Hints and Tips
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This page contains helpful hints and tips for people with:
Hearing impairments
When choosing products that accommodate a hearing impairment, look for:
- Keypad buttons that vibrate when touched so that when pressing a key, it's felt.
- Voice dialing that enables the phone to dial simply by saying a name.
- Sound settings for adjusting phone volume and to indicate when the phone is starting up or shutting down and when your battery is low, empty, charging, or full.
- Personalized ring-tones. Different ring tones can be used for different contacts.
Visual impairments
When choosing products that accommodate a visual impairment, look for:
Keypads
- Large buttons, raised keys, and a raised dot on the number 5 will help when navigating the keypad.
- Large numbers and letters, in contrasting colors that stand out.
- Buttons that make a sound or vibrate when touched makes accurate dialing easier.
Display and Screen
- Choose a screen with good contrast and easy-to-read fonts.
- Avoid shiny screens that give off a lot of glare.
- Back lighting also helps.
- Some phones enable the user to enlarge the font size.
Useful Features
- Voice dialing that enables the phone to dial a phone number simply by saying a name.
- For faster, more efficient dialing, look for products with speed or one touch dialing options.
- Look for phones that have sound settings that will indicate the phone is starting up and shutting down, and when the battery is low, empty, charging, or full.
- A camera with zoom can be used as a magnifying glass.
- Personalized ring-tones let the user know who is calling without using call display.
Hands Free
- Hands-free kits or Bluetooth headsets let you answer calls without touching your phone.
Screen Reading Software
- Software is available for purchase that will read out what is showing on the phone screen.
Note: not all phones are compatible with this type of software.
Speech impairments
When choosing products that accommodate speech impairments, look for:
- Predictive texting makes texting faster (if the same message is sent often, many phone devices save the message as a template).
- A QWERTY or full-size keyboard helps make typing quicker and easier.
- Touch screen phones have a larger screen which displays more lines of text.
- Choose a screen with good contrast and easy-to-read fonts.
- Avoid shiny screens that give off a lot of glare.
- Back lighting is helpful
- Some phones enable the user to switch to a larger font.
Mobility impairments
When choosing products that accommodate mobility impairments, look for:
- A device that is light and easy to grip, with large, well-spaced buttons (or a touch screen).
- Speed, one-touch, or voice dialing to eliminate the need to enter in phone numbers.
- Predictive texting makes texting faster (if the same message is sent often, many phone devices save the message as a template).
- A QWERTY or full-size keyboard makes typing quicker and easier.
- Hands-free kits or Bluetooth headsets let you answer calls without touching your phone.
- Touch screen phones have a larger screen which displays more lines of text.
- Buttons that make a sound or vibrate when touched makes accurate dialing easier.
