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Mobile Phone Apps to assist the Blind and Viaually Impaired


The Google Play Store and Apple's app store are chock full of various apps.  Below I will provide information on the different apps that may help make you life easier. The apps are divided into different categories of their purpose. As I check out the different apps, I will add them below.


Text-to-speech/Document scanner Apps


Audible Vision for Android

This app is still in the beta phase, but the features it has so far are a game changer!  It is only currently available for Android. 

The features include a document reader, smart text, find, expiration date reader, and mask detector. To use the document reader, you simply point your device at the desired page and tap the screen.  The app will then read the page. Smart text is a point-and-read feature, great for quick reading. One example would be if you are looking at prices in a store or reading small amounts of text, like mail envelopes. With the find feature, you tell the app a word that you are looking for and it will vibrate when it locates that word.  Again, this will help in a shopping situation when you are looking for a certain product. I know I get very overwhelmed by the loaded shelves with all the products blending together.

The mask detector does just that:  it will tell you when a person is or is not wearing a mask.  My family had fun testing this out  with different scenarios.   Overall, I find that this free app, though still in the beta phase, is a wonderful app that really keeps the needs of the visually impaired in mind with its amazing features. 

See a company demo here. For the company website and full feature descriptions, click here.


Magnifier Apps



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