Speech Radio – App Review
So you may be aware of BWBF (British Wireless for the Blind Fund) because of their charitable giving of radios and other audio equipment to people who are visually impaired and in receipt of means tested benefits.
Or maybe you have downloaded their talking newspaper app, which puts the nations local talking newspapers all in one place..?
Well, did you know the organisation has something new under its belt?
Bring forward a new app on the market and a free one at that… Speech Radio! Available to download in both the Google Play store for android users and in the App Store for iOS users, this app sets to amalgamate to a degree the services already provided by BWBF.
Traditionalists need not panic, you can still get equipment from them and the talking newspaper app is still as popular as ever, this new app fills in a neat gap that they haven’t covered before.
With so many people moving across to digital to listen to their favourite radio stations, smart speakers proving ever more popular and thanks to the voice command element ever more accessible to visually impaired users, BWBF has stepped forward with a smart phone app that will please both voice command fans and all those who have got used to the swiping of Talkback and VoiceOver.
Okay, so listening to radio via an app on a smart phone is nothing new, but what makes this app so different is the ability to store all your favourite radio stations in one place, in one app, and to be able to use either voice commands or gestures to listen in to all your top tunes.
And of course, because it comes from a organisation that understands the importance of accessibility, the key to this app is its simplicity.
Simply double tap to kickstart the voice commands, and should you get into any difficulty simply speak “help “and an audio menu of help tips will be read aloud. Fans of the Amazon Echo or Google Nest will have no problem at all adapting to the simplicity of the audio commands. And as this is a mobile app, it allows you to take all your favourite radio stations out with you, wherever you are.
Alternatively, if you’re more confident using gestures as opposed to voice commands, simply switch off the voice commands by saying “speech off “and revert to gesture mode.
So that is it, in a nutshell… A simple and accessible way to listen to over 10,000 different radio stations from across the world, all in the palm of your hand.
Get in touch and let us know what you think?
More information on the services provided by British Wireless for the Blind Fund can be found on their website: