5 Must-Have Apps for People with Blindness or Visual Impairment
- drgunjandeshpande
- Dec 18, 2022
- 2 min read
Reading a book or turning on the radio are mundane tasks that we sighted people do every day. But have you ever imagined the complete lack of access to these simple tasks by people who are visually impaired? Wonder how can they enjoy a book which is not in Braille or tune into the radio.
Read to know more.
Technology has revolutionised our lives. A large majority of the populace today owns a smartphone, which has turned around their lives. We discuss here 5 essential apps that may be useful to people with visual impairment.
Read along to learn about such technology to make them feel independent and make their lives a little easier.
1. Siri
Siri is an integrated part of the iPhone. It is a voice assistant, which means it can get started with a simple oral command. It
uses gesture-based control and a natural language user interface to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests.
Siri supports a wide range of user commands, including performing phone actions, checking basic information, scheduling events and reminders, handling device settings, searching the Internet and navigating areas.
It is especially helpful when you have to hit a specific button or tab on the screen and a visually impaired person can not figure it out.
2. Google Assistant
It is a virtual assistant software application developed by Google that is primarily available on mobile and home automation devices.
It can search the Internet, schedule events and alarms, adjust hardware settings on the user's device, and show information from the user's Google account.
3. VoiceOver
VoiceOver is a screen reader built into Apple devices. VoiceOver can access their device based on spoken descriptions. The feature is designed to increase accessibility for the visually impaired and dyslexics.
It can give details of battery, read emails and describe apps.
It can be accessed by triple-click of the Home or side button on the device.
The user can also ask Siri to enable or disable VoiceOver.
The keyboard shortcut to activate VoiceOver is Command-F5.
4. Google TalkBalk
Google Talkback is an accessibility service for the Android operating system that helps visually impaired users interact with their devices.
It uses spoken words, vibration and other audible feedback to allow the user to know what is happening on the screen allowing the user to better interact with their device.
It is functionally similar to VoiceOver.
5. Google Maps
Google Maps is a popular navigation app.
It offers satellite images, aerial photography, street maps, 360° panoramic views of streets, and real-time traffic.
It helps in route planning for travelling by foot, car, bike, air and public transportation.
It provides a route planner to find available directions through driving, public transportation vehicles, walking, or biking!
It has a new feature called 'Accessible Places' that enables users to understand more about their environment.
There are other apps that you can make use of apart from the above-mentioned namely Moovit, Microsoft Soundspace, Evelity, MyMoveo, Be My Eyes, Aira, Seeing AI and Lookout.
Do let us know about our blog in the comments below.
Very good information.