Dear AccessWorld Readers,

You may remember that back in 2016, the mobile game Pokemon Go was released and dominated popular culture during that summer. We wrote about the game and ways it could be made accessible both in a blog post and in the AccessWorld editor's page. The app has never been made accessible, but with the iOS 14 inclusion of Screen Recognition, I felt it may be worth another look.

If you are not familiar with Screen Recognition, it is a VoiceOver feature introduced in iOS 14, which requires an iPhone X or later device. Screen Recognition tries to recognize all of the text and controls on the screen and then making them visible to VoiceOver. If a developer uses standard controls, they are generally accessible to VoiceOver though might not have proper labels. Often, games are programmed using tools and techniques that result in VoiceOver having nothing at all to view on screen.

With a bit of sighted help to memorize button locations during the action sequences in Pokemon Go, I've basically been able to play the majority of the game just using screen recognition. What I found interesting is that when we originally looked at the game for accessibility, the most difficult parts appeared to be the various action based mini games like capturing pokemon for your collection or battling other player's pokemon in gyms to take over the gym for your team. Even the parts of the game that are fairly inaccessible to me, the issues are in accessing information printed on screen, not the visual nature of a mini game.

Screen recognition still has its quirks. When I've used it, sometimes lines of text are repeated, two separate elements are lumped together as one making them impossible to activate with VoiceOver, and sometimes the page doesn't refresh as you navigate an app to reflect new content. That being said, I have been shocked at how well this technology, still from my understanding in its infancy, performs even now. I always thought that the increasing acceptance of technology access in the mainstream would be what drove accessibility for people with vision loss forward, but now I wonder if technologies like this, that bypass a developer completely, won't be what drives a good deal of accessibility in the future.

I do worry that as this technology becomes more prominent, that developers may choose to not put effort into accessibility in the assumption that access technology like this will do the work for them. Even if it is quite amazing, Technology like Screen Recognition will most likely always make mistakes or not be able to fully make an app accessible for the foreseeable future. Overall, I applaud Apple on developing such a fantastic new access tool, but would encourage developers to keep striving for full accessibility as nothing can beat the ease of use and access provided by first party accessibility.

What do you think? Have you tried Screen Recognition or some other third party accessibility tool (NVDA/JAWS OCR, Golden Cursor/JAWS Hotspots, etc.)? What do you think of the development of these sorts of technologies? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Before I close, I've heard from multiple people that they seem to no longer receive the AccessWorld E-Mail alert even though they have subscribed. If you encounter this issue, please visit this AccessWorld E-Mail alert sign-up page and submit your E-Mail address again. This will send you an E-Mail where you can update your AFB newsletter preferences, including the ability to ensure you are set to receive AccessWorld alerts. I am unsure of the cause, but it seems that even though people are still on our list, their preference was changed to not receive the alert. If you still do not receive the alerts even after making this change, please reach out by E-Mail and I will be happy to help.

Sincerely,

Aaron Preece

AccessWorld Editor and Chief

American Foundation for the Blind

This article is made possible in part by generous funding from the James H. and Alice Teubert Charitable Trust, Huntington, West Virginia.

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J.J. Meddaugh

as I prepared to descend on to Anaheim for this year's edition of the CSUN Assistive Technology Conference, I honestly was not sure what to expect. My previous two experiences attending the conference were vastly different from each other for obvious reasons. The 2019 event was dotted with sponsor exhibits, showcase suites, and an air of corporateness which was pervasive throughout the event. Hundreds of employees and contractors from the likes of Google, Microsoft, and Amazon lined the halls and meeting rooms eager to share their latest improvements. Contrast that with 2020, where we were just beginning to learn about a virus which would change our world for the next two years and beyond. Many people and companies were caught off guard by Covid-19, including the conference organizers, who admittedly were a bit unprepared for the week ahead. The exhibit hall was so quiet that two people could easily have a conversation with each other across the hall without needing to yell. Showcase suites were empty, and the attendance was in the hundreds, not thousands. And just a couple of months before this year's event, the omicron wave led to further uncertainty about what exactly we would find at this year's event.

But after an entirely virtual event in 2021 which was devoid of many new product announcements, companies large and small return to Anaheim, eager to show off their latest innovations. And while some large companies like Google and Microsoft shows to not attend or maintain a much smaller presence, the conference itself felt almost normal and provided plenty of opportunities for networking, learning, and exploring. Conference organizers added many health and safety policies, including requiring a COVID-19 vaccine or a negative test before arrival, and daily health screenings which led to a wristband which provided for entry for the day. The conference was not as big as in past years, but I felt it was big enough, with plenty of new products and technologies to try out. Once again, AFB access world has partnered with blind bargains to sponsor audio coverage for the conference. New podcasts are being posted weekly, and you can go to the Blind Bargains audio page to listen to them.

Perhaps the most talked about development of this conference was the prevalence of various tactile tablets and other modern Braille devices. In fact, there is so much to talk about in this area that we split off all of this news into another article that Judy Dixon has submitted for this issue, so check that out to learn all about many of the amazing Braille updates at the conference. But there's even more braille news and plenty of other things to talk about, so let's dive right in.

Getting Around with GoodMaps

One of the big challenges presented by any large conference is how to actually get around the thing. There have been many attempts over the years to provide various forms of indoor navigation at conferences, from manually written directions to a basic level of navigation using beacons. GoodMaps Explore is a free app available for both iOS and Android which provides both basic outdoor navigation, as well as indoor wayfinding and navigation for buildings where the technology has been deployed. Instead of using beacons, a building is first scanned with a mobile camera that supports LiDAR. LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging, and is used to measure variable distance, which is particularly important when determining exactly where items are located inside a building. Essentially, this is the electronic version of someone doing mental mapping to figure out how to get from place to place. When a user opens the GoodMaps app add a place where indoor navigation is available, they are alerted of this and can then point their phone outward and vertically in order to obtain their current position. Once this position has been determined, the user can then navigate to nearby locations, such as the nearest restroom or the coffee shop. If the user chooses to get directions, they could then start walking and follow the guidance of the app, with updated directions given every 20 or 30 feet. This tended to work the best in hallways and more defined spaces, as opposed to a wide-open hotel lobby. The technology also currently makes the most sense for spaces that do not change often, as opposed to an exhibit hall which would have a different layout for every event. The app is still early in its development, and this conference provided an excellent way for the company to see the technology work in real time.

One thing that sets GoodMaps apart from other indoor navigation platforms is the desire to target mainstream companies as potential customers. The technology that is being used could be quite useful for first responders, maintenance employees, and companies who wanted to embed an accessible mapping experience inside their own app. Companies can choose to either share all of their data publicly or restrict some of it for employees or other authorized personnel. In addition, the cost to implement the technology should theoretically be much less because there is no need to install and maintain beacons throughout an entire building; they're only needed at entrances, according to the company. GoodMaps is actively seeking partners to expand their indoor navigation technology to more buildings around the world.

Hims Provides Miniature Power

In 2021, Hims released the BrailleSense 6, an updated version of its Polaris Android-based notetaker. You can read all about that from our November 2021 review written by Jamie Pauls. Now, the Polaris Mini is receiving the same set of updates and new features and has been dubbed the BrailleSense 6 Mini. It features 20 cells of refreshable braille as well as a modern 8-core processor and 128GB of memory. Like its larger sibling, it includes a 13-megapixel camera, Bluetooth 5.1, and 802.11AC Wi-Fi, plenty fast for today's applications. Other than the obvious difference in cells, the mini uses a Micro SD memory card slot instead of full-size SD, a mono speaker instead of stereo, and 2 USB type C ports instead of 4 total USB ports on the 32-cell unit. Both the 6 and 6 Mini run Android 10, which despite not being the latest version, is capable of running today's modern applications. One thing that impresses me about Hims products is their compatibility with a wide variety of mainstream accessories, from USB webcams to external speakers. It's available now for preorder for $4,595, and a limited upgrade program for Polaris Mini users is also being offered.

One of the new features that BrailleSense users can expect to find any day now is expanded support for Google Drive as well as Microsoft OneDrive and Dropbox. Browsing through your personal or shared drives on any of these services is as simple as going through folders on your own local machine. Providing support for the three major collaboration apps becomes vitally important in both education and the workplace. Software updates for Hims notetakers are always free.

Orbit Research Aims for Simple and Affordable with the Orbit Speak

The Braille 'n Speak is back! That proclamation may be a bit of a hyperbole, but it was certainly a phrase that was uttered several times during the week. That's because Orbit Research (no relation to the former Blazie Engineering) announced a new product called the Orbit Speak, a tiny, speech-based notetaking device scheduled for release this fall. The 8-ounce device felt and looked similar, and just a bit thicker than the Orbit Writer, the $99 Braille keyboard released by the company in 2020. While the Orbit Writer is simply a keyboard that connects to a phone or computer for typing, the Orbit Speak will also include basic notetaking features found in the Orbit Reader 20 and 40 braille displays, minus the display part. Additional features, such as the ability to download books from Bookshare and other services, are also being considered. It uses USB Type C for charging and will include an SD card slot and a headphone jack. Many of the details of this brand-new product are still being worked out, but the company expects to sell the Orbit Speak for a few hundred dollars.

AIRA Coming to a Desktop Near You

Visual assistance app AIRA has provided services through its mobile apps for several years now, but some users have often used the platform for computer-related tasks. Currently, getting help navigating an inaccessible website or completing other computing tasks often requires the use of an app called TeamViewer, a way for AIRA agents to see and interact with the user's screen. While this is a workable solution, it requires some setup and often will eat into a user's precious and paid minutes before any tasks are started. AIRA desktop seeks to change this, providing an option for users to contact agents directly from their computer. While AIRA got its start at focusing on navigation-related tasks, the need for visual help in other areas has expanded over the years as users think of new ways to harness the power of the service. AIRA desktop is currently in a private testing phase and is expected to roll out later this year.

Hardcopy Braille is Going Rogue

Yes, tactile graphics on a tablet are very cool, but nobody can match the resolution and detail provided by a modern braille embosser, especially those made by braille graphics leader ViewPlus. The VP Rogue and Rogue Sheet are new, single-sided embossers which focus on high-quality graphics, the type needed for detailed images used by educators and standardized tests. The rogue, at $5,995, uses tractor fed paper while the Rogue Sheet costs $500 more and uses cut sheet paper. Both models print at 120 characters per second, though like most printers, this number lowers significantly when printing complex images. The braille samples I felt simply felt stunning, with variable dot heights and various in-fill styles providing expression for embossed copies of historical landmarks. Since the embosser does not do interpoint braille, it is best used for graphics and other documents that need to be printed in a high-quality, single-sided format.

Around the World with a Talking Globe

One of the newer entries to the exhibit hall was Spanish company Sicsa Futuro. The business was displaying a variety of daily living aids and toys including talking watches and some nice tactile board games, but the product that caught the most attention was their talking globe. Measuring a bit more than a foot in diameter, the tactile globe included raised features for mountain ranges and other large land features. It was paired with a wand which could be pointed at various locations on the globe to speak the location or region it was touching. The density of a globe of this size makes it impossible to, for instance, label every state or small country in the world, but the demonstration version did feature over 140 points of interest around the world. Versions of the globe are currently being created for various countries and expect to sell for under $200.

Sony Brings Speech to More Products

one mainstream company which did make an appearance this year was Sony. In addition to their previous products which had accessibility features such as televisions and PlayStations, they were demoing some new products which, while not created for people who are blind, might very well be appreciated by this audience. One such product was the LinkBuds, a set of wireless earbuds which includes a hole in the center to allow for outside noise to pass through. IN addition, the adaptive Volume Control is designed to adjust the sound based on the environment. It's encouraging to see more headphone manufacturers think about how to also pass through the sounds of the outside world, whether electronically or in a more low-tech fashion. the buds are available now for $179. What is impressive to me, is that Sony is thinking about accessibility on a wide variety of products, from portable Walkman’s to their high-end video cameras. Check out this page to learn more about many of their accessibility features.

BlindShell Officially Comes Stateside

The BlindShell talking cell phones have been available in the United States for a couple of years now, but now it will be easier and quicker to get your phone repaired or obtain spare parts. BlindShell USA is a newly formed company which will lead the U.S. operations for the accessible cell phone brand, created by Matapo in the Czech Republic. Led by President Bari Azman, BlindShell USA will support its existing dealer network and provide an increased level of support to both distributors and end users, which should lead to a better overall experience for customers.

Conclusion

One might say that this year's CSUN conference was the perfect size, and just what was needed after two years of limited in-person interactions and endless Zoom meetings. While many mainstream companies stayed away, the big players in assistive technology were back in a big way, and excited to talk about new products and toss around ideas for the future. Unlike 2020, I felt I had plenty of things to check out during the three days of exhibits, and even ran out of time before I was able to get to everything. Even more important was renewing connections, both in the industry and personally, which had been largely set aside during the height of COVID. If anything, the vibe of CSUN gave me encouragement that the summer conventions might also be more normal than expected, and I am now looking forward to more opportunities for that coveted in-person interaction. The conference is indeed returning to Anaheim in 2023, and I hope you are able to attend. But if not, you know where to go to find the latest coverage of what's new in assistive technology.

This article is made possible in part by generous funding from the James H. and Alice Teubert Charitable Trust, Huntington, West Virginia.

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Braille and Tactile Graphics at CSUN 2022

Judy Dixon

In 2021, the in-person technology conference for persons with disabilities conducted by the California State University at Northridge, commonly known as CSUN, was cancelled. All sessions and exhibits were virtual. The last in-person CSUN conference was in 2020. That year, the conference was held in mid-March, just as everyone was becoming aware of the impending pandemic. It was sparsely attended and many exhibitors, especially the ones from the large mainstream companies just didn't come.

CSUN 2022 was a refreshing reminder of conferences gone by. The attendance was definitely up, not quite as much as a pre-pandemic CSUN, but a lot more than 2020. Sessions were well-attended and almost all the exhibitors were back.

This year, there were more than the usual number of exhibitors featuring tactile graphics and braille-related products. In this article, I will describe the tactile graphics items in the exhibit hall and a few of the other braille items. Elsewhere in this issue, J.J. Meddaugh provides an overview of other braille items as well as many other highlights of CSUN 2022.

Tactile Graphics Displays

In the exhibit hall this year, there were several new tactile graphics devices. An early prototype of the Dot Pad from Dot Corporation had been shown two years ago. This year, a much-improved version was in evidence. The quality of the 2,400 dots was very legible. The unit can display text and graphics, and can connect via Bluetooth or USB-c.

The display has scrolling buttons and four other buttons that can be configured by the application. The Dot Corporation has been working with Apple to add additional braille features to their screen readers. In iOS 15.2, five new settings were added to the rotor to add functionality for a tactile graphics display. They are:

• Braille Invert: A graphic will typically be displayed with raised dots. The settings for this item are "Standard" and "Inverted." When the setting is set to "Inverted" a graphic will be represented as blank space while the surrounding area will be displayed as raised dots.

• Line Thickness: This setting controls the thickness of lines of the displayed graphic. Values range from .1 to 1.0.

• Braille Horizontal Pan: This controls the panning of the image in the horizontal direction. There are settings of 0%, 50%, and 100%.

• Braille Vertical Pan: This controls the panning of the image in the vertical direction. There are settings of 0%, 50%, and 100%.

• Braille Zoom: This setting allows the image to be zoomed in or out. Possible settings are 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 5.0, and 10.0.

The Dot Pad is scheduled for production in September, 2022. For more information, visit Dot Inc..

The Dot Pad is being used as a display for a project called IMAGE, Accessible Internet Graphics via Audio and Touch, being conducted by researchers at McGill University's Shared Reality Lab. In their CSUN presentation, they described IMAGE as a project to improve access to Internet graphics for people who are blind or visually impaired. Using a plug-in for the Chrome web browser, IMAGE can be used to render graphics on websites such as charts, maps, and photographs in audio and/or tactile form. A public beta of the browser plug-in has just been released.

In addition to the Dot Pad, haptic access to web-based graphics created by IMAGE can also be rendered by the Haply 2diy, a two-dimensional mouse-like device that provides different levels of force feedback to indicate tactile structures. IMAGE is open-source so its creators are hoping that others will expand its capabilities to work better with additional graphic types. For more information about IMAGE, visit the Image website at McGill University.

Another tactile graphics display called the Braille Pad was shown by 4blind. It was similar to the Dot Pad in size and dot spacing. This device which is still in development also includes a camera. It has 1,850 dots in a 50 by 37 grid, and is designed to display graphics and braille. After taking a photo, software on the device can display the image as it was received or convert the photo into an outline image for easier tactile comprehension. It can connect via Bluetooth or USB. For more information about the Braille Pad, visit Braille PAD.

Another tactile graphics display was shown by the American Printing House for the Blind. The Dynamic Tactile Device (DTD) is also in active development. APH is partnering with HumanWare for software and Dot Corporation for the cells to create a tablet that can display both braille and graphics simultaneously. This will allow a student to read a textbook in braille and view the graphics at the point where they occur.

APH is calling it a proof of concept at this point. The spacing is a bit different from traditional braille produced in the United States but not so much that it negatively affects reading speed and comprehension. A final decision has not been made about the tablet's size. The model being shown is 10 lines of 32 cells. The entire display can be refreshed in 2.5 seconds. For more information, visit APH Is Ready for a Braille Revolution.

Orbit Research was showing the Graphiti Interactive Tactile Graphics Display, and the Graphiti Plus. The original Graphiti was launched in March of 2020. The Graphiti Plus is the same graphics display with an Orbit Reader 40-cell braille display built in and is now available.

The Graphiti can connect to any computer or mobile device. It measures 11.6 x 10.6 by 1.6 inches, and has 2,400 dots arranged in a grid of 40 by 60. It has the ability to independently set each pin to different heights, which enables the display of topographical maps and other graphical elements such as grey shades and color represented as varying heights of pins. It also has a touch interface allowing the user to "draw" on the display.

The Graphiti has a Perkins-style 8-key braille keyboard for entering braille text, a cursor pad for navigation, a standard USB host port and an SD-card slot for loading files for reading and editing in a standalone mode. For more information, visit Graphiti - Orbit Research.

Braille Instruction

In the area of braille instruction, APH showed a new device called Polly. This device is manufactured by Thinkerbell Labs in India who market the device internationally as Annie. The version sold by APH has been substantially localized by them.

It is an educational device for young children, with reading and writing exercises and lots of interactive games using one or more of four types of braille interaction. it has two jumbo braille cells whose dots can be raised or lowered by the user, six cells that display braille like a typical braille display, six cells that function like an electronic slate and stylus, and a braille input keyboard. The games use various combinations of these braille interactive methods. The teacher can interact with the device remotely. They plan to have this device available in the summer. For more information, visit Introducing Polly! | American Printing House (aph.org).

Another braille device with a major braille instruction component was the Bonocle. This device looks like a computer mouse with a one-cell braille display. It has five control buttons and two system buttons.

The Bonocle app runs on iOS or Android. It includes dozens of educational and entertainment activities including alphabet learning, crossword puzzles, Elements which teaches the periodic table; a reader which allows the reading of pdf documents, a checklist app, a notes app, a counter app, a sheets app to navigate the grid of Google Sheets or Excel A measurement app, and even Wordle.

The Delaware-based company describes the Bonocle as "braille entertainment in your pocket." The device is slated to be released at the end of April 2022 but can be pre-ordered now. For more information, contact Bonocle.

Communication Tools

The HaptiBraille is a new device from 4blind. Using an iOS or Android app, it allows a braille-reading deafblind user to read a person's spoken communication in braille. Instead of the traditional pins of a braille display, the dots of the HaptiBraille are incorporated into its keys. The user can type text on the braille keyboard and the app will speak it for the hearing person. Then, the user can read the response without ever moving fingers off the keys. The HaptiBraille can present the dots of each character one at a time or altogether, and can vary the speed and intensity of the presentation. For more information, visit HaptiBraille (4blind.com).

Overflow Biz from Korea was again showing the Versa Slate. This unique 4-line, 20-cell paperless slate allows the user to quickly jot notes, then turn the slate over and read them back. The slate includes a magnetic stylus that is built into the side for easy access. With the push of a button, all or part of the written text can be instantly erased and it is ready for the next note. The Versa Slate is sold in the United States by A. T. Guys. For more information, visit Versa Slate Paperless, Erasable Braille Slate & Stylus.

Keyboards

Two new keyboards specifically made for blind users were in the exhibit hall this year.

The Hable One is a new keyboard from Hable in the Netherlands. It is a very small Bluetooth keyboard for inputting braille on a smartphone or computer. It weighs about 3 ounces. It measures 4 inches long by 1.75 inches wide and .5 inch thick, and it has a battery life of approximately 50 hours. It supports iOS and Android devices on both tablets and phones, as well as typing on Windows and MacOS computers. It supports more than 10 languages including English, Dutch, French, German, Spanish, and Hindi.

The most unique feature of the Hable One is that it is designed to be held between two hands and used vertically. There is no need for a table or desk which makes inputting text on the go very convenient. For those who have used braille screen input, the experience feels much like that of inputting braille in screen-away mode except that you are typing on physical keys. For more information, visit Hable.

The QwertyCase is a wireless keyboard from D.I. Electronics in Korea. It is a Bluetooth keyboard that can be used to enter text from a QWERTY-style keyboard layout or braille. It can be used with iOS or Android devices. It weighs about 3 ounces. It is rectangular, 5.75 inches long, 2.75 inches wide and .5 inches thick. It can be magnetically attached to the back of a smartphone by adhering an included adhesive-backed thin steel plate to the phone or phone case.

Like the Hable One, it is designed to be used with two hands facing each other. The qwerty keys have been arranged in six rows of five keys each. The D and F keys have tactile markings so the experience is like typing on a standard keyboard. Or, the QwertyCase can be set to braille mode where the s, d, f and j, k, l keys become braille input keys.

By flipping a mode switch, the QwertyCase can be put in phone mode which causes the left side of the keyboard to become a touchtone keypad. In this mode, you can dial phone numbers and enter digits inside a phone call for communicating with banks and other interactive telephone systems. For more information, visit the company's website.

This article is made possible in part by generous funding from the James H. and Alice Teubert Charitable Trust, Huntington, West Virginia.

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Back to the Future with the BlindShell Classic 2 Jamie Pauls

In the February 2020 issue of AccessWorld, author Steve Kelly reviewed the BlindShell Classic, a fully accessible candy bar-style cell phone developed especially for those who are blind or vision impaired. You can read that review here. In recent months, the BlindShell Classic 2 has been released. In the following paragraphs, we will take a look at what has changed, what has been added, and I will give some personal observations along the way.

Getting a Feel for the BlindShell Classic 2

The BlindShell Classic 2 feels like a cross between an old-style Nokia cell phone from the early 2000s and a TV remote. I am told that it is visually pleasing to those who have sight, something you might care about even if you have none.

The dimensions of the phone are roughly 5 inches by 2 inches by 0.6 inches, and it weighs less than half a pound. The actual dimensions are 135.2 x 54.6 x 16.7 mm and the weight is 100G. It has 16Gb of internal storage. You can also use up to a 128Gb Micro SD card as well.

Along with the phone, you will receive a USBc cable and a cradle for charging the phone. You can also charge the device using a standard wall charger or your computer should you wish to do so. BlindShell says the unit has up to 96 hours of battery life. I never even came close to running the battery down in my testing. The phone has a 13 megapixel camera, Wi-fi, and Bluetooth connectivity in addition to the cell service you will get with T-Mobile once you sign up and install a SIM card.

At the time of this writing, T-Mobile is the only carrier in the U.S. that will work with this phone. You will need to install the battery when you first get the phone, as well as the SIM card from your cell provider. You will get some earbuds which will be needed if you use the built-in FM radio, since the wire from the earbuds will act as an antenna to pull in radio stations from your local area.

It is possible to attach adhesive labels to items of your choosing and record a label that can be played from your phone when you point it at the label, and you get three of these to get you started. The process of labeling items and reading them with the phone was quite intuitive, and the BlindShell YouTube channel features a video on how to do this. I was also sent a beeper, a device that you can attach to an object such as a briefcase and then use the phone to set off the beep so you can locate the device. You may need to purchase that separately. Again, I had no issues with making this feature work, and a tutorial is also available on this topic when you visit the YouTube channel.

Getting Up and Running with the BlindShell Classic 2

As you hold the phone in your hand with the face of the unit pointing toward you, you will find the following controls on the front of the unit.

At the top left is a button that feels like a dot. It is the Notifications button, and this is where you can find out if you have waiting text messages, etc. On the right side of the phone face is another dot-style button which repeats the most recent utterance of the phone. You can long press this button to have the spoken content spelled.

Between these two buttons are two long buttons that extend horizontally across the face of the phone. These are up and down buttons, with the Up button being at the top as you would expect. To the left of the Down button is a green circular Confirm button that moves you into menu items and selects choices. To the right of the Down button is a red Back button that is slanted at an angle. The placement and angle of this button makes it easy to locate, although I had no trouble finding any of the buttons on the phone as they all had a very distinct feel under my fingers.

Below the controls already mentioned is a standard phone keypad with the number five key displaying a very prominent dot to aid in its location.

Pressing and holding the Star key locks and unlocks the phone, something I would highly suggest when carrying the device around, because the buttons can easily be activated in a pocket. The left side of the phone contains a long volume button. One feature of the BlindShell Classic 2 is its very loud speaker, and this may be a real selling point for anyone with hearing loss who needs a phone they can hear with no difficulty.

The right side of the phone contains a button that acts as a favorites button for easy access to favorite applications. Long pressing this button invokes the ability to control the BlindShell Classic 2 with your voice, including dictation in text messages if you prefer not to use the keypad to enter text. More about that later. A 3.5 millimeter headphone jack and a flashlight are on the top of the phone, and the camera is on the back of the unit The back of the phone also contains an SOS button that allows you to program an emergency contact of your choosing should you need it. The phone also comes with a lanyard that you can use to carry the phone around your neck should you wish to do so. To power on the phone, press and hold the Back button until the unit  vibrates. It will take over half a minute for the phone to boot up, but eventually you will hear a short melody followed by the time and you can start moving through menu items with the up and down buttons. This is where the fun really begins!

Using the BlindShell Classic 2

One of the first things you will want to do after the phone starts up is to take a look at the user manual. If your phone has sat long enough to automatically lock, simply press the star key and the phone will vibrate along with announcing the time to let you know that it has been unlocked. Press the down button, and you will hear “Call, 1 of 7.” Keep pressing the Down button until you hear “manual, 6 of 7.” At that point, press the circular Confirm button to open the manual.

Everything about the BlindShell Classic 2 is menu driven, and there are numbers that follow each item to let you know where you are. Press the Down button to hear “Getting started, 2 of 8” and press Confirm. You then hear “Package contents, 1 of 6.” It is possible to read the comprehensive manual in small chunks as shown above, and this works extremely well.

Now, press the back button twice until you hear “manual, 6 of 7.” You could have also pressed and held the Back button to get to the main screen, except that you will hear the time instead of the first menu item. Simply press the Down button to hear “Call, 1 of 7.”

After a while, you will intuitively know that the user manual is the sixth item on the screen. Simply press the number 6 on the keypad to move to that option, and press the Confirm key to enter the manual. Also, pressing and holding the Up button takes you to the top of a menu, and doing the same with the Down button takes you to the bottom. The seventh menu item allows you to turn off the phone, and in fact this is the only way to accomplish this task. You can adjust many aspects of how the phone behaves, including what voice to use, how fast you want the speech to be, what you want the screen to look like visually, and how loud the phone should be over-all. The one thing you cannot do is to completely turn off speech, something that a low vision person might or might not wish they could do. I find the default female voice on the phone to be clear and easy to understand. All key presses are responsive, and clear instructions are given for every task as you use the BlindShell Classic 2 in everyday life. It is possible to type text into the phone using the multi-tap entry method that users of older cell phones will remember. For example, to type the word “love,” you would press the 5 key three times for L, the 6 key three times for o, the 8 key three times for v, and the 3 key two times for e. It is possible to advance to the next character more quickly than the default amount of time by pressing the down button. The phone clicks to let you know that a character has been entered, and that character is spoken. I did not feel rushed when typing on this phone, even when I used the 1 key to enter symbols. The one thing I miss about this phone is the ability to use predictive text input. In my example above, I could simply type the numbers 5, 6, 8, and 3 to enter the word “love” and the phone would be smart enough to interpret the word correctly. Perhaps this feature might come to the BlindShell in a future release, but even if it doesn’t that would not be a deal breaker for me.

If I don’t want to type a text message to someone, I could always use voice input. It is possible to use your voice for pretty much anything you can think of while using this phone.

Anything you can imagine doing with this phone is possible with regard to adding, deleting, and managing contacts. You can call a number directly, call a contact in your address book, message multiple people at once, and set up quick dial numbers so that pressing and holding a number on the keypad calls someone whom you  have assigned to that number.

Voice quality on the phone is loud and clear when talking to someone. I had to turn the volume down and even hold the phone slightly away from my ear at times when talking with people. It is also possible to use the speaker on the phone so you don’t have to always hold it up to your ear. In addition to calls and messages, you can browse the Web and email with this phone as well. This makes the BlindShell Classic 2 a really great phone for any blind person who, for whatever reason, does not want to use a touch screen device such as an iPhone or Android phone.

The developers of the BlindShell Classic 2 have included an app catalog for the device, and all programs found in that catalog have been written for the BlindShell Classic 2. This ensures that anything you download will work on your phone, and all the apps are free.

Before we talk about the app store, let’s take a quick look at notifications on the BlindShell Classic 2. Press the small dot-like button at the top left of the controls on the face of your phone. At the time of this writing, I hear “No notifications, 1 of 6.” Pressing the down button gives me the time. Subsequent presses of Down give me  Wi-fi state, signal strength and the carrier I am on, and finally the state of my battery. Because I know this is the sixth item in the list, I can Simply press the notifications button, and then the number 6 to jump straight to that information. Pressing the Back button gets me to the main screen again.

Applications on the BlindShell Classic 2

Menu item 4 is the Applications area of the BlindShell Classic 2. After pressing the Confirm button, I find the following items:

1. Internet browser
2. Tools
3. Communications
4. Media
5. Books
6. Games
7. Vision aids
8. Hobbies
9. App catalog.

Many of these menus have submenus. So for example, under media you will find the camera, Fm radio, images, Internet radio, music player, and YouTube. At the time of this writing, there are currently 42 items in the BlindShell Classic 2 app catalog. It is possible to search by various categories, or look at everything that is available. Possible apps include Amazon Shopping, Be My Eyes, BlindShell Podcast Player, a Telegram client, a book reader, and Facebook Messenger. There are too many to discuss here, but hopefully you get the sense that there is a lot to choose from in the BlindShell app catalog. As you browse through the listings, you are made aware if you already have an app installed, and if there is an update available. As a musician, I was especially pleased to find a metronome and guitar tuner among the available apps. Installing and running apps is as intuitive as everything else on the BlindShell Classic 2, but I found that sometimes it wasn’t always intuitive to learn how to use an app. As an example, I heard sounds when tuning my guitar with the BlindShell app, but it wasn’t clear to me exactly what the sounds were telling me. The description of the app told me basically what the app’s purpose was, but not how to actually use it. Perhaps a bit more work could be done  on the help topics for specific apps.

The Bottom Line

Today, I am entrenched in the Apple ecosystem, and I can’t see myself giving that up for any other phone, but for many who do not wish to use a smartphone with a touch screen, the BlindShell Classic 2 is a robust and easy-to-use solution. The phone and all of its related apps are updated frequently, and the app catalog continues to expand.

At $489, the BlindShell Classic 2 is not an insignificant expenditure, but many will find it worth the money. I found myself trying to justify reasons for owning one myself. Having a physical keypad to guide me through those annoying menus encounter when calling tech support or paying a bill over the phone might just be all the justification I need to add an extra phone line and purchase a BlindShell Classic 2 of my own. Add in the free apps from the catalog, and the deal continues to get sweeter. For those who don’t need to jump through hoops to justify the purchase of a phone of this type, the decision may be a no-brainer. After I returned my review unit, BlindShell added audible.com to the phone, an enhancement that is sure to improve an already great product.

BlindShell has a YouTube channel that will give you many real-time demonstrations of how to use the product.

Also, David Woodbridge recently did a very comprehensive demonstration of the BlindShell Classic 2 for Vision Australia. You can find David Woodbridge’s demo of the BlindShell Classic 2 here.

Product Information

Product: BlindShell Classic 2 in Red or Black Manufacturer: BlindShell USA Price: $489

This article is made possible in part by generous funding from the James H. and Alice Teubert Charitable Trust, Huntington, West Virginia.

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