Wrong. Just plain WRONG.

I try not to get my knickers in a twist but some people just make me balk. A couple of days ago Engadget posted about a new iPhone skin designed for blind and visual impaired users which is currently in development. The idea is that it fits over your iPhone and the tactile section on the front replaces the screen, instead marking out important icons as well as the alphabet translated into Moon, thus allowing a blind or visually impaired person to use the phone. Granted whether it works remains to be seen but I’m all for adapting technology to assist people like me, as opposed to making a product specifically for us (which is often difficult as no two blind or visually impaired people (VIPs) are the same), which too be honest really makes me feel … excluded and in a special little box labeled ‘disabled’ which is not somewhere I like to be.

Sadly, others are often not so tolerant.

So I start reading the comments and to my interest, quite a few visually impaired folk – or those with family members – had seen the post and put in their two bits worth. This is always interesting as it reminds people that we exist, that we are just as much a part of society as everyone else and that tinkering with things like this is a great thing.

But, inevitably, there are always a few ignorant idiots who decide to descend from on high and mete out their opinions, people who have their vision and, thanks to their ignorance, can’t understand how people like me fuction or what we are doing buying shiny new tech. One such soul, using the moniker Wwhat, started attacking a fellow poster – a visually impaired person who had bought their iPhone for almost identical reasons to me – saying (sic):

‘You claim to be partially sighted and buy a device with a freaking 3 inch screen for web browsing … you are either lying or a fool. I know, harsh words, but that’s the way of the internet isn’t it? Sorry about that.’

He then continued:

‘If you can’t see it you don’t need an iphone, get a cheap appropriate alternative. And that’s my final word.’

Obviously, it got my heckles up. Nobody, least of all a non-VIP has the right to tell me or anyone like me what I can and should buy, least of all accuse someone of lying about a visual impairment. Who the hell would like about having such a disability? This person obviously has no idea what it’s like trying to get such a simple item. 

Obviously this person had never considered that for a VIP, getting a phone is a nightmare: most shops aren’t equipped to deal with us as customers, they’re too interested in selling to understand that I have very specific requirements and no I don’t want something that will scan business cards, feed my cat or make the tea. I want a phone with a large and bright screen, that is easy to use, has the prospect of new software which will allow me to do all manner of things, that will let me listen to my music or audiobooks (I have around thirty), that will let me enlarge text on the fly, allow me to recieve and send email without having to type on a tinsy keyboard which is impossible to see and, guess what, the iPhone ticks all the boxes.

There is, of course, a growing amount of software aimed solely at VIPs, everything from screenreaders to those that enlarge text or translate text to braille. Heck, I even have a handy one which reads my email. Yet it’s more than often the case of software being created solely with us in mind, from clunky phones to specialist software and I honestly let out a cheer when I see people adapting things like the IPhone (just look at the recent releases of a voice activated Google app and a voice dialer).

Most VIPs don’t want to be treated differently and yet society retains this almost subconscious bias; they see us as being weights around their ankles (wrong), incapable of work (wrong) and a burden on those around them (wrong). Granted we sometimes need a little help but there’s no shame in that, even if random people keep asking if I need help crossing the road while I’m waiting at the bus stop. At the end of the day, we’re just like everyone else so, to all the people like Wwhat, think before you stick your ore in.