Smartphones have become one of the most important inventions for the disability community. They’re affordable. They’re compact. And the app markets are filling up with a diverse array of assistive-tech applications, accommodating for people with various disabilities.
By increasing accessibility, communication, and altering the environment around its user, apps are paving new ways for people with visual, auditory, speech and motor disabilities to improve their quality of living. Here’s a look at five effective apps.
Talkitt assists those with a speech impairment. The application learns the speech patterns of its user and then translates those words into clear speech. It works by having the user set up a dictionary linking their pronunciation of words with what they mean. For instance, if a person has trouble saying certain letters such as R or S, the app will translate “wabbit” to the associated word “rabbit” in its dictionary. Because the app uses speech patterns unique to the user, the app can be used for any language. Talkitt has already won multiple awards such as T-Mobile’s Telekom Innovation Contest, Powerful Answers by Verizon and Innovation Fellows by Philips, and it is currently being crowdfunded through Indiegogo as the app prepares to launch later in 2017.
Aipoly Vision is a visual aid that uses the phone’s camera to identify objects and helps those with visual disabilities understand the surrounding environment. It is capable of recognizing plants and animals, text, currency, food and colors. When the camera is pointed at an object, Aipoly Vision recognizes and says out loud the name of the object being observed. The app is currently available in seven different languages and can operate without the need for internet connection except for its text recognition function. Aipoly Vision won the Innovation of the Year award at the Consumer Technology Association’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES2017) under the category of accessible tech. The app is currently available on the Apple app market for a monthly subscription fee of $4.99.
Commandr is an extension application from Google’s voice recognition software, Google Now. Commandr gives people with physical and visual disabilities a much greater ease of access to their phones using the voice recognition function. For instance, you can say to your phone “Turn on Wi-Fi” and it will carry out that command. The app is also compatible with Android’s wearable technology, offering extensive control in navigation to those who have difficulty in their motor functions. The application is downloadable for free online but features in-app purchases to control varying aspects of your phone, ranging from $1 to $100 for each package.
RogerVoice Caption Calls is a service for hearing-impaired people by providing real-time captioning during phone calls as well as automated voice synthesis, which converts written text into voice messages for the recipient. The pricing for the app varies depending on the type of subscription the user applies for from $0.99 to $33.99. Roger Voice is available for both IOS and Android systems and supports six languages including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Simplified Chinese.
Color Binoculars is an app for those whose disability gets in the way of the little things in life: picking out flowers for a loved one, experiencing the beauty of nature or choosing matching clothes for your outfit. In other words, those with color blindness. The app uses the phone camera to replace colors that are hard to distinguish like red and green with pink and green, which are more easy to tell apart. The app supports all three major types of color blindness: red-green, blue-yellow and complete. Although it doesn’t fix the disability, it can definitely assist in everyday life. Color Binoculars is currently available in English on the Apple app store.