Claria Zoom: Android App for Partially Sighted & Seniors
Author: Claria Zoom
Published: 2015/09/16
Category Topic: Disability Visual Aids - Academic Publications
Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main
Synopsis: Information regarding Claria Zoom, the all-in-one Android application for elderly and partially sighted people.
Introduction
Today, more than 246 million people suffer from low vision worldwide. Using a smartphone is difficult when growing older and can turn out to be a real challenge for people suffering from severe sight loss. Nevertheless, very few Android apps are available to help these people connect to the smartphone world as easily as sighted people.
Main Content
Many elderly people are experiencing sight loss every year (macular degeneration, glaucoma...) and according to WHO 246 million people in the world are considered severely sight impaired. Experiencing sight loss can quickly become a hassle when it comes to use a touch screen Smartphone with very small characters.
In order to make Smartphones more accessible to elderly or partially sighted people, the start-up company Claria, which is specialized in developing digital solutions for visually impaired users, is officially launching its application Claria Zoom from the 10th of September, available worldwide on the Google Play Store.
Easily downloaded from the Google Play store and compatible with Android devices, Claria Zoom offers an incredible reading comfort to simplify the user's daily dealings.
Once installed on the phone, Claria becomes your new home screen.
The interface with very large characters and contrasted colors allows you to both adapt your phone to your sight and easily access all the functionalities available: You can then send text messages, read your emails and favorite newspapers, but also use dedicated tools such as the magnifier or the OCR (Optical character recognition).
Thanks to a rich and complete panel of functionalities which makes the navigation on a Smartphone much easier, Claria Zoom is helping elderly and people suffering from sight diseases (Macular degeneration, glaucoma...) to remain active and independent. Electronic Magnifier, vocalized book reader, pedestrian GPS are from now on accessible!
For a visually impaired person, acquiring specific material and accessible devices is often quite expensive and requires waiting up to a few months sometimes to receive financial support from the government. As an example, an electronic magnifier costs between $500 and $800, a vocalized book reader between $250 and $350, a vocalized pedestrian GPS between $350 and $500, etc.
Apart from its larger interface, Claria has been adapting and adjusting these expensive functionalities to make them really accessible to partially sighted users. It is the only application including more than 20 easy-to-use functionalities ranging from standard features such as phone, text messages, emails, calendar and camera, to dedicated tools which greatly help the user to overcome daily struggle, such as an electronic magnifier, a book reader, a vocalized GPS and a voice recognition system to dictate both text messages and emails.
General Information
The Claria Zoom application with its basics functionalities is available for free on the Google Play Store (only for Android devices) and for $3.99 per month without commitment you can have access to all the advanced functionalities (30 days of free trial). Free demo and download available on www.claria-zoom.com
Nantenin Keita, partially sighted athlete and Ambassador for Claria Zoom
Nantenin Keita is a well known partially sighted athlete: 400m world champion and many times decorated at the Paralympics Games. She also is president for the Salif Nantenin Keita foundation which raises awareness about albinism, cause of her visual impairment. Nantenin is a loyal user of Claria Zoom and has been supporting its development for almost 2 years now.
A propos de Claria
- Founded in 2011, Claria is a French provider of digital solutions for visually impaired people. Claria solutions allow both blind and partially sighted people to increase their independence and improve their everyday life, regardless of their fondness for or knowledge of new technologies. In partnership with Doro, leader on the market of mobile phones for elderly people, Claria has been developing the Doro 820 mini Claria, the ideal smartphone for blind users.
- Claria Vox has been chosen as a referent solution for blind users by Orange, phone operator.
- Claria Zoom (solution for partially sighted users) won the Golden Silmo award at the 2014 World Optical Fair in Paris in the low vision section.