Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Special cellphones now being made for special people

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 07 Jan 2003 20:35:34 -0500

Published on TaipeiTimes
 http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2003/01/06/189992
 Special cellphones now being made for special people

 DPA
 Monday, Jan 06, 2003,Page 10

 For many people, cellphones have become a standard part of everyday life. Yet for those
with poor eyesight, the tiny little
 displays on cellphones can represent a real problem.

 The buttons are equally ill-suited for the elderly, or for people with motor skill
difficulties. Fortunately, cellular phones with
 special functionality for the handicapped are now available, even if the prices remain
high.

 "High-end cellphones have a variety of functions that can bring enormous relief for those
with special difficulties," said
 Michael Hubert, from the Research Institute for Aid to the Handicapped (FTB) in Wetter,
Germany. "Speech recognition,
 for example, is helpful both to the blind and to people with motor skill problems."

 In speech-enabled cellphones, the user simply speaks the desired name. The phone then
recognizes the name and uses it to
 dial the appropriate number automatically from its directory.

 Almost all current cell phone models come with a little bump on the No.5 button to help a
user orient himself, says Thomas
 Krieger, with an Association of Blind and Visually Challenged (DBSV) organization in
Europe.

 Another helpful innovation is speech reproduction: "This means that a cellphone confirms
which button has been pressed or
 reads an SMS [short message] aloud," Krieger says.

 Cell phones with these special functions are often expensive, though. "Most blind people
cannot work, so they often do not
 have enough money to take advantage of all the advances in technology," Krieger adds.

 Users of the Nokia Communicator, a cell phone that allows for both telephone and Internet
usage, can also buy add-on
 software such as TALX from the Firm Brand and Groeber Communications in Wittingen,
Germany. The software allows the
 phone to reproduce aloud any text shown on the screen. Another add-on component allows
users to receive and enter data
 in Braille script.

 Those with hearing disabilities are not necessarily excluded from cellphone use. "Hearing
aids with an induction coil can
 receive the phone's signal directly," said Marcel Karthaeuser, a spokesperson from a
Europe-based association for the deaf

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