RIM’s newest flagship handset, the BlackBerry Z10, is a powerful and intuitive Smartphone that Amóvil was able to review thanks to the loan by Orange. The device is completely tactile, and includes several accessibility features that make it suitable for the partially blind and the hearing impaired.

The phone is lightweight (135 grams) and housed in a case made from plastic with a rubberized back that measures 130x 65,6 x 9 mm. It features an elegant design that unlike most popular Smartphones includes no home screen button on its front owing to the gesture-based navigation system offered by the BlackBerry 10 OS.

The display is an extremely sharp 4.2-inch LCD with a resolution of 1280 x 768. In addition, it comes with WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC capabilities, and with some interesting features such as the BlackBerry Hub, an intuitive catch-all notification center and the BlackBery Balance that allows users to keep two different profiles in the same phone.

Accessibility Review

Vision

The Z10 includes a built-in screen magnifier that is available anywhere in the phone, including the home screen and the notification hub. After turning it on in the Settings menu, it can be activated whenever is needed with a simple pinch gesture. To zoom in the content users must slide thumb and the index fingers apart, and to zoom it out they must slide both fingers again together. Partially blind users also have the options to customize the font style and size as well as the background color, as needed.

This handset, however, offers no accessibility features to accommodate the blind. Recently, RIM launched the BlackBerry Screen Reader as an effort to make its devices accessible to these users, but unfortunately it did not work very well. Upon the launching of the BB10 OS we hoped an improved screen reader was included but we were proved wrong. This device not only lacks a screen reader but also fails to allow users to download an external one.

Hearing

Users with hearing disabilities will be able to use this device with comfort. The phone has a HAC rating of M3/T3, and allows inserting a loopset. In addition, those who wear Bluetooth-enabled hearing aids or cochlear implants will be able to connect to the device through Bluetooth technology. The Z10 also includes an 8 megapixels rear-side camera, and a VGA front facing camera, so users who prefer communicating in sign language will be able to make video calls through Skype or BlackBerry Messenger apps.

Dexterity

The Z10 is much more accessible to users with dexterity limitation than other BlackBerry models because it lacks the classic physical keyboard. Instead it has a virtual keyboard that is not only easier to handle but also includes a very intuitive predictive text feature. Furthermore, this phone is ergonomic and lightweight enough to carry with no problems, and comes with a voice recognition feature that improve a great deal the experience of users with dexterity disabililties.

Comprehension

People with limited comprehension skills will also be able to use this device with comfort. The Z10 includes standardized icons and symbols, and an option to customize the phone book and to arrange the home screen elements as needed.

For a more detailed description about accessibility features in this device, please see Amóvil's full accessibility report.

Have you used this device? We would like to know about it!