Our Pledge this Global Accessibility Awareness Day

The logo for global accessibility awareness day 2022. The letters G A A D sit inside a circle with a keyboard on the bottom right corner

2023 Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is on Thursday 18th May  

With over 1 billion people affected by some form of disability worldwide, this is a day to pause and consider how accessibility could be improved. For one day, across the globe, social media will be filled with posts advocating accessibility. Not for profits and corporate organisations alike will be promoting accessibility through events, campaigns, and by showcasing their latest steps to becoming more inclusive towards the disability community. GAAD is an amazing opportunity to spread awareness.

RealSAM prioritises accessibility – not just for a day like GAAD, but every day. As the assistive technology brand of RealThing AI, RealSAM was born to meet accessibility needs. By using breakthrough technology, we enable the disability community to use complex devices easily. We are successfully eliminating barriers that make it difficult for people to stay connected with friends and loved ones with our RealSAM phones.  

Designing for Accessibility

RealSAM is improving accessibility every day with our mission to deliver friendly and easy to use voice-operated products that enable independence. With our partners, we are improving the quality of life for people living with sight loss. We aim to make it easy for people living with challenges to communicate, accomplish daily tasks, and access information and entertainment.

Our fully voice-operated devices feature a simple interface that provides an accessible solution for those struggling with complicated conventional phones. Using their voice, they can easily make calls, send messages, have messages read aloud, and even manage their contacts.

Low vision users can take advantage of the inbuilt magnifier to read things like labels and signs. Severely sight impaired users can use the object recognition to know what’s sitting on their kitchen table, or use text recognition to read their mails, even handwritten letters.

Sighted assistance for situations like finding dropped objects, or describing current surroundings is available anytime, anywhere through our partner Be My Eyes. We make the outside world more navigable through weather and location guidance by voice. Additionally, through our partners, RNIB, Calibre Audio, and Torch Trust, news and entertainment through radios, podcasts and thousands of books are available to stream for free.

Co-created  with the Sight Loss Community

Beyond our devices, we operate with accessibility in mind. We collaborate with blind and visually impaired creators to promote accessibility. We develop lasting relationships with not for profit, corporate and government partners that support people living with sight loss. Our team is dedicated to guiding our customers every step of the way by partnering with local organisations for in-person demonstrations and providing excellent customer support.

Join us in our Mission!

For Global Accessibility Awareness Day, we want to celebrate those who prioritise accessibility with us, every single day. We recognise the many advocates who help to pass legislation that changes the culture. We applaud the countless volunteers involved in global and local charities supporting the disability community. Most of all, we are thankful for every person with a disability who shares their experiences. What you have to say is valuable, because you are the first to shed light on the many barriers that need to be broken.

So Happy Global Accessibility Awareness Day, from all of the team at RealThing Ai!

#GAAD #accessibility

By Guenivir Kendrick

Behind The Scenes

Meet Nick, the CEO of RealThing. Founded in Melbourne, Australia in 2008, Nick was inspired