Thanks to modern day technology continuing to innovate, there are now lots of apps that have been specifically designed to help blind or visually impaired people in their everyday lives.
There are approximately 1.3 billion people living with some form of vision impairment in the world. For these people, accessing simple information can sometimes be difficult. For example, how does a non-sighted person choose the best route to go somewhere? Or read a document that’s not available in Braille?
Here are a few great apps I wanted to highlight to help with the challenge of day to day life.
For iPhone
VoiceOver is a built-in screen reader that reads emails and text messages aloud. It will also describe all other screen elements such as app icons, the battery level and even in part images!
Siri voice control is also a great feature to help avoid the difficulty of finding a button to press. Ask Siri to call a friend, send a dictated message, or give the weather report!
For Android
TalkBack screen reader works just like VoiceOver for the iPhone and also has BrailleBack allowing the user to explore the screen using braille.
Google Assistant can be activated by voice to allow the same features as Siri to help book appointments or setting an alarm.
Google maps
According to inclusivecitymaker.com, people with disabilities use GPS on their smart phone 30% more than the rest of the population!
With real time traffic information, Google maps is ideal to help users to get where they want to go. A great feature called Accessible Places allows the user to see a place before visiting, for example, viewing the seating plan of a restaurant before they arrive.
Moovit
For those who use public transportation, Moovit lists all the possible means of transport, timetables, and other info around real time traffic. A great feature of this app is the naming of stops while on the bus or train if there are no voice announcements active.
Evelity
Developed by Okeenea Digital, this app is the first indoor wayfinding solution for people with a visual impairment. Compatible with VoiceOver and TalkBack, the app provides audio instructions guiding the user step by step inside places like museums or a university!
Seeing AI (iOS)
Seeing AI is a multipurpose app that will read and describe things placed in front of the camera, such as barcodes or bank notes. It even recognises colours and faces giving details like the emotion on someone’s face!
Lookout (android)
The android equivalent is Lookout which has everything Seeing AI has and also a ‘quick read’ mode to skim through text which could be helpful when sorting out mail and other documents.
Check out the full list of apps here