Vision

There are many degrees of visual impairment ranging from difficulty in reading small characters through to complete blindness.

With all mobile phones incorporating displays providing a range of options for users with visual impairments is important. In particular the following features are likely to be of interest:

  • Tactile markers to help orient your fingers on the keypad
  • Audible or tactile feedback to confirm a button has been pressed
  • Adjustable font sizes
  • Audible cues for low battery, caller waiting or ending a call and volume level
  • Adjustable brightness/contrast controls for the display
  • The size of the main display
  • Backlit display

The shape of the device may also be something to consider. In this case a sliding or flip phone design may be of interest to make it easier to answer or hang up a call.

Voice recognition is also a very useful feature that can help people with a visual impairment. This allows the user to use voice commands for dialing and accessing features on the phone.

Another feature of potential use is the ability to assign different ring tones to different numbers stored in the phone. Such a feature allows you to allocate a specific ring tone to a family member, so that you will automatically now who is trying to contact you when the phone rings without the need to even look at the display of the phone.