How cell phones can be inaccessible too

By Tim Doran

Cell phones. They are a blessing and a curse. You can text and email from anywhere. And they have a ton of accessibility features… but can everyone use them equally???

No!

I have Ataxic Cerebral Palsy, which means that my fine-motor skills aren’t great. When I speak about it, I usually give examples of not being able to feed myself and not being able to brush my teeth. However, my inability to use a touchscreen phone due to their sensitivity has been problematic.

I used basic phones (which you can only use for calling, texting, and if you’re lucky, maybe send an email or two) until 2024 when I stumbled upon a phone that had a number pad and the Google PlayStore. They called it a smartFlip. It looks like an industrial, old T-9 flip phone. However, it runs Android Apps. Finally! A phone that I could use my old number pad texting technique and text via my computer; which is faster.

The biggest issue was that it was discontinued around the time when I got it… the model is from another provider and the mic stopped working after 4 months. After reading some posts on Reddit, I learned that it is a common problem for this model. There are no updates for it, and I can’t talk on it since the mic doesn’t work. So I bought a cheap phone to talk on; I have all my calls forwarded to my calling phone. The issue was that I don’t talk a lot on the phone to begin with, so I rarely turn that one on… but when I’ve needed to make calls, I discovered that the calling phone is dead.

I recently went to explore new phones. A non-US company takes old Cat S222 Flips and refurbishes them. The only problem is that they are kosher, which means they don’t allow browsing or social media. I also researched another phone that looks ideal for me. The only problem is that US networks won’t allow them. Really, all I need is a flip phone that I can use the text function for via my computer.

I’ve heard about ways to jerry-rig them to do it through some very “interesting” methods, such as jailbreaking the phone. However, is that what I want to resort to? What do I do for updates then? In our modern world, a smartphone is no longer a ‘luxury’, it’s a necessity if you’re going to participate in mainstream society. The reality is that smartphones make life easier in a lot of ways. With a touch of a button, you have access to do your taxes! But… with online taxes now, they need to verify your identity. Using your smartphone, you take a picture of yourself as well as your ID. Boom… you’re in. But if you don’t have a smartphone, you need to get on a live video call on your computer, and they have to verify your identity manually. Trying to figure that out can be hard. And in the case of LinkedIn? It simply isn’t possible to ‘verify’ yourself if you don’t have a smartphone.

Some of us are still constantly jumping through hoops to figure out how to do things without the convenience that comes with having a smartphone. Speaking for myself, I worry that since smartphones and touch screens have become the norm, in ten years there won’t be a phone that fits my needs, all because I can’t work a touchscreen. This is something that holds me back. I can deal without Facebook on my phone. I’m probably better off. But I’d like to keep track of Fantasy Football and just be able to text easier and have to deal with regular software updates.

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"Some of us are still constantly jumping through hoops to figure out how to do things without the convenience that comes with having a smartphone."

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My main phone is now three years old. The battery won't last all day if I use it a lot; which is still considerably less than the average person. There is nothing else remotely like it on the market. I still have to use the touchscreen for certain actions. My ideal phone would have the full app store. No touchscreen (my current phone does and it can drive me crazy). Have the old number keypad. And not be forgotten by developers until there was a suitable replacement.

I'd love to discuss this with a phone developer. Conversations like these are important. Accessible technology is often difficult to find and can be expensive for people with disabilities to obtain, but it shouldn't be that way. Everyone should be able to have an affordable device that fits their needs.