4 Best Apps Designed for Vulnerable Groups
Digital devices are common in people’s lives, even for children and the elderly. This is an inevitable trend that is powered by the development of the internet. According to one statistic, 4.88 billion people around the world uses the internet in October 2021 — that’s almost 62 percent of the world’s total population, and this number is still growing.
Earlier, we analyzed the fact that the elderly and the poor are the most likely to lag behind technology, and yet we cannot change these trends to make them more favorable to them. There are attempts for other vulnerable groups of people, particularly vision blind, hearing loss, or needy groups, to help them access technology and make their lives easier.
1. BindiMaps
This Australian startup company launched an app called “BindiMaps”, which can accurately locate the user’s location and describe to the user where they are and what is nearby through a simple and natural audio system, so that visually impaired people can travel freely inside any shopping mall without having to worry about being stopped by obstacles. It can also provide the user with the best route into an indoor space.
2. Be My Eyes
Be My Eyes is a free app that connects blind and low-vision people with sighted volunteers and company representatives for visual assistance through a live video call. Since they launched in January 2015, more than 4,000,000 volunteers have signed up to assist blind and low-vision users. Be My Eyes users can request assistance in over 180 languages, making the app the largest online community for blind and low-vision people, as well as one of the largest micro-volunteering platforms in the world. And this App is Apple’s 2021 Winner for Social Impact.
3. Jeenie
Jeenie is a modern interpreting platform that connects deaf users to a video/audio call with a live, qualified interpreter in seconds. It’s on-demand language assistance, wherever you are, whenever you need it. Jeenie makes it possible to use live interpretation instead of the sometimes-laborious process of writing notes back and forth, to give deaf users an on-demand ASL interpreter.
4. One degree
One Degree is a technology-driven nonprofit organization that helps individuals and families access the resources they need to improve their lives and achieve social and economic mobility. Rey Faustino launched a digital platform in the heart of Silicon Valley, providing disadvantaged people, such as the new immigrants, the homeless, single mothers and etc, with easy access to services that could improve their situation based on his own experiences.
Technological progress is inevitable, and we should follow the trend of making our lives easier and better, including those vulnerable groups of people, and working together to make everyone benefit from technology. Also, in the user experience design area, some countries have rules regulating app or web page accessibility, especially for groups with special needs. In the near future, we would like to see more companies consider these groups and design for them.
Edit by SOCIAL INNOVATION INSIGHT
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Originally published at http://socialinnovatorshome.com on November 17, 2021.
