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Chinese library teaches the blind how to use smartphones

How handset features help visually impaired people “see” the world

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Patrons of the library for the blind in Kunming using smartphones. (Picture: Chinanews.com).
This article originally appeared on ABACUS
A small library in southwest China is offering classes that teach visually impaired people how to use a device that many of us take for granted: the smartphone.
Opened last October by a private bookstore in Yunnan province, it’s one of only a handful of Braille libraries catering to visually impaired people in China -- home to the world’s largest number of blind people.
Patrons of the library for the blind in Kunming using smartphones. (Picture: Chinanews.com)
Patrons of the library for the blind in Kunming using smartphones. (Picture: Chinanews.com)

Besides offering hundreds of Braille titles, the library also gives lessons on how to use screen-reading smartphone apps to make phone calls and send messages.

It may not be apparent to most, but both Apple and Google have included a number of assistive features in their operating systems to help people with vision problems.

Let’s take a look how they work.

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