, and other phones too, to be designed to be accessible for people with disabilities. However, far too many cell phone manufacturers and carriers are not taking the law and accessibility seriously, which means the overwhelming majority of phones are not fully usable for people who are blind or have low vision.

AFB wants to change that. We recently started a campaign called 255 Action, where we are helping people with vision loss understand these access requirements and, if necessary, file complaints with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). If you or someone you know has vision loss, join our campaign! AFB will provide you the information you need to find out more about accessibility and file your own complaint with the FCC. Just send us an e-mail at 255action@afb.net, or call us at 212.502.7775.

Making cell phones usable for people with vision loss is not just the legal, and right, thing to do, it's also a smart business decision. With the population aging, and the vision loss numbers expected to multiply, more and more cell phone users will be in the market for an accessible phone. It's time to make vision loss-friendly phones widely available.

Re: People with vision loss can't use most cell phones. It's time to change that.
Posted by Joe Segal [http://joeoneeye.blogspot.com/] on 7/2/2009 3:15:39 PM

It's not just cell phones - I'm having problems finding a "regular" land line phone which my Mom can read, since she has macular degeneration. I'm sensitive to it as well, with glaucoma, monocular vision, & double vision & blind spots in the "good" eye.

Re: People with vision loss can't use most cell phones. It's time to change that.
Posted by Red Maple [http://www.polyglotz.com] on 3/25/2009 12:38:41 PM

Have any body tried this blackberry app Polyglotz? It has tts feature that suppose to help the visually impaired. http://www.polyglotz.com

Re: People with vision loss can't use most cell phones. It's time to change that.
Posted by tim johnson on 10/12/2008 8:00:13 PM

hi, I have thee owasys 22c, the phone made for the needs of blind and vision impaired people. I had verizon servis for 2 years with my old lgvx 4650. I liked that phone, but it did not have what I was looking for for the future as far as my new every 2 upgrade towards a new phone. When I called Verizon, I asked about fully accessible cell phones that would read out all menus. And they said that they had thee lgvx8350. So I went in to check it out. At the Verizon store, I looked at the lgvx8350. I noticed it did not speak through all the menus and text messaging. I wanted a phone that matched the owasys 22c, but I just couldn’t find it. I’ve been told that you can get talks, and the simbian phones that run it, but I couldn’t waste the time to get the phone and talks software and have to install it. I also wanted a phone with fully feelable keypads that are easy to feel and understand. So, I asked Verizon if I could get out of my contract because of it, and they said know problem, we won’t charge you for it. I said grate! So once that was completed, here comes the owasys 22c. Fully useable, fully accessible right out of the box. The things I like about it are that you can check your charging stadis while the phone is off, unlike thee lg phones where you have to see it visually. I do not have any vision, except for seeing light. That’s all. I new that the owasys 22c would be the right choice for me, and I am glad that I got it and I enjoy it so much, that I can’t put it down.

Re: People with vision loss can't use most cell phones. It's time to change that.
Posted by Heather Szerlag on 9/13/2008 5:43:18 PM

Hello - my mom suffered a stroke recently and as a result suffered some vision impairment. I would like to find a cell phone that she could use given the current limitations of her vision. I'm concerned about her not having a cell phone with her when she leaves her house and I think the government should do more to ensure that cell phone companies comply with this law.

Re: People with vision loss can't use most cell phones. It's time to change that.
Posted by Michael on 8/23/2007 3:05:21 PM

I had to purchase a new cell phone yesterday. My charger shorted out and fried the brains out of my old LG 4500 which I had owned for about four years, and which offered access accommodations for less than half of its features anyway. When I purchased that LG 4500, however, I filed a 255 complaint because the manuals I was provided to the telephone were not accessible to me, and the computer disk I was provided with the telephone was all graphic, with no accessible text telling me how to set up and use the telephone. The local Verizon store said that such accommodations were not available, and that they were not required to do any of that access stuff because they were a private business and only a contractor with the manufacturer. Needless to say that bit of mis-information prompted me to damn well file a complaint rather than simply attempt to do win-win style public education. My complaint was successfully resolved in that I eventually got text manuals on floppy disks for the phone, and I was told that Verizon would make additional efforts to let their retail outlets know of 255 and the accommodations being made available thereunder. Now we will fast forward to my present experience when I went to get my new telephone yesterday. I had researched cell phones on the market now and was pretty sure I wanted an LG 8300. Mr. and Mrs. Paul Edwards had shown me their LG 8300s at the last American Council of the Blind convention, and i was pretty impressed with the additional level of access. I called the Verizon store and inquired as to whether they had LG 8300s in stock, and they said that they did. When I went to the store, however, it was quite crowded, so I got in one of the long lines by one of the counters. After standing there for about five minutes or so, a customer ahead of me told me that I had to register at their check-in system before I would receive help. I went back to the front door of the store, and nearby, I found a computer screen that was touch screen equipped. It seems that, in order to get Verizon service, I was required to data enter my name, telephone number, what kind of service I wanted, and the category of that service. I attempted to get a clerk's attention to tell them that this was not an accessible check-in, but my polite "excuse me"s, etc. were not responded to. I am legally blind but do have quite a bit of useable vision, not enough to use the features on many cell phones, but enough to sort of read a computer touch screen if I get out visual aids and work at it really hard. I pressed my nose almost to the screen and did this. Any closer, and I could have perhaps activated the touch screen with my nose. On the third attempt, I finally got registered to see a clerk. On the first two attempts, I was doing fine, but the system would time out before I could read all of the options on the screen and kick me out of the cue. When I got to talk to a clerk, I told him of my difficulty with the check in system and asked what accommodations would be made if I did not have enough vision to use it at all. He said that in such a case, a clerk would help me anyway or would help me with the check in system. In actuality, however this appeared rather difficult to bring about. The clerk was polite and was better educated than the one had been when I bought my LG 4500 four years ago. I mentioned briefly my problems when i purchased the LG 4500 and he said that the text features requested in my last complaint, which he claimed to be aware of, were most certainly available now on the disk provided with the telephone, and that he thought there was a way to get large print manuals, but that he would have to research that. I explained that I use a computer with speech, and that the text of the manuals on the disk would do fine. When I got the telephone home, however, out of the box, it would not talk at all. I found that I could not see the standard manuals, and when i put the CD in my computer, it was all music and graphics. There was no accessible text readily available and accessible. I thus followed my nose up to the front of my large monitor, and found an ICON that said something about text and support. I clicked it, and this took me to the Verizon website, which was pretty accessible. I got most of the information I needed, but there were still a couple of features I could not figure out how to set up. I thus called the Verizon technical support line listed on the website. I wondered around on the telephone buttons for a while and got lots of interesting recorded messages that did not answer my specific questions about sound and desplay settings. I never heard how to get to a live person, but i started hitting zero on the phone pad because that often works. It did in this case. The technical support guy I got acknowledged that he had never assisted a person who had a visual impairment to set up the telephone, but he put me on hold, and somehow found the information he needed. About 80 percent of the features on the telephone now seem to talk, and I got the lighting unit on the back lit visual desplay set to remain on at maximum levels of lighting and contrast so I can also use it to some extent. I am basically pleased with the level of access of the telephone, but I am not pleased with what it took to get the information to get the telephone and then get it set up. The check in system to get to talk to a clerk, which appears to be a nationally developed system provided to franchizers, is not at all accessible, and the disk, though having links to an accessible website, and perhaps some accessible manuals, will not allow a person to get to those accommodations without first being able to see. I called the AFB 255 Hotline, and it told me to leave a message and someone would get back to me to help me file my 255 complaint. I did not leave a message, because i was quite able to file a 255 complaint online four years ago, and i am sure I can do so again without assistance. I will probably file again, especially given that AFB and ACB are both asking blind citizens to do so, but my experience raises an interesting question concerning the parameters being established with regard to 255. With regard to the check in system to get service, 255 calls for accessibility in both telecommunications equipment and services, but I wonder if the parameters of the definition of "services" include the ability to access in-store customer service. That may or may not be considered a telecommunications covered issue. I would be curious as to what you AFB gurus know about case law established on that issue.

Re: People with vision loss can't use most cell phones. It's time to change that.
Posted by Eva on 8/10/2007 11:18:37 AM

I have been a Sprint PCS customer for nearly 7 years and have never spoken to any representative who truly knew what an accessible cell phone required. I have requested larger font sizes, color contrast options in menus, and speech synthesizer options for navigating menus. In my recent upgrade to a camera phone, I was promised larger font sizes with color contrast options in the menu but was very disappointed that neither was true of the product. In fact, the phone I owned previously was much better. I now have to memorize my phone contacts or use my Visual Image glasses in a dark room in order to access my contacts list and preview the call history. As far as emailing, text messaging, or downloading Internet ringers and so forth, that is impossible unless I hand it over to a sighted peer. As a Vision Rehabilitaition Therapist, I see and hear the need for accessible cell phones at a reasonable price on a daily basis. Many of my clients complain they can no longer use the features on their phones much less dial it by touch. It is high time cell phone manufacturers and phone service providers started listening to and responding to the needs of a growing population.

Re: People with vision loss can't use most cell phones. It's time to change that.
Posted by Claude on 8/7/2007 1:56:11 PM

After two years with Verizon and minimal improvement from the original LG XV 4500
I moved to T Mobile having to Purchase an additional $300 Screen reader in December 2006.
Prior to Verizon I was a subscriber to the original AT&T before Cingular wireless, which gobbled up Cellular-One, where there was no accessible phones until later.
How much longer will the providers and manufactures will continue to say accessibility is not a reasonable expectation for a product out of the box.

Re: People with vision loss can't use most cell phones. It's time to change that.
Posted by Liz on 8/6/2007 9:19:51 PM

There is a phone called Owasys that is accessible, but expensive. My sister is just looking into it - it is not available on all phone newtworks, but T-mobile has it.

Re: People with vision loss can't use most cell phones. It's time to change that.
Posted by Steve on 7/29/2007 12:51:35 PM

I have spent two weekends trying to locate a phone that magnifies the numbers and heavevn forbid actually speaks the numbers dialed or incoming number for my mother. The best I can find is an old Tmobile NGage game deck that also works as a cell phone and is out of production coupled with software by Code. What the heck is this? Is there any progress on this? If so I will buy an inexpensive phone and wait a few months but waiting years is not an option. I'm appalled that we have not addressed the needs of sr. citizens and others with limited vision after all the years of technology advances - yes we all need some stupid pocket device that will do everything but fry a hamburger. C'mon Steve Jobs - let's have a little responsible citizenry right here at home.

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