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10/10/2003
An East Sussex based company has been awarded a prestigious government grant to develop a phone-based method of delivering consumer information to the blind and partially-sighted.
PhoneAnything, based in Uckfield, has won a Smart Award from the Department of Trade and Industry's Small Business Service (SBS), which aims to encourage innovation in England.
The technology company is using the Smart grant to fund a feasibility study into how their technology might be used to deliver consumer information, such as product catalogues, pricelists and bills to the visually impaired using conventional telephones. Many blind and partially-sighted users have difficulty accessing this information. A phone-based method of delivering consumer information would make it accessible to anyone with a telephone and could greatly improve the lives of visually impaired users. It could also provide a cost-effective solution for companies wishing to satisfy their legal obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act.
Stefan Haselwimmer, Managing Director of PhoneAnything said: "We are delighted to have received government support in the form of a Smart Award. This funding will allow us to build a truly cost-effective solution for delivering consumer information to the visually impaired. The Smart Award has provided us with the necessary resources to apply our technology to the specific market sector of accessibility solutions and to build a strong business model in this sector."
The company are just over three months into the project and have completed a significant proportion of research work required. The next phase will involve building a range of different voice interfaces to consumer information and testing them with both visually impaired users and relevant organisations such as the RNIB.
PhoneAnything is a technology company dedicated to providing access to internet content through standard telephones.
Smart is the Small Business Service (SBS) initiative that provides grants to help individuals and small and medium sized businesses to research and develop technologically innovative products and processes.
 Small Business Service
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