My partner and I are users of assistive technology rather than developers
and it's possible that Mailbase members may have a solution to a problem
that I has been frustrating us for the last two or three years.
We are looking for a hands-free mobile phone. Sounds simple because they
are all advertised as having a hands-free facility. But 'hands-free' means
that you have to use your hands to access the facility - i.e. press a
button! Christine can't do this. She is quadriplegic and has no use of her
hands whatsoever.
We have found a partial solution with a Sony Ericsson K700i mobile phone.
Once switched on, but this can be 'woken up' with the use of a 'magic word'
to access and voice dialling - and it works! But it is only a part
solution. You can't end a call by voice, and if a text is received voice
dialling is disabled until someone is able to press the okay button to
dismiss the text and return to the desktop. Surely, it's not beyond modern
technology to produce a genuinely hands-free phone?
The other solution would be to use an interface that allowed access to the
phone via standard environmental controls such as Fox or Possum.
Have I missed something? Is there a solution out there - or at least tell
me there is one on the way!
And while I'm on the subject - exactly the same problem is about to exist
with the new generation of e-book readers. Ideal for people who can't use
their hands, but inaccessible because they don't support a hands-free
control system.
Please say something positive - I'd love to hear that there are solutions on
the horizon!
Many thanks
Conrad Hodgkinson
|