Vision Resources

Apps for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Various apps we found that are useful for Blind and Low Vision persons using Apple and Andriod products.

AbleRoad iOS App is a free app and website that enables persons with disabilities to find, rate, and review local shops, restaurants, theaters and other businesses based on their accessibility to persons with mobility, sight, hearing, or cognitive impairments. Requires iOS 5.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. For more information, visit http://www.ableroad.com/ or visit iTunes.

Access Together, is an app designed to help people with disabilities locate accessible restaurants, shops and other venues in their communities. For more information, visit: http://www.accesstogether.org/.

Accessible MasterMind is an iOS color code-breaking board game. Crack the code in the fewest tries possible. Choose a combination using six colors. The game is compatible with VoiceOver. App is $.99 from iTunes.

AccessNote, an iOS notetaking app for the classroom from the American Foundation for the Blind, is available from the iTunes App store. Cost: $19.99. The app requires iOS 7.1 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. For more information visit iTunes.

Aipoly Vision (iOS, Free)- Aipoly is an object and color recognizer app that helps persons who are blind, visually impaired, and color blind to understand their surroundings. Simply point your phone at the object of interest and press the large toggle button at the bottom of the screen to turn on the artificial intelligence. Visit iTunes.

AroundMe - App that quickly allows user to find out information about their surroundings. Free from iTunes. Works with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

Ballyland Magic App by Sonokids is an educational iPad game that helps young children with vision impairment to learn and practice a number of VoiceOver gestures.

BARD (Braille and Audio Recording Download) which is offered as a way to download audio books and WebBraille files from the National Library Service the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) now is available as a mobile app for iOS from the iTunes and App Store. To access this free app download visit iTunes. The user guide for the newly released NLS BARD Mobile App can be found at https://nlsbard.loc.gov/apidocs/BARDMobile.userguide.iOS.current.html.

Better Vision All-in-One Reading App is a mobile app for iOS and Android devices that magnifies text, provides contrast and color filters to improve clarity, and can read text aloud. The Zoom-in Magnification enlarges text and images from 2x to 10x; the reading lamp works on mobile devices that have a built-in light function; the text-to-speech reads text aloud in four languages (English, German, Dutch, and Spanish); and the Contrast Enhancing Filters allow the choice of six color scheme settings, including high contrast white on black. Cost: $5.99 from the app store or on Play Google.

Braille Now - An app designed to teach sighted persons how to recognize the Braille letters a-z. For use on iPad. $0.99 from iTunes.

Braille Sonar - This app allows for the lookup of Contracted Braille symbols, somb basic computer braille symbols and Nemeth Code. Free from iTunes. Requires iOS 5.1 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Braille Tutor, from iEnable, is an app to teach and practice UEB braille skills. Visit Perkins eLearning to read the app review by Diane Brauner. You can learn more about Braille Tutor by visiting the iEnable website. Braille Tutor is free through the Apple store for lessons 1-19, uncontracted braille. There is a fee for lessons 20-91 in contracted UEB. Free at iTunes.

Color ID Free - Uses the camera on the iPhone or iPod touch to speak names of colors in real time. For use on iPad, iPod Touch(fourth generation and newer), iPad 2 and Android. Free from iTunes.

Color Identifier - Uses the camera on the iPhone or iPod touch to speak names of colors in real time.$4.99 from iTunes.

Digit-Eyes - An audio scanner and labeler, enables people without vision to read barcode labels. $9.99 from iTunes. Requires iOS 6.1 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Digit-Eyes Lite QR Bar Code Reader and Labeler – Audio scanner and labeler for the iPhone or iPod Touch. Free from iTunes.

Disney Movies Anywhere App - Every Pixar film is now available with Mobile Audio Description from Disney using the Disney Movies Anywhere app from iTunes.

DoItWrite is a clever $1.99 iOS app that helps blind users Learn to draw lowercase letters, uppercase letters, and numbers for use with iOS 7's VoiceOver handwriting feature. Once shapes are learned, users can practice speed and accuracy with a fun game to blast characters as they tumble down the screen. Available through the App Store in iTunes. Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Dragon Dictation - Dictate message and Dragon types it out on the screen. Options include text message, email, copy-and-past, Facebook, and Twitter. Works on iPad, iPhone, and on second and third generation iPod Touch (external microphone required). Free from iTunes.

Draw2Measure Protractor is a free app for iOS® devices designed for students who are blind and visually impaired, and can be used by sighted students too. It gives all students an alternative way to measure angles. Students can place an angle over the screen of a device, such as a phone or tablet, and trace along the sides of the angle with a fingertip or stylus. The app records the locations of the sides and then calculates the angle. For objects that may not fit on a screen, students can find measurements by rotating the device itself, which utilizes the built-in gyroscope sensor to measure the angle. It reports angle measurements in both degrees and radians. Watch a short YouTube video to see the Draw2Measure app in action. Draw2Measure is a free download from the Apple App Store and works with devices running iOS 8 or later. It cannot be downloaded directly from APH. Free on iTunes.

eMagnifier- Variable zoom from 1x to 8x with option to freeze and save image to camera roll. Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Free from iTunes.

Eye Note - A mobile device application to denominate paper currency. For use on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Free from iTunes.

EyeHope Magnifier - Turns iPhone into a powerful magnifier (1-100x magnification). Four high-contrast modes for low vision users. For use with iPhone or iPod Touch. $.99 from iTunes.

Fleksy - This auto-correct iOS app allows blind and visually impaired users to type faster without worrying about typing mistakes. It is compatible with the iPhone and iPad. Free from iTunes and offers in-app purchases.

GetThere free app for Android is designed specifically for blind and visually-impaired users. The app does not display a map, but tells the user where they are and how to get to their destination. Navigational guidance automatically talks to the user before and after every intersection. The user can ask GetThere to tell them where they are, simply by shaking their mobile device.

KNFB Reader App for iOS recently released version 2.7.3 which now allows the user to take a picture by pressing the Volume Up button on their device and the Volume Down button to execute field of view. Cost $99.99 from iTunes.

Learning Ally Link for mobile is an educational reading app designed for learning through listening. Learning Ally provides more than 80,000 human-narrated audiobooks and audio textbooks for dyslexic, blind and visually impaired readers. Free on iTunes.

Light Detector - Detects sources of light that have been left on or to detect location of windows. $1.99 from iTunes. Compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

LookTel Money Reader - Identifies type of bills using the iPhone or iPod Touch. $9.99 from iTunes.

LookTel VoiceOver Tutorial App - Learn and Practice the Basic Gestures used with VoiceOver and iOS. For more information visit Applevis. App is free from iTunes.
MBraille is an intriguing new iOS app. The $39 version allows you to write in contracted English Braille, send a variety of communications, and edit. The free version lets you learn the app and send tweets. To download visit iTunes. http://mpaja.com/frontpage/MBraille

Optelec Magnifier App for iOS devices. The app provides basic magnification and high contrast functionality. The Optelec Magnifier App is free from iTunes.

overTHERE is a free, accessibility app that helps individuals who are blind explore and interact with the surrounding environment by using virtual audible signs. Free from iTunes.

Pocket Braille Reference - supports one symbol word contractions and one-letter word contractions. For use on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Free from iTunes.

Prizmo Go- Instant Text Capture is a free, iOS app that allows the user to quickly capture printed text with the camera. Recognized and selected text can be read aloud. The app works with VoiceOver, provides spoken guidance prior to shooting and has text-to-speech capabilities for reading printed documents. Free from iTunes.

Read2Go - App from BookShare.org for iOS devices, i.e iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch users to read Bookshare books. $19.99 from iTunes.

Seeing AI, developed by Microsoft, has been released to the Apple App Store. The app harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to open up the visual world and describe nearby people, text and objects. The app uses artificial intelligence and the camera on your iPhone to perform a number of useful functions: reading documents, identifying a product based on its barcode, recognizing people based on their face, providing a description, and recognizing images within other apps. Free from iTunes.

Speech Central - Speech Central is an accessible Windows, Mac, Android and iOS app that lets the user listen to web content such as news, DAISY content and BookShare using synthesized speech.

Talking Calculator - Scientific calculator for blind and low vision users. Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. $1.99 from iTunes.

Talking Timer- Designed as an aid in exercise—found useful in kitchen. Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. $0.99 from iTunes.

Talkler – a VoiceOver compatible iOS app that enables blind and visually impaired persons to use voice commands to listen to and manage emails. Free from iTunes. Popular in-app purchases offered from $1.99-$19.99.

TapTapSee - An iOS app to help blind persons identify objects they encounter in their daily lives. The user takes a picture of what is in front of them and the app identifies and speaks the identification back to the user. The application also features instant recognition on all US paper currency. Free from iTunes. In-app purchases available.

ThirdEye Technologies Inc. - ThirdEye restores autonomy to visually impaired persons' lives by enabling them to recognize everyday objects. Users touch on button and the technology verbally returns back whatever object the user is looking at within seconds (for example a "5 US Dollar Bill" or an "Ibuprofen bottle"). App is free from iTunes.

ThumbJam- With over 40 sampled instruments and hundreds of scales this app allows user to effortlessly play any musical genre. Compatible with iPod Touch, iPad and iPhone. $8.99 on iTunes.

VisualBraille - Translate common words, sentences, and numbers from text to Braille. For use with iPhone and iPad. $2.99 from iTunes.

VisualBraille Lite - Free app for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad from iTunes.

vBookz- Accessibility-friendly audio book application with text to speech built-in. Works with iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. $4.99 from iTunes.

ViA - Visually Impaired Apps. A Free app from Braille Institute of America for the iPhone or iPad to assist blind and low-vision users to easily sort through the 500,000+ apps in the iTunes App Store to locate the apps that were built specifically for visually impaired users. Works with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Free from iTunes.

VisionSim by Braille Institute - A Free app developed by Braille Institute of America for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android devices to simulate nine degenerative eye diseases. Free from iTunes.

VO Lab is a new app by Sonokids for adolescents and adults who are blind or have low vision. This educational iPad game is designed for students aged 14+ to learn touch gestures and concepts of VoiceOver and VoiceOver gestures, Apple’s built-in screen reader on iOS Devices. The app is both entertaining and educational, and provides beginning learners of VoiceOver with opportunities to gain the required foundation skills to use the iPad or iPhone independently. App is $4.99 on iTunes.

Voice Dream Reader is a mobile reading tool, text-to-speech (TTS) app for iOS. It comes with 78 voices, will extract text from PDF, ePub, text-based DAISY, Word, and Text files in Dropbox, Google Drive or on your device. Users can listen to web pages with built-in Browser, or on their Pocket or Instapaper reading List. It reads books from Gutenberg and Bookshare. It has a personal pronunciation dictionary, sleep timer, work and line highlighting, VoiceOver support, large font size and customizable colors, and navigates through text by sentence, paragraph, page, and chapter and 15, 30, 60 seconds. Users can add bookmarks, highlights, and notes. For more information, visit the Voice Dream website. Available from the iTunes App Store for $9.99.

Web Reader – An app that uses text to speech technology along with web page content recognition to read web pages aloud. Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. $1.99 from iTunes.

WritePad - Handwriting recognition, note-taking translation app. Compatible with iPad. $4.99 on iTunes.
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