Tips for Disabled Cellphone Users

The shrinking form factor of cellphones combined with the ever growing trend of feature creep have created a usability challenge for Disabled Hand users. How can someone dealing with the paralysis of quadriplegia or the loss of finger dexterity resulting from arthritis, injury or a host of other causes use a tiny cellphone? From time to time I am asked to recommend a useable cellphone for a friends elderly parent or a disabled friend.

Here are my recommendations:

Phone Features: My recommendations here are counter intuitive. I recommend getting a rather feature-rich phone. Features like cameras, Bluetooth, Voice-dialing, GPS, speakerphone, etc. can specifically ease the usability of the phone for disabled users. While it might be tempting to get a simple stripped down cellphone model I believe it's counter productive.

Feature Strategy: I recommend a cameraphone with voice dialing, Bluetooth and the ability to sync with a computer. A cameraphone has a great deal of use for disabled hand users. If physical handwriting is difficult a cameraphone can be used to capture information that otherwise would be handwritten as a note. (i.e. book titles/covers, business signs/hours of operation signs, phone numbers, etc.) Voice Dialing combined with Bluetooth enable users to use a wireless headset that can virtually eliminate a need to physically dial the mobile phone and push those tiny buttons. The ability to sync the phone with a computer simplifies the process of adding and managing a phonebook. As for form factor I recommend a candy-bar as opposed to a flip phone as it doesn't require a user to open the phone for use. However, a flip phone may be easier for a disabled user to hold to their ear if they are not using a wireless headset. YMMV

Tips for Using a Cellphone: If you have Disabled Hands and you need to physically use your phone consider using aides like an eraser tipped pencil to push buttons. Place your phone on a flat stable non slip surface and use the pencil to dial the numbers and enter the text. Do your best to develop strategies for coping with phone functions. Get creative, ask people to email their phone numbers to you instead of entering them into your phonebook in the field.

Partner Up: A disabled cellphone user is going to need a technology partner. A parent, spouse, child, friend, or co-worker who can help program, adapt and educate the user in how to use their new phone. Finding someone who will patiently and enthusiastically support your use of a cellphone can greatly increase the quality of your experience and your ability to communicate.

Carrying a Cellphone: Using a Wireless Bluetooth headset makes the specifics of how you carry your phone easier as you can easily answer and place voice dialed mobile phone calls while your phone remains securely in a pocket, bag or purse. If quick access to answer a ringing phone is required I recommend placing the phone in a protective silicon sheath and wearing it on a lanyard around the neck. The problem with carrying a cellphone in a pocket or clipped to a belt is the increased risk of dropping the mobile phone while retrieving it.

The bottom line is to consider more than just form factor, hand fit and button size when shopping for a cellphone solution for a Disabled Hands user. Some of the more common "bells & whistles" can be of great use to Disabled Hands.

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Comments

[James Mueller]

These are some great tips. Choosing the right cell phone can be a bewildering task for both the sales staff and the customer with a disability. Neither seems to know the right questions to ask.

That's why "Your Guide to Choosing a Cell Phone" was developed by the Wireless Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center with help from about 100 cell phone users with disabilities.

The Guide is available online at http://www.wirelessrerc.gatech.edu/projects/research/r1_chooseCellPhone.html

Pocket-size paper copies are available free while the supply lasts). Contact:

Ms. Lynne Broderick
800-582-6360
404-367-1348
Lynne_Broderick@shepherd.org

Jim Mueller, Project Director
User Needs Assessment
Wireless RERC

[Suzanne Goodwin]

I found your great site through a Guillain-Barre Syndrome group. I use Aquafresh Extreme Clean toothpaste because it has a unique cap which permits my disabled hands to uncrew it myself. You might want to add it to your grooming link.
Have you found a small radio with push buttons to change stations? It is difficult to tune stations in with disabled hands.

[Greg Monaco]

I don't have disabled hands but I have disabled testicles. My wife stole them and now I have no spine.

[Kenneth Grumer]

Would non-stop masturbation be a sign of disabled hands?

[Peter Wolstenholme]

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[Penny]

Updated address for Guide to Choosing a Cell Phone:

http://www.wirelessrerc.org/for-consumers/your-guide-to-choosing-a-cell-phone-page-1-of-2.html