Bring your karma
Join the waitlist today
HUMBLECAT.ORG

Blind and Visually Impaired Community

Full History - 2019 - 04 - 24 - ID#bgxhy8
7
best phone for elderly with old-age vision loss but not blind? Calling and whatsapp is all she wants (self.Blind)
submitted by deanat78
Hello, I've been looking for several months for a phone for my grandmother and she is desperate to find something, I was hoping this subreddit could help me.

My grandmother has been suffering from rapidly deteriorating eyesight over the past 2 years. Her phone was very important to her because she is physically not well so she loves to call her friends/receive calls from family/send and receive texts and voice messages on whatsapp to family. That's all she needs her phone for - whatsapp and calls.

I know that iphones are great for people with vision problems thanks to all their accessibility features. We tried to see if an iphone would make things easier for her, we also tried something called Ray Project which makes your entire phone experience speak to you. She has a very hard time with those because it's so new and different that she just can't understand it. She's used to how calling and whatsapp work and at her age I understand that it's hard for her to learn something new.

She isn't blind, she just needs the font to be very large, very bold, high contrast black on white. Surprisingly none of us grandkids have been able to find any apps or phones that can do that. Some new phones do let you change some font settings, but we haven't found something that really works.

I came here to see if anyone has any advice on apps or phones they think would be useful. Thanks
andi1235 3 points 4y ago
This is pricy, but maybe something like it could help. https://irie-at.com/product/synaptic-smartphone-premium/
deanat78 [OP] 1 points 4y ago
Price is irrelevant, a phone is her major way of connecting with family and friends, and is all she's really got left... this looks potentially interesting, I'll talk to them and see if they support whatsapp and if text can be even larger and if it can be unlocked for other countries. Thanks for the share!
ArcanaNoir 2 points 4y ago
Maybe you could get her a large iPad with a data plan. Then you can make the font very large but still see a decent sized area of the screen. It also can be zoomed in with finger gestures.
deanat78 [OP] 2 points 4y ago
I never thought of that! I'll look into that, I don't know if tablets with sim cards can actually call or if the sim is only for data. If it can be used to call like a regular phone, then that might be a good option :)
_uphill_both_ways 1 points 4y ago
I don’t think it can be used to call, but you could FaceTime.

I recommend a hands-free Alexa phone. She can use voice commands for dialing and texting.
fluffernutter59 1 points 4y ago
Whatsapp also does calls, both audio only and video as well.
deanat78 [OP] 1 points 4y ago
What's an Alexa phone? She does have Alexa and loves it for initiating calls and setting reminders, but what's an Alexa phone?

Unfortunately Alexa doesn't help her with whatsapp and can only be used when she's at home.
ArcanaNoir 1 points 4y ago
Yeah I don't know the answer to that question either.. That's a good point.
aaronespinozaca 1 points 4y ago
Maybe this is what you are looking for. Here is a review of this phone.
https://www.afb.org/aw/20/4/16402
deanat78 [OP] 1 points 4y ago
Thanks, that looks promising, I'll call the manufacturer tomorrow :)
This nonprofit website is run by volunteers.
Please contribute if you can. Thank you!
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large-
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
©2023 HumbleCat Inc   •   HumbleCat is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Michigan, USA.