Wilson Masinza, director of the Empowerment of Disabled Development Organisation and the chairman of Kenya National Association of the Deafblind.
What technology do you use in your day to day? Computer? Smartphone? Tablet? Tell us what you use.
I use a Tablet and a computer.
What needs do you have to be able to use these devices?
I use for communication to my family and friends and also to our partners
How do you manage to use them despite your visual and hearing difficulties. What adaptations do you usually use to be able to use them? Screen readers? Braille lines? Magnifiers? Etc. Tell us how you use the devices.
I use large print/ magnifiers.
What other everyday devices do you use too? Bluetooth watches and bracelets? Alarm clocks? Printers? Tell us about any technology you use in your day to day, what it is, what you use it for, how you use it and how it helps you.
I also use printers for our office work.
Do you like reading? How do you read: in braille, in voice with your hearing aids, on the screen? What difficulties do you find and how do you solve them?
I read on the screen, i find it difficult whe the Font is too small , this makes me use a second person who is my interpreter to intrepret for me.
What Apps and smartphone utilities help you the most in your communication and access to information? Social networks? WhatsApp? Utilities to manage aspects of your autonomy and your day to day: banks, health, recognition of objects and characters ?, etc. Tell us about the ones you use the most and the help they give you.
WhatsApp, video calls, E-mails,This enables me to interact with people inside and outside my country without any problem.
What do you miss when it comes to using technology? If companies and entities made more investment and allocated more resources to deafblind people, on what aspects, technologies or technological developments do you think it would be more interesting for deafblind people to be researched and developed?
Coming up with programs and machines which caters for the needs of deafblind persons e.g computers/ laptops, Alarm clocks, Bluetooth watches and bracelets
What technological programs and devices do you think are not accessible to deafblind people?
Everything Jaws and Zoom don’t allow
Tell us what you want about your experience with the technology and that means for you as a deafblind person being able to use accessible technology: that solutions to aspects of your life and your day to see day to help you using these technologies: For your communication? How does it help aspects of your daily life? To access the information?
Making technology friendly to deafblind persons. This is tos ay, deafblind persons to be given devices which they can use without any problem.