Smartphones can be difficult to use for those with some degree of visual impairment, hearing loss, or a physical disability. Here we’ll discuss the most useful accessibility features for your smartphone, how to access them, and the best smartphones for people with disabilities.
Getting the most out of your phone if you have sight loss
According to statistics from the Royal National Institute of Blind People, more than two million people live with sight loss in the UK. And thanks to our modern-day reliance on smartphones, there are more challenges and opportunities for people with sight loss than ever before.
Luckily, there are lots of ways to make your phone a really useful tool for people with sight loss.
Use a text reader
Perhaps the most useful asset in the accessibility armoury is the ability to have the text read aloud to you. And the good news is, whatever side of the Apple/Android divide you fall on, you can set up your phone to read messages and online articles to you so that you don’t have to squint at the screen.
Text readers on the iPhone
If you’ve got an iPhone, setting this up is really easy. All you need to do is turn this feature on in the Settings menu. After enabling the built-in feature, simply highlight the desired text, scroll right on the menu that appears, and select Speak.
Even more impressively, you’ll find a range of voices that cover multiple languages, which you can download from Siri. So whatever your needs, you’ll be able to get the text read to you in a way you’ll find helpful.
Text readers on Android
Android customers, meanwhile, will need to visit the Google Play Store to download a text-to-speech app.
There are a number of text to speech apps available on the Google Play store, and after a little bit of trial and error, you’ll certainly find one that’s right for you. Some apps will have voices that can be downloaded via the settings.
Search Text to Voice apps on Android.
Other options on accessible mobile phones
Not all apps come with the functionality of reading text. If this happens, simply copy the text and then paste it to your text message app. It’s a bit convoluted, but it does get the job done. A good rule of thumb is that if something can be copied, then it can be read aloud.
Make the most of your virtual assistant
Although Siri, the Apple assistant, does an adequate job of answering questions and setting reminders and timers, Google Assistant is the undisputed leader of the pack.
Google Assistant and accessibility
When asking specific questions, you’re far more likely to get an audible answer than with other electronic helpers. What’s more, Google offers straightforward verbal answers to questions like “When is the next bus into the city centre?”
This puts them way ahead of some virtual assistants that will merely return internet results and expect you to view the information for yourself. Google Assistant is also great at handling internal phone functions such as checking battery charge, turning Wi-Fi on and off, or operating the flashlight.
It can be accessed across most platforms, even the iPhone. That said, it works best on Android, its native home.
Apple Siri and accessibility
Of course, another major issue for people with sight loss is constantly misplacing things. For those who struggle to find their iPhone, Siri has a nifty trick up its sleeve. When using Bluetooth headphones, tell Siri, “I can’t find my phone,” and it will emit a tone from the phone to help you locate it.
Contactless payments with your phone
Another thing that’s easy to do if you’ve got any kind of visual impairment is to lose your bank cards. This is why paying for things using your smartphone can make a massive difference for disabled persons.
Of course, the frontrunners are Apple Pay and Google Pay. As you might imagine, both allow you to store card information on your mobile and settle bills with contactless payment.
Apple Pay and accessibility
For pure ease of use, Apple Pay is the clear winner. While both work by hovering the device over the contactless terminal, Google generates far more error messages than its counterpart.
There is often more time spent trying to wave the phone into the correct position than actually paying.
While the iPhone contactless system is triggered by pressing a side button, Google’s is summoned by holding the phone up to the terminal. If the handset doesn’t sense the card machine, this can make for some tiresome fumbling around.
Google Pay and accessibility
To be fair to Google Pay, it mostly works speedily. And even when it doesn’t, it can usually be coaxed into doing what it should. On the inevitable day that it doesn’t do what you need it to do, though; you’ll be left frustratedly waving it around the checkout before hastily searching for your contactless card.
If you don’t have Apple Pay at your disposal, then prioritise placing your preferred card in an easy-to-reach spot and save yourself the trouble of Google Pay.
Dealing with text size and font that can be difficult to see
If you’re looking for an Android smartphone with great accessibility features when it comes to reading text, the Samsung Galaxy has several extra accessibility options. These include high-contrast keyboards, extra fonts and filters, which are all ideal for anyone who struggles to cope with certain colours.
Those who own a basic Android setup can even use a screen reader, zoom and a large text tool.
Not all phones have the more advanced accessibility features, so it’s worth double-checking that your desired phone has the best options for you before making the purchase.
Using the screen reader on iPhone and Android
The screen reader function is designed to help those who are blind or severely visually impaired. When turned on, it reads the selected elements of the screen, including useful information like menu options, app names, text within apps and web browsers.
Both systems use double tap and multi-finger gestures to manipulate the interface. If you struggle to control multiple fingers, then it may prove to be a trying experience.
If you have some level of vision, then combining other accessible features might prove more beneficial for you.
How to use the screen magnification accessibility feature
Screen magnifying could come in handy as it allows specific sections of the screen to be enlarged. Android users can even attach a shortcut button at the bottom of the screen to enable the feature.
According to a representative from Apple Support, iPhone users have a similar option as they can set the side button to activate the Zoom function when triple tapped. The rep advised that the function can run on “all iPhones that can run the latest versions of iOS.”
While there is the option to magnify the entire screen, this mode won’t be ideal if you want to navigate quickly. The iPhone may be especially vexing as it uses three-finger gestures as a default.
Meanwhile, the Android shortcut can be used to turn the full screen magnifier on and off.
How to change the keyboard colour on Android
People with sight loss who use basic Android are likely to struggle with the colour of the preset keyboard. But with less than five minutes’ effort, you can increase your options.
We recommend downloading Nova Launcher from the Play Store. While looking like a home screen, the app allows you to make certain changes that your default settings can’t accommodate.
To access Keyboard Themes, open the app, hit the small arrow on the home screen and click on the Google keyboard icon. Then select Keyboard from the options and choose Themes. You should now be able to pick from a range of different keyboard colours that better suit your visual needs.
Using another font away from the default may be a little bit more hit and miss. Not all phones come with the option of choosing from a selection. If this is the case, then an exploration of the Play Store is in order.
The best apps for people with disabilities on the Google Play Store
While the store has a bounty of great apps catering for a wide range of needs, it’s not perfect. Some apps will offer what you need, but will require you to see adverts, or charge a fee to access the service, while others just won’t work.
Apps on the store are typically rated by the public out of five and are often given reviews to go with them. It’s always worth a look at the review section to see what people have made of the set up, and decide whether the problems they faced could affect you.
Getting the most out of your phone if you have a hearing loss
By Martin Hiley
As one of the 11 million people living in the UK with a hearing loss, making calls on a mobile phone can be a disproportionately challenging task. The reduced sound quality on a mobile, combined with competing background noises and not being able to see the caller in person can make a mobile call a horribly testing experience.
While there’s no perfect solution or remedy to this challenge, over recent years, there have been some serious improvements that provide users with the tools to have a more inclusive experience.
Make your smartphone more accessible through your settings
In an endeavour to provide a more inclusive user experience, the majority of modern smartphones are now equipped with some basic tools to support users with hearing loss.
For example, on a standard iPhone, a user simply has to select Settings and then Accessibility to see a range of options to assist people in various different ways.
Dealing with hearing aid accessibility features
If you look at the Hearing options, you’ll see that iPhones, like most modern smartphones, are “hearing aid compatible”, with a small wire coil picking up the sounds and transferring them to the hearing aid on the Hearing Loop setting.
However, the end results of this can be mixed depending on the handset and the type of hearing aid which is being used. Therefore, it’s certainly worth trying to find the combination that works best for you and provides the optimum sound quality.
Why you hear a whistling noise
A common challenge is the whistling or buzzing noise that occurs when a phone is held too close to a hearing aid, which is often due to a lesser quality Telecoil or microphone in the device. Hence, it’s important to review the phone’s compatibility with a hearing aid, which is based on “M” and “T” ratings.
A representative of the charity “Action on Hearing Loss” explains that:
“The M (microphone) rating refers to how well the phone will work with your hearing aids on the normal setting, and the T (Telecoil) rating refers to how well the phone will work with your hearing aids on the loop setting.
“The M, T ratings are ranked from 1 (poor), through 3 (good) to 4 (excellent). An ‘M1, T1’ or ‘M2, T2’ rating means that the phone produces a lot of interference, and possibly has a weak loop signal too, while an ‘M4, T4’ rating means the phone is excellent on both microphone and loop settings and has the best chance of being interference free.”
Therefore, it’s advisable to check the ratings before selecting a new phone to ensure you have the optimum sound quality.
However, whichever phone and hearing aid combination you have, it‘s recommended that you hold the phone one or two inches away from your hearing aid to reduce feedback and interference.
Software for people with hearing loss
With continual advances in messaging communications, there are more options than ever to use your phone to send texts, emails and photo messages, along with gifs, memes and emojis. So you can have long conversations with friends and family without having to rely on your ears at all.
Text messaging apps
Apps such as WhatsApp, with 65 billion messages sent daily, have become a far more routine way to communicate. This naturally provides the significant advantage of text-based messages, which make communication far easier for people with a hearing loss.
Video calls to enhance accessibility
Of course, another benefit of WhatsApp, along with apps like Skype, is the opportunity to make video calls. Many people with a hearing loss are, to a greater or lesser degree, dependent on sign language or lipreading to communicate.
Until these apps, there was a significant barrier for people with hearing loss when they were not able to see the person on the other end of a call. However, people with hearing loss are now able to physically view the other person, and they can use sign language or lipreading to have a conversation with someone miles away.
Combining text and video for even greater accessibility
Alternatively, you can take a more text-based approach by using an app like Next Generation Text Services. This is available for Android and iOS devices and can translate between text and voices. This means a voice message can be typed out for people with a hearing loss to read.
Now more than ever, there are more alternatives to having to make a phone call to communicate with people, which is a significant advantage for people with hearing loss.
Tips for using your phone if you’ve got a hearing loss
While nothing can entirely compensate for a hearing loss, from my personal experiences, there are some useful tips that can improve your experience of making a call on your mobile.
Find a quiet place
This may sound obvious but finding a quiet space to use your phone can make a significant difference to the sound quality of the call. For example, if your mobile rings in your workplace background noise from colleagues, printers or other phone handsets can have a substantial impact on your ability to hear the person on the other end of the call.
Instead of having background noises detracting from the quality of the sound, move to find a quiet place which allows you to focus on the call.
Don’t Drive and Call
Even if you have perfect hearing, using a hands-free kit to take a phone call when driving is not advisable. If you have hearing loss, then the potential risks of trying to focus on hearing someone on the other end of a phone are even more significant.
So don’t take any risks and make sure you pull over to make a phone call in a safe way.
Head indoors
Passing cars, pouring rain and passers-by can all have an impact on your ability to hear on a phone call. So, if possible, consider heading indoors to try and get a clearer call.
This should take away at least some of the external factors which may have a negative impact on a phone call.
Pay attention to signal strength
Getting a poor signal can be frustrating for all of us but for those people with a hearing loss it can significantly increase the difficulty of making a call.
So, check out hotspots for getting a good signal and, where possible, look to make those calls where you’re most likely to get the best quality signal on the call.
Use the speakerphone feature
It’s worth trying speakerphone to see if it has a positive impact on your conversations. Some people with hearing loss find this a helpful feature which enhances their ability to hear the person on the call.
For others, competing noise and reduced sound quality on speakerphone might make it more difficult to hear, so make sure you test it first and see if it works for you.
Change up your ringtones
To avoid the frustration of not hearing phone calls or alarms, try different options and select one which works for you. Some frequencies are harder to hear than others, after all.
Equally, you can test the other features such as light or vibrate alerts to see if these provide a more consistent way of knowing when your phone is ringing.
Getting the most out of your phone if you have a physical disability
By Tim Hiley
By the very nature of a smartphone, there are many functions and features built into modern handsets that are designed to help people with sight or hearing difficulties. And on the surface at least, you wouldn’t think there would be many modifications you could make to a smartphone to assist someone with a physical disability.
But while there’s little in the way that can be done in terms of hardware or software innovations and accessibility features, there are loads of simple things you can do with your smartphone to make your life a whole lot easier and can even turn your phone into a real lifeline.
Here are some of my tried and tested tips and tricks:
Choose a durable phone
Whatever your physical disability, choosing a durable handset is a pretty good idea. Luckily, most modern-day smartphones are pretty robust. But as a guide, any phone screen made with Gorilla Glass 5 or higher (or even iPhone's Ceramic Shield) will be scratch-resistant and difficult to break.
More and more smartphones are now waterproof and dustproof too. And if, like me, you’re all too prone to dropping your phone in a puddle, you’ll find this a pretty useful feature. Look out for IP ratings when you’re choosing your next handset. Any phone that’s rated IP67 or above is built to withstand most accidental dunkings in water, dust or sand.
Invest in a decent case and screen protector
Regardless of how hardy your handset is, I’d always recommend buying a decent case for your phone to cushion the blow if you drop it.
And a decent screen protector will keep your display free from scratches and scrapes.
Use speakerphone or headphones when making a phone call
While the speakerphone function is useful for people with hearing loss, it can also be really helpful for people with a physical disability. If you struggle to hold your phone to your ear, using speakerphone can be a real life-saver.
And while most smartphone users can walk and talk on the phone at the same time, if you’re pushing yourself along in your wheelchair, you’ll need to use hands-free to continue your conversation. Simply connect your headphones and you’ll be able to chat with your friends without having to hold the receiver to your ear.
Subscribe to Open Sesame
Sesame Enable is an incredible piece of subscription-based software that lets you use an Android phone completely touch-free. Created for and by people with physical disabilities, it uses the phone’s camera to track your head movements so you can carry out essential day-to-day activities and functions
It also has an on-screen cursor that picks up even the most minor of head movements which enables users to interact and utilise apps without having to hold the phone. And you can edit the phrases in the settings to personalise it and to make it easier to use.
Sesame Enable works hand-in-hand with voice activation too. So if your cursor has gone astray or the camera has lost your face, all the user needs to do is say, “Okay Google, Open Sesame Enable” and then ‘Reposition’ upon it opening up.
Apps to streamline day-to-day tasks and enable independence
Here’s a list of all my favourite apps that help make my life a whole lot easier as a disabled person living in the UK.
Blue Badge Parking
If, like me, you rely on a car to get around, Blue Badge Parking is a total game changer. As the name suggests, it uses GPS to help you find disabled parking spaces.
When you load the app, it immediately shows you the five disabled bays closest to you by highlighting them in green.
The app is crowdsourced so you can submit new bays to be added to the database, as well as remove one if the bay no longer exists.
Download Blue Badge Parking on the Google Play Store.
Download Blue Badge Parking on the Apple App Store.
WheelMate and WheelMap
Also crowdsourced, WheelMate and WheelMap are incredibly useful if you’re out and about in a wheelchair.
Similar to Blue Badge Parking, WheelMate allows users to find disabled bays and accessible toilets by accessing GPS.
Meanwhile, WheelMap lets you know just how accessible public places such as restaurants, hotels, shops and sports venues are. It does this with five categories: partially wheelchair accessible, partially wheelchair accessible with a disabled toilet (WC), only fully wheelchair accessible, only fully wheelchair accessible with an accessible WC and not accessible.
By using this to check if the place you’re going is accessible or not before you set out, it gives you time to find suitable alternatives if your preferred choice isn’t accessible. And spares you the indignity of arriving at a place and being unable to go in or use the toilet.
Download WheelMate from the Apple App Store.
Everyday apps to enhance accessibility for your smartphone
While WheelMap and Blue Badge Parking are incredibly useful, it’s the apps that most people take for granted that can prove a real lifesaver for people with physical difficulties.
Things like online banking and food delivery services make life a whole lot simpler for people who struggle to get out and about. Before the days of smartphones, having to visit the bank would take most of the day, as I’d have to navigate multiple buses to get to my nearest branch. Now, I can do what I need to in a couple of clicks on my app.
And instead of trekking around a local supermarket and putting items in a basket or trolley while pushing your wheelchair, you can order your shopping to come to you.
Or if you need a meal but you’re having a bad pain day, Apps like Deliveroo and JustEat are invaluable.
And if I do need to go out, I can just order an Uber and be there in minutes.