3 ways voice technology can amplify your day
Let’s talk about the voice. No, not the tv singing comp, the referendum, or the classic from John Farnham. Your own voice is powerful and both voice-controlled and audible products can support your vision as it changes over time. You don’t need big bucks or tech smarts to get started either, just the right products and a few words.
Here are three tips for using voice-controlled or audible products to amplify your everyday.
1: Opt for a speaker with smarts
Voice assistants and audio technology is promoted as freeing up your hands, but it can also make household tasks and hobbies easier on your eyes. The easiest way to get started is with a smart home speaker such as Amazon’s Alexa or Google Nest.
This is a big help for your eyes, because it won’t matter what the lighting is like or the size of the font. Here are just a few examples of things you can do with a voice assisted home speaker:
- Access step-by-step guided recipes when cooking
- Hear the daily news headlines or weather report
- Listen to your favourite music, podcasts or audio books
- Turn on and off appliances
- Switching a light on in a room before you walk into it, rather than after
- Send and receive messages and calls without typing or reading
If you need help getting started, you may be eligible for the free Smart Home Program with an Alexa speaker, support and training funded by the Commonwealth Home Support program.
2: Ask your appliances
Appliances don’t have to be internet connected to talk to you. There’s a whole range of appliances that will announce what you’re doing when your vision is feeling a little fuzzy. Some of our favourite talking home appliances include:
3: Give your eyes a break from text
As mentioned earlier, smart home devices can read out and send messages on your behalf. They can also tell you the news and play audio books and your favourite podcasts, so you can give your eyes a break from text.
But sometimes you need the audio without using your vocals (like on the train or when you don’t want your texts read aloud!). Thankfully there are also plenty of audible readers that don’t require voice control to activate and they are designed for low vision book lovers, so you can use them to access titles from your public library or the Vision Australia catalogue.
