A free communication app based on voice messages is proving popular with
blind and visually impaired users, and has launched a Kickstarter
crowdfunding campaign to help expand its community.
Users of the Vorail app communicate by recording questions or thoughts as
short voice messages, which are available for other users to listen to and
reply. Users just need to set up a basic profile, without any photos or
images.
One of Vorail’s co-founders, Tom Rosenthal, told e-Access Bulletin that
although the app wasn’t designed specifically for blind and visually
impaired people, most users are from these groups. As a result, the team
behind the app now dedicate resources to making sure it is accessible.
Rosenthal said: “Vorail was designed to create a safer place where we can
see the true nature of others … There’s much more to a person than a
photo or what is revealed in text messages. That’s why we developed
Vorail – the voice is a window to the soul.”
Around 80,000 questions a day are asked on the app, covering a huge range
of topics. Subjects discussed include: Braille and guide dogs; personal
reflections on blindness; requests for relationship advice; and thoughts on
anything from favourite foods to nightclubs.
Some Vorail members use the app for dating, but it is also widely used to
meet new friends or simply connect with others. The user-community features
people who are married, engaged, dating, single and even families,
Rosenthal said. The first Vorail marriage is taking place soon, between two
people who met using the app, one from the UK, the other from the United
States.
Rosenthal said that while social media platforms like Facebook and Snapchat
are useful for networking with existing friends, Vorail allows its
community to meet new people easily. Similarly, while popular meeting and
dating sites are based around users’ photos, “Vorail was designed for
people that want to see beyond the picture … Technology can do better at
helping us find people who we share chemistry with,” Rosenthal said.
Vorail went live at the end of 2015 on Apple’s iOS operating system, and
recently launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to gauge public
interest in expanding to the Android operating system as well.
Download Vorail for free at the Apple iOS App Store:
http://eab.li/1p .
Find out more at Vorail’s Kickstarter page:
http://eab.li/1n .
Website: http://www.vorail.com
original article from the e-Access Bulletin
Comment on this story at e-Access Bulletin Live:
http://eab.li/1v .
e-Access Bulletin : A Headstar Publication, produced with the support of Thomas Pocklington Trust: http://www.pocklington-trust.org.uk .
