Deafblind Techie

If you've ever seen me place a small device in the middle of the table, or set up a lanyard microphone, you may have wondered what on earth I’m doing. No, I’m not recording you. No, I’m not spying. And no — it’s not some secret gadget. These devices are part of the Phonak Roger System lineup, designed to support people with hearing loss. More importantly — they help me hear. What is Roger? Roger is a remote microphone system which streams sound directly to my cochlear implants. I wear the Advanced Bionics Marvel processors, and Roger can connect directly to them without any additional connectors. Instead of sound travelling like this: Speaker → Room air → Background noise → My implants → My brain It travels like this: Speaker → Microphone → My implants → My brain That difference might look small on paper — but in real life, it’s huge. It removes distance. It reduces background noise. And it makes speech much clearer and easier to follow. Why That Matters Even ...

I don’t tend to have lots of apps on my phone. It’s not because I don’t like trying new things, but because accessibility requires intention — not unnecessary clutter. Not apps that slowly eat through gigabytes of storage, but ones that offer consistency, reliability, and ease of use. If an app doesn’t meaningfully improve my life (daily or weekly), sorry — but it’s a hard no from me. Of course, I still have the standard apps that 99% of people do: WhatsApp, YouTube, a music app, and so on. But there are also plenty of apps that claim to be accessible. These five are my tried-and-true favourites — the ones that have genuinely earned their place on my phone. What Makes an App Worth It? Before diving into the list, it’s worth explaining the criteria I use. An app earns its storage space if it: Works reliably with the accessibility settings enabled on my phone Has a predictable visual layout with minimal pop-ups Doesn’t rely on sound or visual cues alone, but instead combines them — stron...