The Sony Xperia SP is an affordable mid-range smartphone that runs on Android v4.3. It comes with accessibility features that render it suitable for both the visually and the hearing impaired. Amóvil was able to review this device thanks to a loan by the Vodafone Spain Foundation.

The handset features an elegant design that includes an illumination bar at the bottom that glows upon the reception of messages and calls. It measures 130.6 x 67.1 x 10 mm and weighs 155 grams.

The phone comes with a 4.6-inch TFT display with 720x1280 pixels resolutions protected by a panel of Corning Gorilla Glass. The device also includes a primary 8 megapixels camera with autofocus and LED flash and a secondary VGA camera for videocalls. This Smartphone provides support for Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA. It also includes Bluetooth, NFC and GPS technologies.

Accessibility Review

Vision

The Xperia SP is accessible for blind people. In fact, because it has a small display that makes tactile exploration easy, so it can be ideal for users who want to try Android for the first time.

TalkBack, the screen reader for Android reads out loud most of the available visual content with a few minor exceptions. There are some native apps such as the calendar that have unlabeled items so TalkBack will not be able to identify them.

The phone is also adequate for people with low vision. These users will be able to change the size and the screen brightness to meet their needs. The handset also comes with an inbuilt screen magnifier that is activated with a one finger triple tap after turning it on in the Accessibility menu.

However, blind color people may not have a full experience with this device as it does not allow reversing background and foreground colors or customizing color contrast.

Hearing

According to Sony, the Xperia SP has a Hearing Aid Compatibility rating of M3/T3. It also supports instant messaging and videocalls. In addition, hearing impaired users will be able to connect a TTY device to this handset.

Other features that may contribute to enhance these users experience include a basic sound equalizer, the possibility to cancel background noises and an option to slow the speech of the other calling party to improve intelligibility.

Dexterity

This device is unsuitable for people with dexterity disabilities. It comes with an inbuilt voice recognition system that did not have a satisfactory performance during the test. It did not respond to the voice command when we attempted to open the Settings menu and to send emails. Also, we found the physical buttons hard to press, so users with little strength in their hands or arms will not be able to do this task.

Additionally, the function of side buttons cannot be reproduced from the display, so it is not possible to control this smartphone using assistive devices such as head wands or mouth sticks.

Comprehension

The Xperia SP is also unsuitable for people with poor comprehension skills. The display includes icons with a design that is hard to identify and that do not comply with accessibility standards.

However, this device includes an app that may improve the experience of these users. This app has been designed to guide them through the entire configuration process and is written in a simple and easy to understand language. Also, menus can be customized to meet these users’ needs.

For more information about accessibility in Xperia SP, please consult the full accessibility report available in Amóvil.