![]() ![]() Although it has no camera feature, it does have other notable features, such as a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) capability and web access. It has a 1.4-inch by 1.1-inch color display that is viewed when the phone is flipped open but no external display. The Samsung SPH-a660 is a small clamshell-style telephone weighing 3.6 ounces and measuring 3.0 inches by 1.9 inches by 0.9 inch when folded up. So, in this article, we compare our evaluations to find out how far Audiovox has come toward meeting the needs of users who are blind or have low vision. ![]() In our evaluation article in the May 2003 issue of AccessWorld ( "Answering the Call: Top-of-the-Line Cell Phones, Part 1"), we concluded that the Audiovox 9500, the predecessor to this phone, was virtually unusable by people who are blind or have low vision because of its lack of speech output and keys that were nearly impossible to identify by touch. It also has a particularly interesting feature called Voice Guidance, which provides speech and other audio output to communicate some screen information. This phone has many of the features of top cellular telephones, such as web browsing, a digital still camera, and a video camera that is capable of capturing short video clips. It has a small 0.6-inch by 0.8-inch monochrome secondary display screen on the outside, but flipping it open reveals a larger 1.7-inch by 1.4-inch color display on the inside. The Audiovox/Toshiba is a small clamshell-style telephone, weighing 4.1 ounces and measuring 3.7 inches by 1.9 inches by 0.9 inch when folded up. We investigated how well the speech-output capabilities of these two phones provided access for a person who is blind or has low vision to the device's many functions and features. These two phones were not designed to offer the overall degree of accessibility that is found in the two Nokia phones with added software, but the speech output that is included may represent the beginning of a trend in which manufacturers and service providers include accessibility without the need to purchase additional software. ![]() The other phone we evaluated is the Samsung SPH-a660. One of these phones is produced by both Audiovox and Toshiba and is known as both the Audiovox CDM 9950 and the Toshiba VM 4050. Funding for this product evaluation was provided by the Teubert Foundation, Huntington, WV.įollowing up on our article, "Do Cell Phones Plus Software Equal Access? Part 2" in the January 2004 issue of AccessWorld, in which we discussed two Nokia cell phones, combined with third-party text-to-speech software, this article evaluates two cell phones that come equipped with a degree of speech output right out of the box. ![]()
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