[Nfbktad] BlackBerry screen reader app to help blind

[Kevin Pearl]

Research in Motion releases free BlackBerry screen reader app to help blind.
Research in Motion has seen their market share dip all the way down into the single digits over the past couple of years, but the company has not stopped trying to find that one place a BlackBerry phone would be a benefit.  Today, the company announced plans to launch a new mobile app that helps the blind “see” what is on their handset screen.  The BlackBerry Screen Reader software helps those that are blind stay connected with the information that is most important to them.  With the released software, Research in Motion shows their support to help customers that have disabilities.
According to the press release issued regarding the announcement, Senior Product Manager, Greg Fields, said “We are excited to introduce BlackBerry Screen Reader as part of our suite of accessibility solutions for BlackBerry smartphones.”  The BlackBerry Screen Reader can be downloaded for free from www.blackberry.com/screenreader and the mobile app is compatible with the BlackBerry Curve 9350, 9360 and the 9370 smartphones.  The new screen reader app is available in French, English, Italian, German and Spanish.  The app will help those that are blind operate their BlackBerry smartphone with little to no hassle.

Some of the key features that are listed for the BlackBerry Screen Reader include:

Support for core applications – Users can easily access core BlackBerry applications including email, calendar, phone calls and more.  Speech settings – users can customize the text-to-speech settings (volume, pitch and speech rate) and preferences for punctuation, verbosity and password security.  Keyboard shortcuts – Users can set speech and audio preferences quickly and easily through (physical) keyboard shortcuts Accessible documentation – User Guide available in accessible HTML through a desktop web browser.  More information can be found at BlackBerry.com/accessibility.

Many experts believe that Research in Motion is not going to be around very much longer and might not even be a good prospect for a potential buyout.  According to numbers recently posted online, RIM shares have dropped more than 70 percent in the past 12 months with the market share dropping over $72 billion in the last three years.  BlackBerry released 12 handsets in 2011 and so far this year only 1 with the BlackBerry Curve 9220.  Rumors that hit the Web earlier this year included a possible buyout by Samsung, but since January nothing has been announced by either company.
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