Smart Speakers Are a Great Tool for the Visually Impaired
Touchscreens have become the primary way many of us interact with the digital world, but they are not a great option for the visually impaired. Smartphones have small displays and require precise control, and their screens turn off after a few minutes of inactivity, making them difficult to use if you have poor eyesight. In these cases, a smart speaker is likely to be a much more useful device.
In a touching new essay for The Atlantic, Ian Bogost describes the experience of teaching his blind father to use Amazon’s Echo. As with any new technology, there is some learning curve, but soon his dad starts asking Alex for sports scores and stock market news. He also uses Amazon’s voice messaging feature to chat with his son, as well as another friend who has an Echo at home.
As Bogost describes:
“It really doesn’t matter if Alexa is giving Daddy useful knowledge or a convenient way to communicate. It does something more fundamental: it allows him to communicate with people and ideas in a modern way. To live a fulfilling life requires more than feeling with your eyes and ears – it also means interacting with the technologies of the moment and seeing the world through the victories and setbacks they offer. ”
My own grandfather also dealt with visual impairment for most of his life. He died a few years ago, even before the Amazon Echo was announced, and I doubt he would have had much interest in a smart speaker. But for many visually impaired people, a smart speaker can serve as a reliable bridge to the Internet.
Smart speakers like Amazon Echo, Google Home, or Apple HomePod make it easy to find information on the Internet, which most of us take for granted. With a little tweak, you can even use Alexa to call Uber . Smart speaker digital assistants are n’t perfect , but they can give visually impaired people a whole new way to interact with the world.
Alexa – a revelation for the blind | Atlantic Ocean