For people with low vision, large fonts on bright screens with adjustable contrast, low glare, voice output and tactile buttons and keys are important for low vision users. However, most cell phones allow for only minor font size adjustment, and few have contrast or brightness adjustment. Some cell phone models reduce glare with glare resistant coatings on their phones' screens. It is best to find the cell phone with features you need and then find the cell phone service provider that offers that phone model.

You will need to check out several types of different phones to find the features and/or buttons that best meet your individual needs and preferences. Some phones, for example, have larger screens than others; so again, you will need to explore the different options.

Some cell phones have flat buttons and/or "rocker" buttons, which may not be helpful to you. However, there are several phone models that have raised buttons and different size buttons that you will be able to feel. For example the Nokia 6061 Flip Phone claims to have a large color screen and big easy-to-use keys.

The feature of most help to you may be the cell phone with voice activation and speech. For example The Liberty Bell® cell phone[link opens in new window] is 100% voice activated and allows the user to turn the system on or off, place a call or end a call, answer a call and even adjust the volume simply by speaking.

The Owasys 22C has no screen and thus is equally usable by blind and sighted users. It has well-spaced buttons, and provides speech access to all of its functions, but it is a very basic phone without many of the advanced features of today's phones. It must be ordered directly from the manufacturer.

Talks Series 60 Cell Phone Software allows your cell phone to be more accessible through screen reading software, and claims to be specifically designed for blind or low vision users. You will need to check out the phones that can use this software and you must have a computer with wireless Bluetooth or infrared capability, in order to install the software. For more information contact IndependentLiving.com[link opens in new window]. Also see evaluation of TALKS for Series 60 and Mobile Speak.[link opens in new window]

Screen Readers for Cell Phones

These three companies provide screen reading software for cell phones. The speech output provided by these programs supports nearly every feature and function on the phones.

• Code Factory
• Dolphin Computer Access
• Nuance