Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Gadgets for a person who is loosing his vision. (self.Blind)
submitted by plutoniumsalmon
Hello.
My father is in the process of losing sight due to cancer related complications. He can navigate pretty well but can not see well enough to read or operate his android phone. As such I was wondering if you cold recommend a number of things for him.
He needs a good way to tell the time. The ability to operate the cell phone (is there anything else out there beside android disabled options?) And hopefully listen to audio books.
The books are actually the most important. I know that there is audible. The problem with it it though is its on the phone with no tactile buttons and as he likes to listen to it at night no way to set up easily the ability to turn itself off automatically. I was thinking of burning him a bunch of CDS but yet again I can not find a portable player that turns itself off. Would you guys know of such a thing?
Anyways. Thank you.
My father is in the process of losing sight due to cancer related complications. He can navigate pretty well but can not see well enough to read or operate his android phone. As such I was wondering if you cold recommend a number of things for him.
He needs a good way to tell the time. The ability to operate the cell phone (is there anything else out there beside android disabled options?) And hopefully listen to audio books.
The books are actually the most important. I know that there is audible. The problem with it it though is its on the phone with no tactile buttons and as he likes to listen to it at night no way to set up easily the ability to turn itself off automatically. I was thinking of burning him a bunch of CDS but yet again I can not find a portable player that turns itself off. Would you guys know of such a thing?
Anyways. Thank you.
epik_flip 2 points 7y ago
If you are in the United States, he may qualify to receive a free audiobook player and free audiobooks through the National Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/nls/
plutoniumsalmon [OP] 1 points 7y ago
Hello. Sadly he is in Europe. But I will look for similar programs there.
Sausalito94965 2 points 7y ago
OverDrive is a free app that allows you to download audio books to listen to, at no charge, from your local public library. While I use it on my iPhone / iPad, I believe it's also available on other platforms, too. Most libraries across the country are offering free audiobooks to checkout for up to 3-weeks. He can put some on hold, and receive an email when they are available. I suspect you could download the app for him, and then show him how to use it. It's fairly user friendly. I'm losing my sight, too, from an old accident, and listening to audiobooks in my spare time is amazing to keep my spirits positive. I also purchased a small Bose Bluetooth speaker that makes the listening experience quite enjoyable. I'm curious what other recommendations will show up here for visually impaired. There is a great need, and hopefully we will start seeing many users friendly advances. Best of success to him, and to you.
plutoniumsalmon [OP] 1 points 7y ago
Thank you.
matt_may 2 points 7y ago
An iPad Facetime might be easier to use. Also I have an Amazon Echo. You can just ask it the time whenever you want, set timers, ask genearl questions.
plutoniumsalmon [OP] 1 points 7y ago
Thank you. Will look into that to see if its region locked.
fastfinge 2 points 7y ago
If you can afford it, $1 is a really good option. I had the first generation many years ago, before I got my IPhone, and loved it. If your father doesn't want to learn a touch-screen, I'm sure that the second generation is just as good. All of the experiences I've had with Humanware, the company that makes it, have been good ones. It will support books from audible, as well as mp3 files, epub files, and many many many other file formats, like books from the RNIB. And at $369 Canadian, it is cheaper than getting him an iPhone.
Edit to add: if price isn't an object, the $1 also looks really really nice. Unfortunately, it's $695 US, probably do to having to include a camera and faster CPU for the OCR feature. The product that this company previously made, the BookSense, was quite high quality, and a number of close friends of mine owned them. Firmware 1.0 of the BookSense had frequent problems with crashing, and the unit needed frequent reboots. However, this was fixed in the second firmware upgrade (1.1 I believe), so they do also make quality and well-supported products. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone who owns a Blaze ET, but assuming they've released at least one firmware upgrade for the product, I'd feel pretty safe buying one.
Edit to add: if price isn't an object, the $1 also looks really really nice. Unfortunately, it's $695 US, probably do to having to include a camera and faster CPU for the OCR feature. The product that this company previously made, the BookSense, was quite high quality, and a number of close friends of mine owned them. Firmware 1.0 of the BookSense had frequent problems with crashing, and the unit needed frequent reboots. However, this was fixed in the second firmware upgrade (1.1 I believe), so they do also make quality and well-supported products. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone who owns a Blaze ET, but assuming they've released at least one firmware upgrade for the product, I'd feel pretty safe buying one.
[deleted] 2 points 7y ago
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fastfinge 2 points 7y ago
I wish. If you compare it to other specialty devices for the blind, it's not that bad. Look at the $4000 note-takers that don't even do as much as a $400 netbook. If OP wants something that isn't a touch-screen today, he's going to be getting a specialty product, and thus he's going to be paying an arm and a leg for it. I don't like it any more than you do.
[deleted] 2 points 7y ago
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fastfinge 2 points 7y ago
Startups already are disrupting the space. If you already have an iPhone, a device that Apple has made perfectly accessible, you can get $1, an app that does everything the Victor Reader Stream does and more, for something like a tenth of the price. But if you're older and don't have the mental acuity/physical dexterity to learn an entirely knew interface, unlike anything any blind person has ever used before, you're out in the cold. I don't really see how a start-up could make specialized physical devices for much cheaper than Humanware already does. Keep in mind that blind people my age (late 20s) and younger are just buying iPhones because we can use them fine. So your start-up might only sell a few thousand of these devices. Maybe a few hundred thousand if you're really, really lucky. In order to make any money doing that, you really do have to charge quite a bit.
geoffisblind 1 points 7y ago
I sincerely hope this happens soon.
geoffisblind 1 points 7y ago
Welcome to technology for the blind *sigh.* The market for blind technology is so small that companies can jack up the prices to disgusting levels making technology that people desperately need impossible to get because of the ridiculous price barriers. This is a huge frustration for me.
[deleted] 1 points 7y ago
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plutoniumsalmon [OP] 1 points 7y ago
Thank you so much. The victor thing is perfect. Ordering now.
geoffisblind 1 points 7y ago
I would not recommend an Android phone which pains me to say because I have been an Android fanboy for forever. I currently use a Note 4 and it is alright but it is just not as good at accessibility as ios. If you have to use an Android, the Note 4 is the best option I've had experience with. I know you can find audio players with a sleep cutoff. I'm actually almost positive the Audible App had that feature in there at some point, you just have to hunt around in the settings for a bit. I haven't used Audible for a while though so that may have changed or I may be remembering incorrectly. For time I always recommend the Eone Bradley Tactile Timepiece. In the future I also like to throw in the Humanware Trekker Breeze + mobility GPS which is fantastic.
plutoniumsalmon [OP] 1 points 7y ago
Thank you for pointing out the watch. That will work great.
charliemyheart 1 points 7y ago
If he is in the legally blind range I suggest BARD which is free, and a Iphone if he is willing to use a touch screen. And bookshare while it has to be paid for, for someone not in school, but is cheaper than audible and made with the blind in mind not for the regular consomer.
The name for what is on Iphones is voiceover, which I find nicer than the Andriod.
The name for what is on Iphones is voiceover, which I find nicer than the Andriod.
plutoniumsalmon [OP] 1 points 7y ago
Hello. I think he is now what is considered legally blind. The problem that he has with learning all of this stuff is not he has not been like this for long. It only started in May, so there has not been much time to learn new skills. For the short term I am glad I got recommended the player and for the longer I will start looking into apps. Thank you.
[deleted] -2 points 7y ago
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plutoniumsalmon [OP] 3 points 7y ago
Thanks. Glad you are there to help with whats important.
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