(K) KNFB Reader | Assistive Tech for Blind and Visually Impaired People (AToZChallenge)

My theme for the 2021 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is to give an overview of what it is like to be visually impaired and to address some of the misconceptions regarding the blind and low vision community.

Technology has come a long way in the last decades. This is true in the area of assistive technology. Artificial intelligence allows a computer to recognize images, read text aloud and now it is possible for these types of software to read handwritten documents.

This has opened the door to those that are blind or have low vision allowing them to access many items independently. This technology is now available on cell phones expanding accessibility.

In this post I want to highlight the KNFB Reader.

This app is available for Apple, Android and Microsoft Windows 10 devices. It is able to read printed material from brochures to receipts to product labels. The app converts the text to speech.

There are several other apps available that perform the same task but I want to give an example of how accessible things have become. These apps make it possible for documents to be accessed independently and in a much more expedient manner. This opens the doors to more employment opportunities and independence in all aspects of life.

You can find out more about the app here.