Apps for Adults with Vision Loss

Updated April 2023

ACCESSING BOOKS / READING

AIRS-LA – Free – The Audio Internet Reading Service of Los Angeles provides daily radio/internet broadcasts of newspapers, magazines, ads, and books. 

Audible– free trial then monthly fee – easy access to huge selection of audio books including academic titles.

BARD Mobile – Free – A service of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), the BARD Mobile app provides access to braille and talking books directly from the NLS Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD). 

Blind Abilities—Free—A collection of podcasts and blogs for the individuals suffering for a visual impairment. Life skills, teen blogs, and opportunities are all kept to date and easily accessible. 

Bookshare – Free –Provides students with reading disabilities with access to an online digital library of over 500,000 titles. 

CRIS Radio – Free – Audio Internet Reading Service with daily readings of a variety of newspapers, periodicals, and magazines. 

KNFBReader – $99.00 – Converts printed text into high quality speech to provide “accurate, fast, and efficient” access to both single and multiple page documents. 

NFB-NEWSLINE Mobile – Free – An audio information source designed to keep persons who are unable to read conventional newsprint informed about current events locally, nationally, and globally. 

Spotlight Gateway – Free – An e-reading application specifically designed for people with vision impairments. 

Voice Dream Reader – Free – voice-based mobile app that allows the blind or visually impaired to read anything that contains text, such as websites, local files on your device, Bookshare, and more. 

Voiceye – Free – Reads text from images out loud. 

BRAILLE

Braille Pad – Free – Converts English in to standard braille. 

BrailleTouch – Free – Type braille on a smartphone or tablet using a six key configuration. 

Braille Writer–$4.99—Translate between Braille and standard. Learning too l for all individuals with a visual impairment. 

PocketBraille Reference Lite—Free—Learn different braille symbols which includes alphabet, numbers and punction.

Smart Braille—Free—  Communicate via braille through the app. For android users.

EDUCATIONAL 

AFB CareerConnect – Free – free online resource for those who are blind and visually impaired to explore careers and learn about navigated the employment process from others who are blind or visually impaired.

ViA – By Braille Institute – Free – ViA (Visually Impaired Apps) lists categories of apps, ratings from people who have used them, and prices. 

VisionSim by Braille Institute – Free – Simulates the world through the eyes of a person experiencing one of nine degenerative eye diseases. 

GAMES

Audio Game Hub – Free – Arcade audio games that use audio as their primary interface making them accessible for both sighted and non-sighted users. Race against the clock and disarm bombs in Bomb Disarmer. Follow Simon as he leads you through unlocking complicated patters in Super Simon. Sit at the round table and enjoy a causal game of blackjack. Also: Animal escape, slot machines, archery, hunting, samurai tournament (multiplayer), Labyrinth, memory games, Bejeweled. 

A Blind Legend – Free – audio-only mobile video games available that is aimed at both sighted and non-sighted players. Using 3-diminsional sound, the game features a blind knight who must journey to the High Castle Kingdom to rescue his wife with the help of daughter Louise. Players navigate and interact with the game using touchscreen.

Blind Cricket – Free – Worlds first accessible cricket game for visually impaired.

Blindfold Solitaire – Free – Solitaire for visually impaired people, designed for rapid audio play to play by listening. 

Blindfold Word Games – Free – Word games for visually impaired including Hangman, Unscramble, Word Latter, Word Search, and Word Flick. 

Dusk – Free – Gaming experience designed for the blind but playable by everyone, series of mini games that do not require the use of sight. Uses a combination of movement sensors, vibration, sound, and voiceover. High contrast design. 

Match2Braille—Free—Like the game concentration, match the roman letter to the corresponding braille character.

IDENTIFICATION

Aira – free options and pricing plans – Provides interpretation and assistance by trained agents for just about any task, safely and securely. Using a smartphone camera, users connect with Aira agents via a live video stream. (iOS and Android)

BeMyEyes – free – Links users to sighted volunteers for assistance in daily tasks via a live video stream. (iOS and Android)

Blindsquare – $39.99 – Describes the environment and announces points of interest and street intersections. (iOS only)

EnvisionAI – free – Recognizes objects, text and people using a smartphone camera and narrates back to the user. (iOS and Android)

EyeNote – free – Identifies denominations of U.S. currency aloud. (iOS only) Google Lens – free – Translates text in real time, looks up words, adds events to the calendar, calls a phone number, and more. (iOS only)

HapticNav – free – Guides users to a destination using haptic vibrations, without the need for visual or auditory feedback. (iOS only)

Lazarillo – Accessible GPS using a smartphone. Uses digital mapping to provide real-time audio messages and alerts as users navigate through a space or to a location. (iOS and Android)

Lookout – free – In explore mode using a smartphone camera identifies objects and describes surroundings, such as “door is at 12 o’clock.” Keeps a log of user’s recent activity. (Android only)

Magnifier – free – Makes objects easier to see by zooming in, applying color filters, adding light, and adjusting the brightness or contrast. (iOS and Android versions of apps)

Rebokeh – free – Designed for people with moderate vision impairment. Users create custom video filters and overlay them on a live camera feed to personalize the view in a way the best suits their vision. (iOS only)

Seeing AI – free – Narrates the world around you. Recognizes objects, text, bar codes and people using smartphone camera and narrates back to the user. (iOS only)

Spectrum Access – free – Enabled media. Provides audio descriptions and closed captioning for movies and television shows. Users do not have to be a Spectrum customer. (iOS and Android)

Sullivan+ – free – Text recognition, face recognition, image description, color identification, light brightness detection, and a magnifier. (iOS and Android)

Voice Dream Reader – $29.99 – Reads aloud anything that contains text including printed materials, websites, computer files, online books, and more. (iOS and Android)

Voice Dream Scanner – $9.99 – Scans inaccessible PDF documents or text images and converts the text to an accessible document that can be read by a screen reader. Used in conjunction with Voice Dream Reader. (currently iOS only)

MAGNIFIER

Big Browser – Free—Allows users to adjust color themes and zoom in on content for an easier read. App is also equipped with a larger keyboard and controls that are easier to see. 

Brighter and Bigger—Free—A reading glass too for individuals struggling to read fine print. Application helps read small letters by enlarging them and making them brighter.

Lumin—Free—Magnifying apps that enlarges and brightens texts. High resolution glass that you can take anywhere. 

Magnifying Apps – Free – Brighter and Bigger, Mag Light/icam and Eyesight, Magnifer

Magnifying Glass with Light—Free—Magnifier that also brightens text.

Magnificent – Free – Increases magnification up to 16x and offers color filter modes. 

Spotlight Text – Free – Adapts e-book to a higher magnifications and provides audio output.

WAYFINDING

Ariadne GPS – $5.99 – Talking guide map for directions and information about surrounding areas. 

Evelity: all-disability GPS—Free—Guides people with disabilities using step by step GPS.

Life360– Free – Family locator, messaging tool and communication app.

Lazarillo – Free – Provides GPS navigation.

Microsoft Soundscape—Free—places audio cures and labels in 3D spaces enabling direction and GPS navigation. Enabled by voiceover.

NavCog – Free –app that allows the visually impaired to successfully navigate the world around them with turn-by-turn guidance not unlike GPS. 

Nearby Explorer – Free – Describes the environment in ways comparable to reading signage or observing road characteristics.

Seeing Eyes GPS—Free—Fully accesible turn-by-turn GPS with all normal navigation features unique to blind users.

WalkyTalky – Free– Android compatible navigation app that offers users turn by turn directions.

NOTE TAKING

AccessNote – Free – iOS note taker, works in collaboration with VoiceOver. 

Evernote – Free – Allows users to take notes, capture photos, create to-do-lists, and record voice reminders. 

MessagEase Keyboard – Free – A replacement for the QWERTY keyboard, which has larger keys to increase speed and accuracy when typing. 

Voice Dream Writer—Free—Helps users write better. Text-to-speech proofreading.

TECH SUPPORT

AppleVis – Free – Apple products and guide of related applications for Apple Products for the low vision.

Apple Accessibility – The Apple Accessibility Support team is availabile to support users with vision loss using iOS devices.
Phone: 877-204-3930 

Blind Bargains—Free—The latest deals on Braille printers, screen readers, and other accesible products, all in one place.

Google Accessibility Support -The Google Disability Support team is available to support users with vision loss using Google products. Support includes accessibility features, functionalities, and assistive technology in Google products.
Email: disability-support-external@google.com   

Ophthalmic Edge, AFB – Free – Provides accessibility information available on the internet for apps and computers. 

Microsoft Accessibility– The Microsoft Accessibility Support team is available to support users with vision loss using Microsoft devices. 

Phone: 800- 936-5900

VO Lab—Free—Learn the basics of iOS voiceover through educational and interactive activities and experiments. 

VO Change-VoiceOver changes—Free –Offers updates to the IOS voiceover.

Voice Over Video—Free—Add voice over and audio recordings to your videos.