Miss-Delectable
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TelecomTV - TelecomTV One - News
Today is the 17th anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a piece of historic legislation dealing with the civil rights of disabled US citizens. But, amongst those that will not be joining in with the the congratulations and cork-popping are US mobile handset makers and carriers who, according to the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) have so far failed to “meet the needs of blind or visually impaired customers” in many ways.
The AFB says that in the US mobile industry in general, handset manufacturers in particular do not take the ADA law or handset “accessibility” seriously as is evidenced by the fact that the overwhelming majority of phones are not fully usable for low-vision or no-vision users.
According to the AFB some of the chief obstacles posed by cell phone for the visually impaired run the gamut from 1) having no audio output of information displayed on the screen, 2) having hard to read displays, 3) having keys that are not easy to distinguish by touch, and 4) having product manuals and phone bills that are not available in Braille, large print or other easier-to-read formats.
The aging US baby-boomer population is now in its sixties and many individuals are suffering natural attrition of their vision. This inevitability is driving massive demand for so-called “vision loss-friendly phones” with large font screens or voice output of menus or text messages.
Paul Schroeder, the vp of Programs and Policy Group at AFB says there is no excuse for not meeting the needs of a major section of the population. He says, "Given today's technological advancements, advertised constantly by cell phone carriers, it is particularly shameful that access features are not being made available.”
Blind callers are indeed becoming increasingly frustrated with the mobile industry’s apparent indifference to the issue. Complaints to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which enforces Section 255, a part of the Federal Communications Act requiring all phones to be made usable for people with disabilities, are reportedly flooding in from across the United States.
Earlier this month, the AFB began a campaign to help the vision-impaired to understand access requirements and help them file complaints with the FCC if necessary.
The action also includes a letter writing campaign asking what leading cell phone makers and carriers “are doing to meet the needs of people with vision loss.”
The AFB does however admit that not all carriers are insensitive to the needs of the visually-impaired; in fact AT&T for one has taken steps to ensure the provision of accessible phones.
And last year Samsung unveiled one of the first Braille mobile phones for the visually impaired. Called the “Touch Messenger,” the phone enables visually impaired users to send and receive Braille text messages. The 3×4 button on the cell phone is used as two Braille keypads and text messages can be checked through the Braille display screen in the lower part.
Nokia does not yet offer a device specifically for the visually-impaired, but the Finnish company's handsets do come with a number of features for low-vision and blind users.
Keith Nowak, a Nokia spokesperson says, “All of our devices include a raised nib on the 5 key to help facilitate dialing, voice dialing and voice commands and some new devices include user-selectable font sizes to help make text more legible."
Mr. Nowak adds, "Nokia also offers a so-called “voice aid” application, that allows frequently-used functions such as messages, phonebooks, battery and signal strength, call logs and more to be read aloud on some smartphones, as well as a dialing application that reads numbers aloud as the user scrolls through them. We have also included audio features like talking clocks and audible status indicators on some of our lower end cell phones as well.”
Today is the 17th anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a piece of historic legislation dealing with the civil rights of disabled US citizens. But, amongst those that will not be joining in with the the congratulations and cork-popping are US mobile handset makers and carriers who, according to the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) have so far failed to “meet the needs of blind or visually impaired customers” in many ways.
The AFB says that in the US mobile industry in general, handset manufacturers in particular do not take the ADA law or handset “accessibility” seriously as is evidenced by the fact that the overwhelming majority of phones are not fully usable for low-vision or no-vision users.
According to the AFB some of the chief obstacles posed by cell phone for the visually impaired run the gamut from 1) having no audio output of information displayed on the screen, 2) having hard to read displays, 3) having keys that are not easy to distinguish by touch, and 4) having product manuals and phone bills that are not available in Braille, large print or other easier-to-read formats.
The aging US baby-boomer population is now in its sixties and many individuals are suffering natural attrition of their vision. This inevitability is driving massive demand for so-called “vision loss-friendly phones” with large font screens or voice output of menus or text messages.
Paul Schroeder, the vp of Programs and Policy Group at AFB says there is no excuse for not meeting the needs of a major section of the population. He says, "Given today's technological advancements, advertised constantly by cell phone carriers, it is particularly shameful that access features are not being made available.”
Blind callers are indeed becoming increasingly frustrated with the mobile industry’s apparent indifference to the issue. Complaints to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which enforces Section 255, a part of the Federal Communications Act requiring all phones to be made usable for people with disabilities, are reportedly flooding in from across the United States.
Earlier this month, the AFB began a campaign to help the vision-impaired to understand access requirements and help them file complaints with the FCC if necessary.
The action also includes a letter writing campaign asking what leading cell phone makers and carriers “are doing to meet the needs of people with vision loss.”
The AFB does however admit that not all carriers are insensitive to the needs of the visually-impaired; in fact AT&T for one has taken steps to ensure the provision of accessible phones.
And last year Samsung unveiled one of the first Braille mobile phones for the visually impaired. Called the “Touch Messenger,” the phone enables visually impaired users to send and receive Braille text messages. The 3×4 button on the cell phone is used as two Braille keypads and text messages can be checked through the Braille display screen in the lower part.
Nokia does not yet offer a device specifically for the visually-impaired, but the Finnish company's handsets do come with a number of features for low-vision and blind users.
Keith Nowak, a Nokia spokesperson says, “All of our devices include a raised nib on the 5 key to help facilitate dialing, voice dialing and voice commands and some new devices include user-selectable font sizes to help make text more legible."
Mr. Nowak adds, "Nokia also offers a so-called “voice aid” application, that allows frequently-used functions such as messages, phonebooks, battery and signal strength, call logs and more to be read aloud on some smartphones, as well as a dialing application that reads numbers aloud as the user scrolls through them. We have also included audio features like talking clocks and audible status indicators on some of our lower end cell phones as well.”