UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 10, 2018. Smartphone owners can now use an app that helps visually impaired users scan banknotes for nominal value; the app was designed by Sensor Tech Lab with MegaFon’s support. The product is unique in that the app reads every bill’s denomination out loud and also produces different kinds of vibration sequences for every kind of bill, which means the app will also be useful to the deaf-blind, MegaFon’s press service reports.

‘Interestingly, smartphones are exactly the kind of devices that can be crucial in the visually impaired people’s rehabilitation. For one, they can help a blind person get around town, find their way, download and listen to audiobooks, listen to photo text and image descriptions, and so on. In other words, this is a gadget that expands special-needs users’ range of opportunities and helps them experience greater autonomy and mobility,’ says MegaFon Ural’s PR Director Maria Saukova.

Sverdlovsk Region-based special-needs users can learn how to use a smartphone at Sverdlovsk Region Library for the Visually Impaired. They will get advice on the best smartphone make and the apps to use, help with practicing, and information support. Every year, the library coordinates a multi-mobility contest where participants compete in who can download an audiobook the fastest, create social media status updates, and visit websites using sensor mobile devices.