Cindy

Cindy is legally blind and lives with a roommate who is also blind.  She recently invested in a screenless mobile phone based on the advice of her peers, whom she finds more reliable than wireless retail staff for technical information.

Cindy travels regularly for work and leisure. To help her navigate in unfamiliar cities, she invested in a pocket PC that also includes a Braille keyboard, wireless card, and talking GPS:  “Cab drivers often don’t know the city themselves, or they speak little English.”

A long-time mobile phone user, Cindy recently switched to a screenless phone after considerable research.  She was excited by the possibility of a phone designed to be completely usable without vision and encouraged that the supplier’s website was totally accessible.  But what really sold her was feedback from friends in her support group, whom she trusts most for reliable information.  

Like many of her friends, Cindy does lots of research and preparation before going to a wireless store, because “sales staff know very little about their products and even less about disabilities”.  She finds it useful to call customer service ahead of time to gauge the level of awareness she can expect.  Cindy suggests that wireless retailers provide a “disability hotline” for customers to get support not available through stores.  Ideally, she feels, this hotline could be staffed by people with disabilities.

Among the many features of her screenless phone, Cindy finds “talking caller ID is a lifesaver”.  The screenless phone was a big investment for Cindy.  Because of a very deep discount offered by one wireless carrier, Cindy found it cheaper to cancel her current contract and switch to this carrier.

Between her screenless phone and pocket PC, Cindy feels she has everything she needs.  This is good, since she already has enough to carry: "When I'm out for the day, I have to carry Salty's dish and food, along with my other stuff. I'm already loaded down. The less additional stuff, the better."

What Cindy looks for in mobile phone service:

·         Complete usability without vision

·         Reliable speech recognition

·         Voice output of all menus and functions; “not just the main headings”

·         Simple online billing

·         Well-trained sales and customer service staff

Cindy has one additional wish on her list:  “A feature to enable a service dog to call for help in an emergency”.