[Electronics-Talk] smartphone for the blind

[Ashley Bramlett]

Hi,
That Is understandable; high functioning tech savvy blind people seem to 
forget there are blind people with multiple challenges and those with other 
preferences. I don't learn technology as easily as some and have not used 
many touch screens although when I get an ipad this will change.

I also prefer not to talk to my devices at least not a lot. I think its 
disruptive  when in public and often disturbs the
people in quiet areas such as libraries or waiting rooms. I personally 
really dislike it when we have our NFB meetings  and some blind person's 
phone goes off and they answer it or worse they pull out their phone and 
proceed to talk to it. Sometimes someone asks them to step out or use 
headphones if they keep on swiping this way and that and voice over speaks 
or they talk to seri or another person.
Talking to your phone or on the phone can be so disruptive and I feel that 
many blind people do not realize the scene they cause by talking to their 
phones; that or they do not care.

So, yeah, Sandra, I prefer not to talk to my phone or devices unless I'm in 
a private space like my house or maybe a hallway where not many passers by 
are so I can talk and have a bit of privacy and not to mention the fact that 
I can hear my phone clearly without noise.

Sandra, you might try feature phones such as the gusto 3 lg tera someone 
mentioned a few weeks ago.
I also know some blind people who have smart phones but use keypads or their 
braille notetakers for commands instead of the touch screen; so if you need 
a smart phone, pairing it with a keyboard might be a good fit for you.

Ashley

-----Original Message----- 
From: Sandra Streeter via Electronics-Talk
Sent: Friday, December 15, 2017 10:32 AM
To: electronics-talk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Sandra Streeter
Subject: [Electronics-Talk] smartphone for the blind

I am not scared of it being Android. I am scared, however, of it becoming a 
paper-weight, as some have pointed out. Now, for those who know more than I: 
I would be interested in this aspect of deaf history: How did the deaf get 
closed-captioning, TTY’s, etc., so mainstream? It seems that we struggle a 
lot more to get blind-friendly things to happen, to be affordable, and to 
stick around. It’s even worse if, like me, you have other issues than 
blindness that make using a touch-screen untenable, and you need something 
like the Envision 2 to even be able to get on the learning curve for 
mastering a ‘'new smartphone. Before anyone brings up the idea of voice 
commanding, I also would prefer not to talk; I know I’m a whiner and 
complainer, and you have all see my wish list for the perfect smartphone, 
but sometimes, it bears repeating. If I had the money to get the Envision, I 
probably would, except for that one problem of how long it would be 
supported; I’d be inclined to wait a couple years to make sure any bugs were 
worked out and that it still had some longevity, and maybe even to wait for 
the price to drop a bit—as tempting as it is to be hasty. So, in the 
interim, I may end up with a feature phone, which I could at least use for 
texting and phone calls on the road, and at work, where you really need 
something you can function with.


Sandra

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he 
hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however 
measured or far away.”
(Henry David Thoreau)

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