Screen Reader for the Blackberry

There have been some truly fantastic breakthroughs in the accessibility market over the last few months; the most notable occurring in relation to cellular phones. First, there was Apple making the long unattainable iPhone accessible with the addition of VoiceOver. Now, Humanware, a company specializing in assistive technology for the blind, has created a screen reader specially designed for the Blackberry smart phones—Orator.

The thing, I think, that would make this screen reader most desirable for purchase is that it was created in collaboration with two other companies: Research in Motion (RIM), who designed the line of Blackberry phones, and Code Factory, which designed Mobile Speak, a screen reader supported on many other Windows and Symbian phones. The collaboration with RIM provided several benefits. Firstly, the Orator is designed so that all core blackberry applications are fully accessible, something that is virtually guaranteed since the manufacturer was involved. Secondly and even more exciting from my perspective is that many of the third party applications developed for the blackberry may also have the chance to become accessible. RIM has created an accessible applications interface, which, if third parties chose, can help them streamline the process for creating applications that the entire potential customer base can utilize, even if some of those customers have disabilities.

Mobile Speak, which is the primary cellular phone screen reader designed by Code Factory, is by all accounts, a fabulous product. They have been designing screen readers for several years, meaning they understand glitches that might come up, as well as the key features customers of screen reading software desire in their technology. I would imagine that this information, as well as the ability to utilize innovations previously made by Code Factory in Mobile Speak was incredibly valuable to Humanware in creating their first screen reader. The assistance of a pro like Code factory makes me believe the product was probably held to very exacting standards.

There are other factors which, for me at least, are beginning to make the purchase of a new Blackberry smart phone desirable even over an iPhone, which I thought would never happen. I suppose that goes to show one should never say never. Firstly, the Orator is only supported on new Smart Phones with full QWERTY keyboards. While this does make the phone somewhat larger, you don’t have to hunt and peck as you would if you were using an iPhone.

When I spoke with other consumers who had rushed to buy Apple’s product, I discovered rather quickly that what I thought would be an advantage became rather frustrating. I thought it would be excellent to have special context on the phone’s screen, which it was, but the letters are spread all across the screen and when you was typing, it becomes very difficult to remember exactly where D is, meaning you are tapping your finger in the general area of where you think D would be until you find it, and then must tap again to use the letter. The QWERTY keyboard format is one well known to typists of any proficiency, meaning the learning curve will not be quite as steep.

My second reason for leaning toward the Blackberry is that while the Blackberry is somewhat of a touch screen phone, it also has buttons representing the number pad and other key functions.  As I contemplated the iPhone, I began to wonder if the amount of hunt and peck one would have to perform on the device would begin to be problematic. Firstly, especially in the beginning, I imagine that if the phone were in frequent use, your hands could become incredibly sore. For those who are sighted, a letter can be seen and tapped. But for those of us who are blind and especially for those of us who do not learn as quickly as some, looking everywhere on the screen for each letter could put quite a lot of stress on the hand, even when typing simple messages and the same would apply to looking for the numbers when one made a call. There would also be, I would think, problems with the wrist. One could never rest their wrist against the phone, for fear of accidentally touching something, which means they would have to be held, rather awkwardly, in the air as your fingers moved across the screen.  

There are, of course downsides to this product as well. It will only be supported on smart phones yet to be released, and cannot be downloaded on older smart phones. There is no exact price released at this time, but screen readers especially designed for cellular phones usually run around $90, which can begin to look rather steep when one also considers the price of the phone. I also wonder if the Orator may be slightly more expensive, since instead of being a generic screen reader which works with many different phones, it is specifically tailored to the Blackberry.

I am not going to make a spontaneous purchase with this product, as I almost did with the iPhone before I began reading consumer reviews. However, it is definitely something I will be watching closely to see how others think it pans out. And like the iPhone, whether I ever buy it or not, I am profoundly grateful it is available so others will have the option of doing so.