Talk Direct Exhibit At Sight Village
Talk Direct took part in Sight Village an event held at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, which was aimed at showing visually impaired people from all over the north of England the technology that is available to help them. The event is only put on every 2 years and we have been waiting for the chance to exhibit, after attending the last event only as guests.
There were over 40 exhibitors on the day showing the public such things as HD magnifiers, computer software to name a few. Talk Direct took a team of their O2 gurus and showcased accessibility training and the iCare service they offer in their 14 stores.
They were really busy from the word go and had a huge demand from the people attending wanting to see what a smartphone could do for them. As usual Talk Direct really did do a fantastic job and completely blew people away with their knowledge and technical support. Some people were so impressed with what they did on the day that they have been too into the stores and purchased a phone. Accessibility is a wonderful thing when people have the training and support you need when you are first using it.
"It was a pivilege to showcase how a smart phone is able to support the visually impaired community in their everyday lives. It was also good to see the other resources available from different suppliers, however the majority of them only had a single focus therefore making it expensive for the potential buyer and the user would have to carry multiple devices. With the accessibility functions and the various apps available, interestingly not many people realised a smart phone can perform most of these tasks. I felt really good being able to educate and highlight all the possibilities which they can do with technology." Brenden Hoad, Dewsbury O2 Guru.
Some of the equipment on offer was really expensive and with a smartphone there are much cheaper alternatives. For example, at the event you could buy a video magnifier that enlarges print on letters etc. This costs an incredible £500 and is quite bulky and very heavy to carry around. There is an app available that does exactly the same job and has more features and is free! This just shows how iCare can not only help the visually impaired but also save them money.
