TEO LT : Telia Lietuva will Help Partially Sighted People to Choose Smartphones

For partially sighted people it will be easier to choose suitable smartphones at all Telia Lietuva retail outlets and on the website telia.lt. Models tested and approved by the specialists from the Lithuanian Association of the Blind and Visually Handicapped (LASS) will be marked with special labels.

'There are 285 million of visually impaired or completely blind people in the world, for whom manufacturers of smart devices create new solutions every year. We want to inform our clients about them, we want to make it easier to choose a smartphone that suits their needs best and is convenient for communication, spare time or other needs,' says Kęstutis Šliužas, CEO of Telia Lietuva.

Smartphones with special software help blind people see: all information shown on the screen is voiced and read out loud. Thus, a blind person is able to know the exact time, read received messages, browse the Internet or know who is calling. These are only some of the possibilities of smart devices that help partially sighted people to use modern communications technologies.

'The goal of this long-term cooperation initiative with Telia Lietuva is to provide as much information as possible on the adjustment of smartphones and their accessibility for partially sighted people. Therefore, we have conducted tests to evaluate whether blind people are able to start using purchased smartphones without outside help, whether information displayed on the screen is correctly converted into speech, and whether system notifications are read out loud. We also take the speed of a smartphone, the number of accessibility settings for partially sighted people, and other important parameters into account,' says Sigitas Armonas, the Chairman of the Lithuanian Association of the Blind and Visually Handicapped.

Currently, seven smartphones that were approved by LASS as suitable for visually impaired and blind people are available at Telia Lietuva retail outlets: Huawei P9, Huawei Honor 8, Huawei Nova, Samsung Galaxy A3, Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge G935F, Samsung Galaxy S8+, and Apple iPhone 7.

At Telia Lietuva retail outlets, these smartphones are labelled with a special sign: 'Also suitable for blind people. Approved by the Lithuanian Association of the Blind and Visually Handicapped'. Additional information with recommendations and conclusions of the Lithuanian Association of the Blind and Visually Handicapped regarding smartphone suitability will be available on the Company's website at www.telia.lt.