Here are some tips for purchasing a phone if you have a physical or hidden disability. When choosing a phone, make sure that it has the features you need before you buy - not all features are available on every phone.
You may want to look at phones that:
Are light and easy to grip, or where you can add an easy grip case
Have a touchscreen - can activate most of these with one finger
Come with a physical keypad with large well-spaced buttons
Are specially designed to be easy to use, such as the Doro
Voice activation
Most smartphones (Apple iOS, Android and Windows phones) either have builtin features to enable voice control, such as Siri for Apple iOS, or you can install an app to do the same job. These can help you:
Call someone in your phonebook just by speaking their name
Search the internet using voice commands
Dictate text messages and email messages
Open applications using your voice
Use your voice to record notes for reminders or to send as messages
General settings
Set buttons to make a sound or vibrate when you touch them, so you know what you are pressing
Personalise your ringtones for each person, so you know who is calling
Set up your phone for speed or one touch dialling so you only have to press one button to call
Attach a photo to a number so you can easily see who is call
Choose a hands-free kit/ Bluetooth headset so you don't need to hold your phone on a call
Use predictive texting or a predictive typing app to limit the amount of typing you have to do
If you use a particular message often, then save it to your phone so you can resend it easily
Use the camera's pinch to zoom feature to make an area on the screen larger
Use your phone's alarm or calendar for reminders
Use your phones calendar or a dedicated app for saving notes
Accessibility settings
Most smartphones have a section in the settings called Accessibility, where you can find some helpful features like:
Touch and Hold delay accessibility service for Android allows you to set a pre-determined amount of time for tapping and holding the screen
Switch Control Accessibility feature for Apple iOS allows you to control the phone using a single switch or multiple switches
Assistive Touch Accessibility Service for Apple iOS helps you with gestures that you may have difficulty with. It is also possible to add an external device such as a joystick
Switch on text to speech output Switch on Voiceover (Apple iOS) or Talkback (Android) to have the phone speak to you. This has been designed for the blind but might be particularly helpful for reading books or large pages of text on the internet. When switched on it lets you navigate the phone by swiping across the screen. Each item in turn is announced. Then, a double tap anywhere on the screen will activate the item. This means you don't have to target a small area such as an icon or button in order to select it
Change your phone's default text to larger size
Improve the screen contrast by changing the colours or fonts – this can be helpful for people with Dyslexia
External keyboard
There are lots of Bluetooth keyboards available that connect to your phone without using cables. This may make typing easier.
Visit an O2 store and speak to us for help with choosing a handset with the features you need.
If you need free independent advice, you can contact Scope by email or phone. Their website provides tips on using your smartphone and details on accessibility settings. This website is one of more than 60 websites with O2 that offer financial, health and wellbeing info, without using any of your data allowance.