Many mobile phones come with built-in, and often very advanced, features that can make them easier to use for people with disabilities. Explore the full range of accessible features and devices.
Choose from a variety of visual accessibility features designed to help different vision challenges.
Explore visual featuresMobility and dexterity features make it easier to hold and operate your phone how, when and where you need to.
Explore mobility featuresFind features that let you set reminders, speed up communication and control your phone in a variety of ways.
Explore cognitive featuresEnjoy a better experience through teletypewriter and hearing aid support, visual call alerts and more.
Explore hearing/speech featuresChoose from a variety of visual accessibility features designed to help the blind or visually impaired stay connected. Many can be adjusted to solve very specific vision challenges.
See everything up close on your phone’s screen by magnifying all of the visible content.
You can also change the font size for text messaging on some devices and choose a phone with a larger screen.
Raised tactile markers on specific keys keep your fingers oriented on the phone’s keypad so you can be confident you’re always pressing the right key.
Audible or tactile feedback, such as vibration, triggered by your actions replaces visual confirmations to help you feel confident you are doing what you want to do.
Tell your phone to call a friend, send a message, find information for you, schedule meetings and much more.
Access your phone's features using an external braille display connected to your phone and let your fingers do the talking.
Use speech-to-text functionality to remove the need to type as you dictate emails, text messages and search for information using your phone.
Phones with a built-in screen reader announce what is displayed on the screen for you, making two-way communication much easier.
If brightness levels or certain colours can impact your ability to read what’s on your phone screen, you can adjust the brightness and contrast to make text and images clearer. Invert colours, for example changing from white on black to black on white, can transform your experience.
Phones with at least half or more of these features include:
An alternate input device lets you operate and control your phone without needing to use the phone’s built-in interface.
An auto-answer feature enables you to set your phone to answer all calls automatically. It can answer various types of call, including regular calls and Facetime video and voice calls.
Hands-free Bluetooth technology lets you use a wireless headset or earbuds to make and answer calls.
Phones with a built-in screen reader read out what is displayed on the screen for you, making two-way communication much easier.
A physical number pad, also known as a 123 dial pad, has three columns and four rows that let you type numbers and letters. It is built in to the phone, unlike a touch dial pad that appears on screen when you want to make a call. It’s a much more tactile way of operating a phone.
Most phones let you do everything faster by setting your own shortcuts, such as abbreviated words for common words or phrases you use, so you don’t have to type each character.
An external keyboard lets you access features, settings and text-messaging, and an external mouse can be used instead of a phone’s touchscreen interface. Some phones enable a stylus or pointing device to also be used to operate the phone's touch screen and buttons. Other connectable input devices include joysticks or Bluetooth braille display.
Some phones are more rugged than others, designed to withstand frequent bumps and drops. Even the shape of your phone can make a difference. “Candy bar phones” are rectangular, candy bar-shaped phones that are especially easy to hold. Clam shell or flip phones can flip open and answer calls automatically, making them especially useful for customers who are blind or have limited vision. Slide phones are similar to flip phones. It answers calls automatically when you slide it open. Touchscreen phones, such as smartphones, have large touchscreens that make them very useful for customers who are deaf or hard of hearing in particular. The large screen makes texting and making video calls much easier.
Phones with at least half or more of these features include:
Set up visual or audio alerts, at the volume of your choice, to tell you when your phone is ringing.
If you find it easier to remember faces than numbers, you can attach photos of your friends, family and other contacts with their telephone number to help you keep in touch.
Phones with a physical keypad (raised keys instead of a touch screen) that matches a full QWERTY computer keyboard mean you don’t need to learn your way around a new keyboard layout.
Audible or tactile feedback, such as vibration, triggered by your actions replaces visual confirmations to help you feel confident you are doing what you want to do.
Some phones are designed to be especially simple to use with keys and a display that are easy to operate and see.
Phones with a built-in screen reader read out what is displayed on the screen for you. This makes two-way communication much easier.
A physical number pad with raised keys, also known as a 123 dial pad, has three columns and four rows. It is built in to the phone, unlike a touch dial pad that appears on screen when you want to make a call.
Most phones let you do everything faster by setting your own shortcuts, eg abbreviated words for common words or phrases you use, so you don’t have to type each character.
Phones with at least half or more of these features include:
Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) software helps people who have hearing and speech challenges communicate through texts, emails and other messages using their phone.
Note: Phones may contain features and apps that don’t work with AAC.
A teletypewriter (TTY) is a device that lets someone type a message and send it electronically to a phone or other device with a screen that lets the recipient read it and respond. It is widely used by the deaf and hard of hearing, which makes the ability to connect it to your phone an important feature.
Advances in mobile video technology, such as Facetime, Google Hangouts and Skype, means that many phones support two-way audio and visual communication via video. This allows people with hearing and speech challenges to use sign language for example.
Some hearing aid compatible (HAC) mobile phones will work with hearing aids that support the telephone switch (T-switch) feature. A T-switch is built into hearing aids with a telecoil, a small wire that acts as an antenna, to enable the user to switch it on and off.
HAC phones have M- and T-ratings. The M-rating shows how well the mobile phone works with a hearing aid in microphone mode. The T-rating shows how it works in telecoil mode. Phones that support a T-switch must have an M- or T-rating of three or four.
Phones with at least half or more of these features include:
