This is a great article discussing how the iPhone has revolutionized life for the visually impaired. I was first introduced to the iPhone in the summer of 2009 when the 3GS came out. This version had Voiceover built into the operating software. Voiceover is the function that makes the phone accessible to those of us who cannot see the screen. It really is amazing how Apple has made their products available to the blind community at the same price that anyone else would pay. Around the time I discovered the iPhone was accessible I was planning on buying a blackberry. I would have had to buy the phone and then spend hundreds of dollars to get software put on the phone which would make it accessible to someone who cannot see. The iPhone, however, changed all of that. I was able to buy a phone, use it out of the box, and pay no more than anyone else walking in to the store that day. Every product Apple puts out has this software built into it automatically, meaning that the blind person has to pay no more money to make something accessible. When I purchased my first iPhone, it was the first time I had ever been able to use a piece of electronics out of the box without making some kind of adaptation. Since that time I have purchased an iPad as well as a Mac Book Pro. These devices are truly making the present time a new world for those who cannot see.
How the Blind Are Reinventing the iPhone – Technology – The Atlantic