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For a screenless smartphone turn on voiceover[1] and enable screen curtain[2] and you’re there. It’s better than anything that some newcomer is going to be able

For a screenless smartphone turn on voiceover[1] and enable screen curtain[2] and you’re there. It’s better than anything that some newcomer is going to be able to cook up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDm7GiKra28 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDm7GiKra28 [1] https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/iphone/iph3e2e415f/ios https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/iphone/iph3e2e415f/ios [2] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201443 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201443

jeroenhd 4y ago
I wonder how easy you could make a smartphone for the visually impaired last for ages if you just remove the screen. Make them glass rocks with speakers that run Android (or iOS but it's not like Apple will ever permit such modifications). Paradigms like flat screens and even the base shape don't matter as long as the OS audio feedback is done well. You could give someone a smooth rock and they'd be able to use it as a smartphone no problem as long as you put on a normal OS (none of this locked down bullshit) and integrate the existing accessibility service well. There'd be loads of space for batteries and you only need to care about the limits if the capacitive layer, the screen tech itself doesn't need to be foldable! Perhaps for tech service you'd need to add some kind of display out, probably over USB so you have hook it up to a hub and have a non-impaired techy service it if necessary, but there are opportunities here way beyond "just buy a screen you'll never be able to see".
- jackvalentine 4y ago
  Sounds like a lot of work to end up with something very inferior. The iphone’s accessibility works because it’s a core part of a device intended for anyone - not a weird bespoke ‘here is your blind phone’ device.
  - jeroenhd 4y ago
    But an iPhone contains a screen and several cameras that someone without eye sight will ever use. There's a cool service that describes objects and clothes for the visually impaired but that doesn't need four cameras. Regardless of how well-integrated the accessibility service is, it's accessibility tacked onto a device designed primarily for the common denominator. The system is oriented around communicating what's on the screen but the screen itself is an artificial limitation for those that don't see it. A well-built accessible device like this should also work for people with good eye sight, as long as they have good hearing. Screens are distracting and attention grabbing, apps and websites are designed to suck up as much of your time as they possibly can, which is a reason many people use accessibility settings to set their screen to grayscale for example. Portable smart speakers can be one solution for a world where everything tries to ruin your attention span by grabbing your attention. Combine the mobile app market and a novel design and you should be able to get a decent experience as long as the "accessibility" software is written well. Sure, such a device would be fiddly for those that don't need accessibility per se, but I think a well designed project can leverage the huge mindscape that blind people navigating the world can develop to create human-device interactions that go beyond "here's a way to also use the thing developed for sighted people".
    - jackvalentine 4y ago
      I don’t wish to be rude because your heart is in the right place but you seem to be speaking very heavily on behalf of blind people about what they do or do not need. Do you have any blind people in your life? Blind people use cameras all the time for the same reasons sighted people do - sharing images with others! They have sighted friends and family too you know :) Blind people want the choice to use all the same apps and experiences that sighted people do with their benefits and pitfalls. This is only achievable with accessibility baked in to an established platform - which iOS accessibility is, it’s certainly not ‘tacked on’. The marginal cost of a screen is so irrelevant. In many ways what I’m saying is the same as any new entrant to the smart devices market - if it doesn’t use one of the two established ecosystems it’ll be marginally useful at best. For better or worse it’s iOS/Android from here on out.

jeroenhd 4y ago

I wonder how easy you could make a smartphone for the visually impaired last for ages if you just remove the screen. Make them glass rocks with speakers that run Android (or iOS but it's not like Apple will ever permit such modifications). Paradigms like flat screens and even the base shape don't matter as long as the OS audio feedback is done well. You could give someone a smooth rock and they'd be able to use it as a smartphone no problem as long as you put on a normal OS (none of this locked down bullshit) and integrate the existing accessibility service well. There'd be loads of space for batteries and you only need to care about the limits if the capacitive layer, the screen tech itself doesn't need to be foldable! Perhaps for tech service you'd need to add some kind of display out, probably over USB so you have hook it up to a hub and have a non-impaired techy service it if necessary, but there are opportunities here way beyond "just buy a screen you'll never be able to see".

jackvalentine 4y ago
Sounds like a lot of work to end up with something very inferior. The iphone’s accessibility works because it’s a core part of a device intended for anyone - not a weird bespoke ‘here is your blind phone’ device.
- jeroenhd 4y ago
  But an iPhone contains a screen and several cameras that someone without eye sight will ever use. There's a cool service that describes objects and clothes for the visually impaired but that doesn't need four cameras. Regardless of how well-integrated the accessibility service is, it's accessibility tacked onto a device designed primarily for the common denominator. The system is oriented around communicating what's on the screen but the screen itself is an artificial limitation for those that don't see it. A well-built accessible device like this should also work for people with good eye sight, as long as they have good hearing. Screens are distracting and attention grabbing, apps and websites are designed to suck up as much of your time as they possibly can, which is a reason many people use accessibility settings to set their screen to grayscale for example. Portable smart speakers can be one solution for a world where everything tries to ruin your attention span by grabbing your attention. Combine the mobile app market and a novel design and you should be able to get a decent experience as long as the "accessibility" software is written well. Sure, such a device would be fiddly for those that don't need accessibility per se, but I think a well designed project can leverage the huge mindscape that blind people navigating the world can develop to create human-device interactions that go beyond "here's a way to also use the thing developed for sighted people".
  - jackvalentine 4y ago
    I don’t wish to be rude because your heart is in the right place but you seem to be speaking very heavily on behalf of blind people about what they do or do not need. Do you have any blind people in your life? Blind people use cameras all the time for the same reasons sighted people do - sharing images with others! They have sighted friends and family too you know :) Blind people want the choice to use all the same apps and experiences that sighted people do with their benefits and pitfalls. This is only achievable with accessibility baked in to an established platform - which iOS accessibility is, it’s certainly not ‘tacked on’. The marginal cost of a screen is so irrelevant. In many ways what I’m saying is the same as any new entrant to the smart devices market - if it doesn’t use one of the two established ecosystems it’ll be marginally useful at best. For better or worse it’s iOS/Android from here on out.