Help for the Visually Impaired

I have been doing some research for a dad who is quite elderly and has really low vision. He likes to use his mobile phone but these days isn't able to really use them the way he would like as he cant see very clearly.
This is something that is quite common to older folks who are diabetic and suddenly develop diabetic retinopathy, a situation where the low blood sugar results in damage to sensitive vessels which supply blood to the eyes. It results in damage to the retina caused by complications of diabetics, which can eventually lead to blindness. It is an ocular manifestation of systemic disease which affects up to 80% of all patients who have had diabetes for 10 years or more. Despite these intimidating statistics, research indicates that at least 90% of these new cases could be reduced if there was proper and vigilant treatment and monitoring of the eyes. The longer a person has diabetes, the higher his or her chances of developing diabetic retinopathy.

So I had to do some digging to get him an Android phone with an App that would make his life a whole lot easier, while I am yet to find one, below are a couple of really nice and relatively affordable ways to get the visually impaired to enjoy their mobile phones.

I am also still exploring the options of low vision aids but as this is a tech blog, I won't even go into those.

An aid for the visually impaired using Android and touch sensors.

R-MAP an application on Android for the Blind or Visually impaired

Introducing Mobile Accessibility

A Special Phone app: EYES-FREE Adaptive Keypad!! 

 

I am a very big fan of Androids. I have used at least 6 different android phones within the last 2 years.
Currently using the EVO 4G and the Google nexus one classic. Androids are great on phones and not so great on tablets that's why I choose to go with Apple's iPad when I was shopping for a tablet to fill that void that didn't really exist in the first place.

Apple's tablet is a great piece of hardware and I have to admit I love it, but just like every Apple device I know of, you tend to be fully boxed into the platform.

• need itunes to copy files
• no usb port
• no memory card reader
• no 1080p video
• no camera
• the list goes on and on.

Being a Google fan, the options were very limited with the Samsung galaxy tab not really offering me the experience I craved on a tablet medium.
Enter Google's Honeycomb and the new Motorola Xoom and I think the tides may have changed.
While I don't own one just yet, the reviews I have seen online say this is a pretty amazing alternative to the iPad and because I love the whole "free" concept of android this will probably be the gadget for me.

Below are a few videos I found via Youtube showing the Motorola Xoom