Blinfo gives people with visual impairments talking signs

Blinfo: An app focused on accessibility for the visually impaired

App as an aid for people with visual impairments

Blinfos key features

Get automatic information about your surroundings directly on your phone, visually or audibly
Provides location-specific information when you need it most
Blinfo is user-friendly and easy and intuitive to use
Blinfo can be used with a screen reader
The user can utilise the app’s read aloud button
The information that is read out can also be read in the app itself.

Location-specific information when you need it most

As a blind or partially sighted person, it can be difficult to navigate. Visual information such as signposts that point the way are not very helpful, and at the same time it can be hard to always have to ask for help from staff or others.

Blindecenter Bredegaard, Capital Region of Denmark, is behind the Blinfo app, which provides information about the environment and thus makes everyday life easier for people with visual impairments.

Despite the fact that there are up to 25,000 visually impaired citizens in Denmark, blind and partially sighted people are rarely considered in architecture in the same way that people in wheelchairs are.

This is where Blinfo can be a big help. By combining Bluetooth beacon technology and smartphone screen reader functionality, it is possible to create talking signs. Using small messages, the technology makes it possible to tell people with visual impairments about the most important things that are not told to them.

Safer and more independent travelling

The Blinfo app automatically connects to the relevant Bluetooth beacons nearby and then relays the messages stored in the system backend.

For example, if you arrive at a building that has a Blinfo setup, the app will automatically create push notifications and related messages that can be read to the user directly in the app.

Personalised screen reader

Blinfo works in the background, which means that the user does not need to have the app open to scan for beacons and have messages read out. However, running apps in the background can have a minor impact on power consumption, which is why it is possible to set how long this background scanning should take place in the app.

You can also choose in the app whether you only want to receive new or updated notifications.

Blinfo and web accessibility in apps

Blinfo is a highly relevant case and app. Especially since the law on IT accessibility in public apps, WCAG 2.1, came into force on 23 June 2021. A law that ensures digital inclusion rather than exclusion – and although the law so far only concerns public institutions, we hope it can help set a new standard in app development.

And it’s extra meaningful to develop an app that makes such a big difference to people who need special help in their daily lives.

Read more about WCAG 2.1 here or see more cases here.