Smartphones are made for those with vision loss | National Federation of the Blind

These days, it seems like just about everybody has a smartphone. Yet, the smartphone as we know it today debuted just 17 years ago. Apple introduced the first iPhone in 2007. By 2023, an estimated 92% of the U.S. population carried one . For the visually impaired community, these devices can open up the world and dramatically increase independence.

Key to this are the accessibility options in the phone's settings. Here, users can enable features that aid with vision, hearing, or mobility limitations. Apple has a longer history of focusing on accessibility, and vision impaired users still favor iOS. That said, in recent years, Android has made great strides in the accessibility of their mobile devices, and they are often priced more favorably than Apple hardware.

So how do those who are blind or low vision even use a smartphone?

A phone can work as a simple magnifier, helping those with low vision read smaller text. Contrast is also adjustable, and the colors can be inverted so white backgrounds appear black, black text appears white, and so forth. Text to speech (TTS) functionality — VoiceOver in iOS and TalkBack in Android —speak the contents of screens and apps. Apple also supports connection to a device which turns onscreen text into Braille.

Screen and Braille readers allow those with vision loss to take in all manner of written content with their phones. They can read the news online, check and respond to emails and texts, read electronic books, choose what to order off a menu, and check the weather forecast. With accessible apps, they can listen to music and podcasts, verify bank balances, track their steps, shop online, make travel arrangements, and video chat with friends and family. In short, they can use their phones for many of the same things as sighted people.

But the phones' abilities to narrate features in the environment arguably provide the greatest boost to independence. There is a free app called SeeingAI that uses the phones camera to read text, currency, colors and identify products. When the user holds the phone up to take in what's nearby, it will describe in detail what's in the camera's frame. For instance, the user can point the phone at a street sign, a placard in a museum, or a sign at the entrance to a doctor's office and have the text read instantly. And AI will only enhance these capabilities.

Be My Eyes and Aira represent another type of app that connects persons with vision loss to sighted volunteers or employees. The apps allow the sighted assistant to look through the camera of the person requesting help. They can find lost items, check an expiration date on a milk carton, read handwriting on a card, or assess an outfit. They can also help with navigation, a topic that will be explored more in a future .

Smartphones can aid those with vision loss in innumerable ways. But apps are only useable by those with disabilities to the extent that they are accessible. Tapping on a control and having the screen reader report, "vector 95" isn't helpful. Unfortunately, this is an all too common experience with apps designed for general use. Developers must do better. And when they do, those with vision loss will finally have a tool that can bring them that much closer to independence.

You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back. The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future.

To contact the Missoula chapter of the NFB, email .