Essay Sample on Unlocking Freedom: How Mobile Technology Is Changing Lives of Disabled Individuals

Introduction

There are many kinds of disabilities among people across the world. Some people are visually impaired, some are deaf, and some are without legs or arms. As a result of these types of disabilities, the majority of disabled individuals rely on their parents or close relatives for assistance. However, sometimes the parents or close relatives get tired and might want to get rid of these roles and responsibilities. Fortunately, mobile phone and tablet technology had brought a solution to these disabled persons. Functionality that might have been demanded thousands of dollars can be available for cost-effective processes or free and app developers are pursuing to develop suitable products that will make a difference in the lives of the disabled persons. The mobile apps for iOS, Windows, and Android smartphones are quickly helping individuals with disabilities to discover their way around the world much better and assisting them to live better lives in the process.

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Be My Eyes

Be My Eyes is an app that assists the visually impaired persons. The application works when the visually impaired individual shares the smart phone's camera feed to a volunteer on the Be My Eyes app, where they will be capable of assisting the individual with just anything imaginable. For instance, Be My Eyes is vital when the visually impaired person needs assistance to discover if the food has an expired data or the present food choices in the store (Avila et al., 2016). The strength of this app is that an individual will answer the request of the visually impaired individual within half a minute and start a conversation with the person on the other end.

SuperVision + Magnifier

The SuperVision + Magnifier is a magnifying glass app that helps the visually impaired persons and can be used with at least one hand. The app can be applicable for magnifying the small print documents to enable easy reading among the visually impaired persons. The application enables users to magnify the images whereby the visually impaired person stretches or pinch to enlarge the screen and return it to its previous size. Also, the application is used to stabilize the images whereby the person is required to press the screen and hold for some time (Luo, 2019). The app can also be used to save images by pressing the lock button on the bottom side.

TapSOS

TapSOS eases how people with hearing loss communicate with emergency services without requiring speaking or listening. It works when the visually impaired persons tap on the screen to choose the choices that they need. Although the app was originally designed to help the people with hearing loss, it is vital to persons with breathing difficulties or those in the circumstances being held against their will when contacting the emergency services. The application acts as a storage for the medical history and personal information for the person with hearing loss. It utilizes GPS to locate the user's exact location.

Conclusion

As expounded above, mobile technology has revolutionized the mode of communication and evolving as an essential medium for education and rehabilitation. Disability is not inability, and the features and functionalities grounded on accessibility require being present in contemporary mobile apps. Smartphones and apps have transformed how people perceive the assistive technology. Sometimes, it is vital to remember that certain individuals with physical disabilities might struggle to key the smaller buttons on the mobile phone. The app developers should ensure that they keep interaction with mobile apps for disabled persons simple. However, the technological sector demands more innovations for the apps associated with disabled persons to improve their lives.

References

Avila, M., Wolf, K., Brock, A., & Henze, N. (2016, June). Remote assistance for blind users in daily life: A survey about be my eyes. In Proceedings of the 9th ACM International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments (pp. 1-2). https://doi.org/10.1145/2910674.2935839

Luo, G. (2019). How 16,000 people used a smartphone magnifier app in their daily lives. Clinical and Experimental Optometry. https://doi.org/10.1111/cxo.12996