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ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY
Forget the iPhone: accessibility trumps trendiness
By G. Denise Lance
While millions swooned over the iPhone, a number of people, especially those with visual impairments and some with physical disabilities, felt either left out of the hoopla or angered by Apple's apparent lack of consideration for universal design in the state-of-the-art cell phone.
iPhone accessibility
For users with blindness, the touch screen interface offers no tactile feedback. Furthermore, the flat buttons can only be activated through contact with human skin, so those with physical disabilities cannot use a stylus or other pointing devices to make calls or access music and movies on an iPhone.
In defense, Apple has listed many accessibility features that were included in iPhone's design, including the ability to read email in giant-sized font, hands-free speakerphone capability, and support for TTY's for those who are deaf (which requires purchase of an adapter). They also promise that the user's guide will soon be available is accessible formats, such as plain text to read with screen readers.
Some with physical disabilities say that the touch screen interface is actually easier for them than traditional cell phones. Since I don't know anyone with an iPhone, and I'm not willing to pay $599 to experiment, I cannot say whether it would fit my access needs.
I have a sense that jagged movements would cause many mis-selections. While I'm an advocate of universal design that is flexible enough to meet the needs of the most people, experience has taught me that few devices can be perfect for every potential user. The debate over the iPhone is valid, but these discussions rarely highlight the options that are available people with disabilities.
Code Factory
Code Factory offers the Mobile Speak and Mobile Speak Pocket, applications that read all elements on Pocket PC or Symbian cell phone screens to people with blindness. For those with low vision, Mobile Magnifier for Symbian phones and Mobile Magnifier Pocket for Windows mobile devices, also from Code Factory, make everything large and readable.
GimpGear
Gimpgear specializes in cell phones for people with quadriplegia and other significant physical disabilities. Most of the options, such as Vocalize, allow all phone functions to be accessed through voice commands and some work with a combination of voice commands and switch activation.
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