Are you and your family using the right tech to support your needs?
With Digital technology continually progressing and adapting it can be used to help aid people with disabilities complete day-to-day activities however, many users aren’t aware of support services, apps, devices, and software that is available to the market to help aid them with tasks.
Many companies and charities have been set up to help provide support and assistance, some of which can come to your home to provide a free of charge assessment to help.
Below is a list of local advice and guidance available to you:
Durham County Council provide a British Sign Language video relay service which is provided in partnership with SignVideo and gives our deaf or hard of hearing BSL users live access to customer services. If you are Deaf or hard of hearing and use British Sign Language (BSL), you can talk to us 8.30am – 5.00pm (Monday – Thursday) and 8.30am – 4.30pm (Friday) through an Online British Sign Language interpreter.
AbilityNet is a nationwide charity that offer 1-to-1, face to face and remote digital support, to a wide range of users including older learners and disabled people.. Support varies from learning the basics of digital skills on how to use a device to advice and recommendation on adaptations and equipment available specific to the users need. They provide a free of charge support line on 0800 048 7642 which runs during UK office hours.
Other help and support available
There are also a large range of free apps and online support available to help those with a range of disabilities.
These are listed below:
| Applications, devices and software | Uses | Additional information / links |
|---|---|---|
| Seeing AI | Seeing AI is a free application which can be used for those who are visually impaired. | Seeing AI |
| Be My Eyes | Be My Eyes is a free AI-powered visual assistance program which connects people needing sighted support with volunteers and companies through live video around the world. | Be My Eyes |
| Apple Live Transcribe | Live Transcribe for iOS is a free application which was built for the Deaf or a Hard of Hearing (HoH) person to use. It gives the user control over their environment. With Live Transcribe for iOS, users wouldn’t need to lip-read or be left out of the conversation. | Live Transcribe |
| Google Transcribe | Google created a free Live Transcribe & Sound Notifications to make everyday conversations and surrounding sounds more accessible among people who are deaf and hard of hearing, using just your Android phone or tablet. | Google: Live Transcribe |
| Amazon Alexa | The Amazon Alexa created a smart assistant to trigger life alerts is useful for fall detection. To set it up you can adjust your settings, to make it so that all you need to do is shout “Alexa, ask my buddy to send help” to communicate to your emergency contacts that you need urgent attention. | Alexa: My SOS Family |
** Disclaimer, the information provided by Digital Durham on free resources that are available to use is for general informational purposes only. Under no circumstances shall we have any liability for any loss or damage of any kind using these products and websites. Your use of the websites and your reliance on any information or content on these websites are used so at your own risk. **
