Accessibility in Nokia Lumia 735

Friday, 12 June, 2015

By Amóvil

The Nokia Lumia 735 in several colors

The Nokia Lumia 735 is an affordable mid-range smartphone that comes with a few high-end features that can contribute to improve user experience. However, its level of accessibility leaves much to be desired. In fact, Amóvil can only recommend it to people with profound deafness. Amóvil was able to review this device thanks to a loan my Microsoft Spain.

General features and specifications

This smartphone is powered by Windows Phone 8.1, but can be upgraded to v10 which will be launched soon. It runs on a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor at 1.2 GHz. In addition, it includes 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB storage capacity expandable up to 128 GB with micro SD card.

The handset is also very elegant and comes with a removable casing available in different colors. It measures 134.7 x 68.5 x 8.9 mm, weights 134 grams and supports wireless charging. The charger is sold separately.

The device includes a 4.7 inches OLED display with 720 x 1280 pixels resolution protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It also comes with two cameras: one located on the back with 6.7 mega pixels and another one on the front with 5 megapixels, designed for selfies and videocalls.

Regarding connectivity, this Smartphone includes Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and FM radio. It also comes with A-GPS.

Accessibility review

Accessibility menu

Upon powering up the Lumia 735 for the first time, users will be guided through a set up process that provides no information about the accessibility features available or a shortcut to the accessibility menu. In order to configure accessibility settings, users must tap on Settings and then on Ease of Access.

Vision

The Lumia 635 is inadequate for blind users. It ships with a version of Narrator, the screen reader for Windows Phone that has trouble reading most of the visual content on the display.

The handset is also inadequate for users with low vision. The text size feature, which is essential for these users, only works in certain interfaces. Changes made to the size of the text will not show up in the settings or the accessibility menu.

There are two features included that may enhance the experience of users with vision disabilities. These are the screen magnifier and High Contrast theme that changes text to black and white and provides a solid background color in some apps to improve readability.

Hearing

The Nokia Lumia 735 is not compatible with hearing aids or cochlear implants, so Amóvil is unable to recommend this device to hard of hearing users who wear them. Deaf users, on the other hand, will be able to use this device with comfort as it supports instant messaging and videocalls.

Dexterity

People with dexterity disabilities will have difficulties using this smartphone. On one hand, it is not possible to control the Lumia with assistive devices such as mouth sticks or head wands. On the other, physical buttons are hard to press which affects users with little strength in the upper limbs or that feel pain when making pressure with their fingers.

However, this smartphone includes Cortana, Window Phone’s new personal assistant which might be helpful to people with dexterity disabilities. Cortana is quick at understanding voice commands and shows them in writing before carrying them out. It also remembers appointments, reads the calendar aloud and provides weather information upon command. It also makes phone calls, writes and sends text messages and open menus such as settings and accessibility.

Comprehension

Amóvil cannot recommend the Nokia Lumina 735 to people with comprehension issues or cognitive disabilities. The Settings menu is too large and cannot be customized. This barrier also hinders access to people relying on assistive devices such as screen readers.

However, something that may improve the experience of these users is that icons comply with accessibility standards. In addition, users will be able to add images to each contact.

Moreover, Window’s Phone website does not conform to WCAG 2.0 accessibility requirements, so people needing assistive devices to browse the web will have a hard time getting access to the information offered by Microsoft.

There is a full accessibility report available that offers more information about the Nokia Lumia 735.

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