An individual sending a text message on an iPhone. (Submitted)
If you got a new smartphone for Christmas, chances are your old phone is collecting dust on a shelf.
You can donate your gently used smartphone to the CNIB Foundation’s Phone It Forward program.
Annabelle Babineau, program lead for community engagement in New Brunswick, said it is the first program of its kind in Canada.
“What we do is we refurbish smartphones and we give them to people who can benefit from them in the blind and visually impaired community,” said Babineau.
Babineau said the phones are wiped clean and loaded with a number of accessibility apps.
Donate your old smartphone with #PhoneItForward and we'll wipe it, load it full of accessibility apps like Seeing AI, @BlindSquareGPS & @Airaio and provide one-on-one training to someone with sight loss. Find out how your donation can open new doors at https://t.co/Fen1RmBsQH. pic.twitter.com/QbRywN5nsq
— CNIB (@CNIB) January 16, 2020
She said accessible smartphone apps allow people with sight loss to live more independently.
But despite how life-changing phones can be for blind Canadians, many people with sight loss do not own one.
CNIB Foundation researchers found fewer than one-in-three of their clients currently own a smartphone.
“It’s not something that every person can afford,” said Babineau. “Full-time employment rates, for example, for people with sight loss are only 28 per cent, which is the lowest in the disability sector.”
You can learn more about the program or donate your smartphone by visiting www.phoneitforward.ca.
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