Accessibility Apps
AbilityNet are a charity that champion digital accessibility.
Many thanks to Alex Barber who shared details of accessibility apps at an AbilityNet webinar.
These apps help people who are blind or partially sighted, and I was astonished by how clever and intuitive they are!
These apps can be your pair of eyes to help you with everyday tasks.
Image by CDC – UnSplash
They can help with things like:
- Describing scenes and people.
- Reading text – such as newspapers, cards, and letters.
- Moving around – such as going up and down stairs.
- Reading food labels.
- Picking out what clothes to wear.
Click on the links to find out more about each app!
This is a tool to help people make more sense of the world about them. Available for both IOS and Android devices.
This app enables you to get volunteer support to help. You can use someone’s eyes if you can’t use yours.
Volunteers sign a confidentiality form.
Similar to Seeing AI, but only for Android devices. Alex found this a bit clunky.
A public transport app, available for Android and IOS devices. Alex said he didn’t find this as good as Google Maps.
Alex also mentioned a couple of apps for people who were deaf or hard of hearing.
Live Transcribe allows you to see words on your phone as people are speaking.
You can also set up live captions on your iPhone:
Get live captions in real time on iPhone – Apple Support (UK)
Live Listen can help you hear more clearly, your Apple device acts as a microphone.
Use Live Listen with AirPods or Beats – Apple Support
You can pair your hearing aid to your phone too:
Pairing Hearing Aids to iPhone & Android | Hearing Aid UK
Alex said apps are improving all the time, and the sad thing is that people don’t know about them. The apps are available and could really help those who are struggling.
I would encourage you to have a play with these apps. They could help you, a friend, relative or colleague – they really are quite incredible!