Comments on: iPhone 3GS with VoiceOver Easiest Smartphone for Blind People?

By: EJ

EJ — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:03:39 +0000

To answer the previous commenter, blind people use screen readers to read a page like this out loud. Those with some vision would read enlarged text.

As for the iPhone, I too am glad to see an interest in accessibility but a flat screen with no tactile landmarks at all wouldn't be very usable. Better to have buttons that can be felt. Nice attempt though.

By: hi

hi — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 23:45:06 +0000

hey im seriously not trying to be insensitive, but i am actually rly interest, how do blind people read online articles like this?

By: A real blind person

A real blind person — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:22:20 +0000

I am an actual blind person. This article got a friend of mine excited that I could use the 3 G I phone. Its total BS. touch screens do not work for the blind. Using this voice feature I could not make a call, read a text, or change settings. that is hardly accessible. I like seeing companies show an interest in accessibility, However I’m annoyed that bold claims are made falsely clearly without testing with a population of actual blind people.

By: Tyler W

Tyler W — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:39:00 +0000

As a blind person I can safely say the I phone is, actually, usable. I’m a totally blind individual. Why are you annoyed? Its not rocket science – you tap an icon, it tells you what it is, double tap and it clicks it. Only thing I don’t like is the on screen keyboard, takes gettin used to. I tried it in the store, but I think I’l still go with a nokia e71. And by the way, I do take pictures. Just because I’m blind doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be able to make that decision…jeesh! Anyway how does the e71/n95/I phone compare in size and looks? What looks the best, that’s part of my buying decision. Leaning towards e71/I phone though as n95 feels too flimzy (slider is plastic etc).

By: brad

brad — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 05:42:37 +0000

warning! i tried this and it was indeed kinda of cool for about 1 minute then got really annoying THEN i could not figure out how to scroll and get to the menu for reversing this feature, took me 20 minutes of google and playing around with my phone to finally turn it back off. gesh

By: Allday314

Allday314 — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:36:44 +0000

It’s not and app. You have you use voice over for yourself to see how it works. Voice over is on all 3GS iPhone under the setting menu. So turn it and and give it a try I’m sure that you would be impressed. As for the blind people question about taking pictures, is there another phone that would be easier for boing people to take pictures on?

By: Jessi (jessi_9783)

Jessi (jessi_9783) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:08:12 +0000

As someone with a disability and as an advocate I’m eager to know if the iPhone is a good phone for the blind. I could maybe see it being OK for the visually impaired but not sure about the the blind. As for the video question, just because they can’t see it doesn’t mean they don’t want to remember it. Maybe they would use the Voice Memo app for that. I don’t know but I’m going to a 3 day disability conference in August so I’ll ask some of my blind friends. Either way it’s nice to see companies including accessibility features in their products. Go Apple!

By: Truth

Truth — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:50:44 +0000

Plus the Iphone is all touch…how could it possibly good for blind people?

By: Truth

Truth — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:49:49 +0000

VoiceOver has been available for how long?

By: Matt B

Matt B — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:16:49 +0000

Somehow I don't see it being the easiest phone for blind people. I mean it's a touchscreen. I'd think actual hardware buttons would be easier.

But then again I've never used VoiceOver so I wouldn't really know.