Vodacom and the South African National Council for the Blind (SANCB) are working together to train visually-impaired people to use smartphones.
Vodacom will train SANCB staff at its premises in Pretoria via a mobile service kiosk. Staff will then be able to teach visually-impaired members how to use text-to-speech apps on their smartphones to be able to access their e-mails, visit news sites online, or access social media like Facebook and Twitter.
The training smartphones provided come with built-in text-to-speech software called TalkBack for Android devices and VoiceOver for Apple devices. These programs give audio feedback on the contact list, all messages and notifications, menus, e-mails, Internet pages, GPS maps, names of apps, etc.
SANCB CEO Antonius Spek says the kiosk will assist in easing the burden that so many of its visually-impaired members face daily when interacting with mobile technology.
"Owning a device is one thing. But being able to use it effectively can provide an increased sense of freedom for those living with a disability. It provides a sense of independence, as more often than not mobile device interfaces are inaccessible to people who are visually-impaired," says Spek.
Vodacom plans to roll out more kiosks in each province, having already successfully launched the Cape Town kiosk in partnership with the Cape Town Society for the Blind last June.
"Modern technology allows people with disabilities to be self-reliant and fully connected in both a personal and business context," says Vodacom managing executive in the Gauteng consumer business unit, Melanie Forbes.
As part of the group's CARE initiative, Vodacom says it has over the years developed a number of products and revamped its service models to cater for the specific needs segment of the market. This includes a device repair priority process, which enables disabled customers to have their devices repaired in a shorter period of time.
It also recently launched the HearZA app, which was developed in partnership with the University of Pretoria. HearZA is a smartphone-based national hearing test app that helps with early detection of hearing problems.
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