{"id":7070,"date":"2019-02-03T06:38:14","date_gmt":"2019-02-03T06:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/people-think-you-cant-be-blind-and-use-a-phone\/"},"modified":"2019-02-03T06:38:14","modified_gmt":"2019-02-03T06:38:14","slug":"people-think-you-cant-be-blind-and-use-a-phone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/people-think-you-cant-be-blind-and-use-a-phone\/","title":{"rendered":"‘People think you can’t be blind and use a phone’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"WomanImage copyright<\/span>
\n Wendell Hussey\/Facebook<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image caption<\/span>
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\n The image has been shared widely with people questioning the woman’s visual impairment – but many people have defended her use of a phone
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\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A photo of a woman using a cane while looking at a mobile phone has been widely shared online with many social media users suggesting the woman is faking her visual impairment.<\/p>\n

The image, which the BBC has chosen to blur, was posted on Facebook earlier this month with the caption, “If you can see what’s wrong say I see it”, and has since been shared more than 33,000 times.<\/p>\n

It has led to a number of people explaining that mobiles and other technology can be used by visually impaired people, and, in some cases, can be a lifeline.<\/p>\n

Three people with visual impairments have spoken to the BBC about when they have been targeted for using technology.<\/p>\n

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Image copyright<\/span>
\n Amy Kavanagh<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image caption<\/span>
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\n Amy Kavanagh said disabled people are “frequently” turned into memes or online jokes
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Dr Amy Kavanagh is a visually impaired activist. The 29-year-old said the Facebook post left her feeling “disappointed and angry”.<\/p>\n

“I was deeply hurt that a visually impaired person like me had been photographed without their consent and mocked for just going about their business,” she said.<\/p>\n

Dr Kavanagh explained that “not all blind people are totally blind” and mobile phone technology is extremely accessible.<\/p>\n

“My phone is my lifeline. I use a range of accessible functions and apps to magnify and zoom on my phone. I can order taxis with it, use GPS to plan a route and call my partner when I’m lost or stuck.”<\/p>\n

The London-based activist said she often experienced people tutting and pointing – and has even been accused of faking her blindness while using her phone.<\/p>\n

“It’s infuriating that people use Siri or Alexa every day but can’t understand how a blind person uses their phone.”<\/p>\n

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Image copyright<\/span>
\n Veronica Lewis<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image caption<\/span>
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\n Veronica Lewis thinks people should educate themselves about assisted technology
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\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Veronica Lewis, 22, is a student living in Fairfax, Virginia, who has low vision and uses a cane full-time.<\/p>\n

Ms Lewis said she thought the Facebook post was a “gross invasion of privacy” but added she would not be surprised if someone had taken a picture of her in a similar manner.<\/p>\n

The college student was diagnosed with an eye condition when she was three and her sight deteriorated. She also has a brain condition which causes low vision.<\/p>\n

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You may also be interested in: <\/h2>\n
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“My phone helps me to adapt,” Ms Lewis said.<\/p>\n

“I use a smart glasses service which uses the camera on my phone to see through. I also use a volunteer-based app which connects me with a sighted person for help and assistance.<\/p>\n

“I’ll often use my phone while I’m on the bus to make sure I’m going the right way and people will question how I’m using a cane and looking at my phone.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Image copyright<\/span>
\n Tian Zhao<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image caption<\/span>
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\n Ellen Fraser-Barbour pictured with her seeing eye dog Inka
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Ellen Fraser-Barbour, from Adelaide, Australia, is visually impaired and also hard of hearing.<\/p>\n

Ms Barbour said she has experienced people accusing her of faking or exaggerating her disability “for extra privileges”.<\/p>\n

“I get people making comments like, ‘Are you really legally blind if you can read your phone?'” she said.<\/p>\n

The PhD student said the use of technology has changed her life.<\/p>\n

“Before smart phones I was constantly dislocated and lost as I can’t see landmarks, and being deaf, I find it really hard to ask for directions. <\/p>\n

“With a smart phone I can track every movement by following myself on my map app. It tells me exactly where I’m going. It’s given me such incredible independence.”<\/p>\n

‘Blind people use phones’<\/h2>\n

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) said it often hears of people facing prejudice and discrimination for just going about their daily life.<\/p>\n

Director of services at the UK-based charity, David Clarke, said: “The reality is that blind people use phones, read Kindles and watch TV in a variety of different ways. <\/p>\n

“These include through the use of any residual vision they might have, synthetic voice, digital Braille technology and audio description amongst others. <\/p>\n

“We need to educate social media users and wider society as a whole as to the harm that posts like this can cause – ill-informed stories and ignorant reactions to them can really dent the self-confidence of blind and partially sighted people. <\/p>\n

“At RNIB, we urge everyone to see the person, not the sight loss.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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Source<\/a> by [author_name]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Image copyright Wendell Hussey\/Facebook Image caption The image has been shared widely with people questioning the woman’s visual impairment – but many people have defended her use of a phone A photo of a woman using a cane while looking at a mobile phone has been widely shared online with many social media users suggesting … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":7071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}