Sprint is giving away $100 mobile access app to visually impaired customers

In a laudable move Sprint has reached out today to announce they will be providing Code Factory’s Mobile Accessibility app free of charge. The app allows consumers that are blind or with poor eye sight to make use of Android smartphones. The app normally runs $99 in the Android Market, but Sprint says all postpaid customers on their Sprint, Boost Mobile, and Virgin Mobile US networks.

The announcement came, appropriately enough, at the 27th annual International Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference, held in Southern California. Fared Adib, Sprint’s vice president of product development, said:

“Sprint is proud to offer Wireless Accessibility free of charge to help our customers with disabilities take advantage of the full functionality of their smartphones. Sprint works hard to meet the needs of all its customers, and the Wireless Accessibility app will help people who are blind or have difficulty reading on smartphones get the most out of their device.”

The Wireless Accessibility app provides “natural voice read back” that allows a visually impaired user to move their fingers around the screen and be told what they are hovering over before making a selection. It also provides voice-read caller ID, SMS, and many other common functions. Wireless Accessibility also makes extensive use of voice and gesture commands, further reducing the barrier for use by the legally blind.

Most of the complete smartphone experience is made available through a combination of read back, voice controls, gestures, and large, simple navigation buttons (for the visually impaired with partial sight) including Gmail, Calendar management, web browsing, Alarms, and GPS.

We at Phone Arena would like to congratulate Sprint and Code Factory for this generous gesture – we hope it can expand the world of smartphones to an audience that all too often gets passed over.

It’s nice to see a carrier putting the needs of its customers front and center.

source: Sprint, Android Market