Panu Korhonen, Nokias Research & Development Manager (a nokia visonnaire guy) in design for all:

Some models are very small and not easily operated by disabled persons. Also, we do not make special solutions for disabled people, but we try to enlarge our target groups for new products by means of sound and visual feedback.

A New Way of Thinking

Continues Korhonen: Maybe we ought to think of disabled people in a quite different way. I mean if we develop a telephone for skateboarders, who would like to have an SMS message read aloud by an audio device while skating and being unable to watch the display we will have reached the target group of blind and visually impaired people as well.

Thats why we are not all that concerned with Design for All, but rather with giving each product the broadest possible appeal. This aspect is very important to keep in mind, especially when we are developing small models. The more we consider our users, the harder it is to make the very small instruments. A small display, for example, requires a highly intelligent software to become functional.

At CHI, he also explains that cell phones have a huge potential for disabled people. For instance, some services for illeterate could be designed. He cited the metro in Mexico where each station are depicted by an image of an animal. Let's transfer it to a cell phone...