getting web access whilst on the move if you are visually impaired

I have some visual impairment but not blind

I cannot use a smartphone as screen size too small

Just interested how others solve this problem

I decided on a small and fairly inexpensive tablet PC with 3G

This is not a specialist product but just something available from well known computer stores

Anyone found any other solutions

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Permalink Reply by gavin alastair neate on January 25, 2013 at 22:19

Hi Alison,

I am not blind myself but work for Guide Dogs for the Blind as mobility Instructor. I have become more and more interested in mobile communication methods, devices and the multitude of applications available to my clients. So much so that I now hold a "tech talk" on every guide dog class I take. Popular belief (and lets face it our name) would have people believe that we only train totally blind people with dogs. This isnt the case and in fact only 10% have no vision at all. To this end my tech talks revolve a lot around hardwear that is visual as well as tactile. It would appear that the most popular equipment it would appear is manufactured by Apple who as well as making all of their devices universal in function also include a "Voice Over" function as standard. Although your own condition doesnt nessessitate the requirement for Voice Over I would certainly reccommend looking into an Apple ipad and checking it out. If you get confident with an ipad it isnt a massive jump to move to an iphone and if you have practiced with voice over enabled the transition would be easier. Both devices can surf the internet and I have many useful application. I hope this of use and would love to know of your progress. .gavin.

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Permalink Reply by Alison Fox on January 26, 2013 at 5:41

The Apple IPad was too expensive for me and I went for a Lenovo tablet PC

I use it for readng the news on the move and have adjusted accessibility settings so the 'one tap' zoom is my font size

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Permalink Reply by gavin alastair neate on January 26, 2013 at 9:23

Hi alison. At the end of the day everyone is different and will hopefully find something that suits them best. Cost is obviously a factor as it was for me especially with Apple. Apple have however spent a lot on their accessibility functions and this is reflected in the price but is also reflected in the functionality of the kit. If you can try and get your hands on friends device and get lots of experience and feedback from others it can definitely benefit in the long run. Best of luck.

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Permalink Reply by Geof Todd on January 26, 2013 at 11:24

Feedback from my son, Alex Todd who is a tech journo on

I've seen many partially sighted users using iPhones with speech assistance which is built into iOS. There are also high contrast modes on mobile operating systems to make text and icons more distinguishable. There's also this: http://speeddots.com/ a tactile screen protector with dots placed in the most frequently touched areas of the iOS UI, which should help users who are partially sighted and even blind.

Or an alternative Android Phone+Tablet = Phablet = The largest and most popular is probably the Samsung Galaxy Note 2