Bitcoin Forum

I read the article, how a person of disabilities especially blind person can access Bitcoin. https://coolblindtech.com/developer-making-the-first-bitcoin-wallet-for-the-blind/. Are there any wallets like electrum, ledger or Bitcoin core can access by blind people?. And I am searched about Bitcoin Bitcoin Whitepaper in Braille project, but still not continue or I am missing something?, let's me know, I want to help my friend.

I guess there's none. I have never heard of there's any before.

So, it's the Icywallet as the article says but still haven't heard of it and the article was already old.

This is the first time I'm learning about this bitcoin wallet for the blind. I haven't thought that someone would actually develop it. Looking at their website https://icywallet.com, the last project update was September of 2019. I'm not sure but the developer could be working on another project at the moment. It would be cool if this gets more funding to fast track its development.

The accessibility features in Windows might help those with blindness. For the whitepaper part, you can use online tools to read the text so there's no need for braille reading.

It must still be in its early stages, but we're getting there. They are initiating the project with their main goal to translate the Bitcoin Whitepaper to Braille, and let people with visual impairment to understand what Bitcoin has to offer, and its significant differences over traditional banking systems.

While knowing what it actually is, having the power to use it is one more nice improvement for catering Bitcoin to those people.

Correct me if I'm wrong but how could a blind person read the text (whitepaper) online? and about the features in Windows, using Narrator and Cortana, I hope you know that most of the blind people are deaf-blind or Deaf Blindness (http://www.aadb.org/FAQ/faq_DeafBlindness.html), so using cortana and narrator is basically useless. Braille is their only option, because according to google, Braille is a system of raised dots that can be read with the fingers by people who are blind or who have low vision.

Eh? I've seen plenty of blind people out and about. None of them displayed any deafness too. You'd have to be seriously unlucky to endure both.

There are apps like this out there - https://www.bemyeyes.com/get-started  and banks have dedicated staff attached to it for online banking customers.

In theory you could have volunteers doing Bitcoin stuff through it though I've no idea how you'd figure out whether they could be trusted.

But blindness is a spectrum. Only a modest percentage are actually fully in the dark. The rest have degrees of degradation. Starting off with better visibility options could help a lot of people.

Why would a blind person use bitcoin?To buy something?To invest?To trade cryptocurrencies?To gamble,which is impossible,because online crypto casinos and crypto exchange platforms aren't user-friendly,when it comes to blind people.This topic is quite interesting,but I don't see any benefit that bitcoin could possibly bring for the blind people.I've never heard about Icywallet and I don't trust such wallets.Use with caution.

There are already a lot of new technology that are very helpful for people with disabilities, especially for blind people, that is why being blind or having disabilities are not hindrances from accessing and buying bitcoin.
Good to know that there are now bitcoin wallet for blind people, so i think it will be helpful for them to adopt and invest their money in bitcoin.

I have not heard that any of the existing Bitcoin wallets supports voice commands. I am sure this feature can added on Android using Google's voice service but, security can be at risk.

Did not find any documents written in brail for Bitcoin whitepaper. This could be a great project for any one who know brail language.

Sounds like great idea for devs. We need to make crypto borderless

Sounds a little weird there are blind people accessing Bitcoin.
How not, technically Bitcoin is just a number that appears on the screen.

How could a blind person be able to access, just looking at it was already impossible.  if for example there is a blind person who can get bitcoin from donations, I'm sure he will still need the closest people to access it.
So fully I do not believe that bitcoin can be accessed by blind people.  IMO

That would be hard.

We all know that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not tangible so it would be really hard for them. I think there is a way for them to acess and use a Bitcoin wallet but for now I have no idea. This is the first time I've thought about this.

I think it is quite disturbing because there are a lot of thoughts and questions on my mind how do they make earnings and use bitcoin to earn and base on my research is they make a hardware wallet to the blind so they can store their bitcoins inside of it and also they made s whitepaper so they can read about what is included into the transactions and also there are a lot of people make some investment on those projects because they are capable to earn and make some investment too still they need the help of other people of they want to make some transactions or transferring funds but still they beed the assist of other people because they still have the passcode.

It is really curious how would people with disabilities like blind people would earn and use bitcoin if they can't really see the movement of the market price. But no doubt that there will be new technologies that will really help blind people for them to be convenient in using and earning in bitcoin and cryptocurrency because there are already bitcoin wallet for blind people, so perhaps in thebnear future more technologies will help blind people to use bitcoin.

Based on my knowledge, I guess there are no wallets or exchanges that are compatible with the blind people. I also believe that the margin for blind people who use bitcoin are relatively small that businesses do not consider in making a compatible wallet for them. One quick and easy solution to this problem is by letting your spouse, relative, or family member handle the business and rely on the inherent trust that both have.


This is true. I guess if the market of bitcoin is significantly huge that it can include blind people, then that would be the dream. But as of now, I am clueless if such implementation will happen anytime soon or if anything exists currently.

Maybe they can just let someone to support or help them.

Someone they could trust their life to, though obviously there will be those disadvantages there. I also though of having a voice enabled wallet or an software dedicted to them but this is also business so with a low percentage of blind people using Bitcoin means low sales on that program or software so that will be a no go.

You have to ask a person who has come Bitcoin enthusiast along time ago, Craig Mcgee Twitter (https://twitter.com/guilt_manager/status/673049706268901376?). Also, I read on article (https://www.btcethereum.com/blog/2017/10/25/bitcoin-accessibility-from-a-blind-persons-perspective/) Mcgee mining Bitcoin at his home.
He used screen reader to access his computer. So, you have to learn  Non-Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NonVisual_Desktop_Access), a portable screen reader for Windows first then ask Mcgee how he made successful bitcoin transaction at past.

Think about the systems that blind people are using in terms of transacting using fiats, in other cases, try to look at the digital implementation of these transaction using fiats, then image what would the system could be, if it will be in bitcoin or cryptocurrency. IMO, the system would be as easy as how these fiats are being implemented, the only problem they could encounter is the security on how to log in to their accounts as it makes it complicated.

But if the system would provide a card and a machine where blind people could just swipe their card and will intelligently speak regarding the fund balance and the transaction, it would be possible.

IcyWallet is what seems the majority of the people mentioned here.

There is an Ease Of Access feature in Windows already even in the older ones, and I think people should check that out first before trying to use this wallet.
I never used IcyWallet, nor have heard of it.

First of all, does a blind have a need to use bitcoin or the cryptocurrency as a whole? Nah, I don't think so. If se organizations or people try to give solutions for this problem then I thank them for their good heart. But to be honest, that is not necessary in my opinion. Fiat is the best option which can suit in their situation. Since they're blind, they are only depending on their sense of touch so the money they must use have a physical representation — in short, it should be tangible like coins and paper money :).

The deaf, mute or other handicaps can feasibly use it but for the blind I really doubt.

Though it seems that when it comes to practicality, fiat is still the best choice for them. But I think, if those people want to store their money in terms of digital currency, they have the option to do so. I don't think regular blind individual will aim for this gadget. I believe, it is more on the upper class status that wanted to diversify their portfolio and have crypto as their assets. But who knows, every one of us has the privilege to what we will do with our assets and it also applies to them.

I haven't heard of projects that would suit blind people. But I think that in the near future, when bitcoin will become the most common currency, exchanges and wallets will be forced to make services available to everyone.

This is an interesting topic for me. How can a person a blind person can have an access to cryptocurrency? Well I've been thinking that it might be impossible or if not it would really hard for them since they needed at least a vision in order to make sure of everything such as:
• Verifying Wallet Address
• Transaction Address
• Passphrase
• Codes, Signatures
• Private keys

Here are some of the things that would need a vision to make a transaction in cryptocurrency, maybe there's a special bot assistant that would guide them through speech or maybe a need of helping hand of a friend or family.

You wouldn't ask that question if you're really a bitcoin user. Maybe he wants to invest his money because maybe he's being influenced by his friends or family. I've read a certain article about a braille-based keyboard, but the only problem is how he will see if he typed correctly. Person with disabilities who want to access cryptocurrency needs our help so if there's some who seek help, don't hesitate to help. They just want their money to invest and trust bitcoin with all their heart. It is very rare to see a PWD that is willing to enter the world of bitcoin.

Yeah considering that the article is already old yet we have not hearing anything close to this one now so it means this is not successful idea?and besides i am not degrading the capacity of blind people because they are also human but i don’t think Bitcoin is created for them to venture or even to invest,not unless they have someone trusted that can make a transaction for him possible?since it is very risky for a blind person to use voice activated transaction or other form that can offer only for Blind people to be accessible with.
I doubt that it will come this soon,and not in our generation because if does?for sure there must be in circulation bow offered for Blind people .

I haven't heard of something like this and as far as I know, there isn't
Well, bitcoin isn't that useless for blind people because they can get profits if they invest in bitcoin but the problem is they cannot really see or check themselves if the amount they are investing is the correct amount that they intend to invest. If a blind person can invest if they really wanted to but the biggest challenge is that they can be targets for fraud since they cannot really see the transactions or the amount. On the other note, I haven't really heard about the braille bitcoin project and not really sure if it is very successful.

I think they can do that with the help of a family member , like a guide because trust me whatever the software will be it will be really hard for them to get accustomed to it and I think that would give them confidence too having a person with them that they trust .
Yes there is something like privacy but you know there are some people that we can trust .
I know about my uncle who is totally blind , he engages in bitcoins with the help of his wife and trust me he does trading on a daily basis and it is so inspiring .

I thought deaf and dumb was the combination ( I'm leaving out jokes about politicians here ). and not blind and deaf. The UK has quite a lot of support for blind people, and the values of fiat notes are different sizes to help blind people to identify them. Dome restaurants like those in Morrisons supermarkets have braille menus, and there are various other aids in the community. When I owned a computer shop, I sponsored a pupil in a local school, and I provided him with a free dot matrix printer to create a Braille printer. He removed the ink ribbon, and used the pins in the print head to build the braille characters. He then used an Amiga computer to convert the text and to print it from right to left. This was necessary because Braille is read by sensing raised dots, which were on the back of the paper. The guy got 2nd prize in the Young Scientist of the year awards.

I mentioned the Braille printer, because a project to provide Bitcoin access for the blind would be a great sixth form project.

Using crypto will certainly be very difficult for the visually impaired people because of the process involved, it is very complicated even for the physically fit people, for now i don't think there is a provision made for the physically challenged people especially the visually impaired although i think this should be considered even though i really can't say how,
Crypto adoption should cut across all kinds of people, both physically challenged or not, after all, the visually impaired people are engaging in lots of other activities, lots of study materials for the visually impaired, same could be provided in crypto to help them to understand it more better and then start to use it, of course,  there will be limitations but at least they will feel a sense of inclusion.

It is just many people are relating Bitcoin and other cryptos to many things. Just like recently wherein corona virus was related to the price of Bitcoin. There's really nothing wrong for doing so but some things can be answered easily without the need to ask for other people. Just like in this case, why would a blind people use a digital currency? Ofcourse they would prefer fiat since they would be able to be familiar with it through touching it and be able to identify its value.

Waoo! That's a good one from the developers, verily; this is the first time I heard about this wallet and wish the developers will have more funds to continue this. This drive is aim towards mass adoption of Bitcoin. Support is what the group needs to move the project to finishings. Although, many things borders me here about the user having access to their wallets, that is: from transaction and to knowing how much coins they will send in the process.

But who knows if there will be a group of developers that will continue this kind of projects.

Honestly, this is an amazing project if ever someone will continue to develop or give attention to this idea. That's how technology works, solving a certain problem and giving ease to its users.

Realistically, Blind people are going to have a difficult time dealing with practically any type of currency. This is why Blind people tend to for for everything in 1 dollar bills, that way they dont need to worry about which value notes they're handing out to the cashier.

Fortunately, we have come a long way in usability technology, and it's now possible to control most software using just voice.

You should discuss this tool with your friend: https://shop.nuance.com/store/nuanceus/en_US/home/pgm.4927270300?mmGeoRedirect=1

It can be used to voice control and computer and read-out text to help navigate, pretty useful for a lot of stuff.

But maybe we could say sorry for them coz for this kind of disability it is really hard for them. Though this Braille could give some bits of help but being alone is not really enough to access everything in crypto. It might a Deaf person can don but for a blind person? it gives me doubt about how he/she could make it right.

And this is to know the reality that Bitcoin isn't for everybody, it closes some chances to those who are not capable of doing it. It was a big disappointment but there is nothing we can do because for some instances that there are some things can be done and undone.

There are always blind spots in many things, if not all. This is a blind spot for Bitcoin. But then it will be affecting a small slice of the world's population. When Bitcoin was invented, Satoshi must have not considered the blind people or those others who are disabled that they could not possibly use Bitcoin. Bitcoin was probably created with the normal people in mind, which comprise the majority. I guess technology could later on provide a way for the blind people to be able to enjoy the latest convenience of the times. Perhaps there will soon be smart phones with wallets that could be accessed with voice command and recognition so that blind people could still use them to buy whatever they want. Or why don't they just use crypto cards? The rest could be done for them. Blind people will always have the assistants of family, friends, or social workers.

for now blind people can already use a computer, but I don't know how it works, of course using the sense of hearing. therefore I think it is not impossible if later you can easily access bitcoin. hopefully as you talk about, where there will be a project that develops it, it will certainly get a good appreciation

yeah that's what i am pointing if there will someone answered about this not being successful or other company will make other venture to help Blind people,but well yeah we don't know future as people may consider things or not to become possible.

and i agree on that because there are many people who's Blind and not only them but the Deaf people as well who may need help to make them invest this Currency of the future.this is not only for normal people but also for all the people in the world.

I'm obviously talking about the text-to-audio readers, which basically something like Cortana and available to most browsers out there.

As for your 'most blind are deaf-blind', I'm not sure where you get the data from. Here are some stats:
- http://www.aadb.org/FAQ/faq_DeafBlindness.html
- https://www.quora.com/Are-there-more-deaf-people-or-more-blind-people
- https://nationaldb.org/library/page/1934
- https://www.who.int/blindness/publications/globaldata/en/

Never heard about this icywallet before i read the article in Google Chrome it says that icywallet is still under the development and the technology has so improved as we all know anything is possible.

Great job Adam Newbold who builds a unique hardware wallet specifically for blind people. As I have read in  Quora the blind people are also interested in bitcoin i have shared the link below.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1ufacn/bitcoin_wallets_are_inaccessible_for_blind_people/?utm_source=amp&utm_medium=&utm_content=post_body

Deaf persons would never face issues investing or earning with cryptocurrencies like bitcoins but that in case of blind I am a bit doubtful. Bitcoins are a digital currency which are only available on the internet. Also accessing bitcoins is never a easy and 1-2 clicks task but instead it requires some knowledge and also login into our wallets is a bit complex.

In situation like OP mentioned, there are no ways for blind persons to get acquainted with bitcoins. Even if they do enter the field, they would never be sure about their security because even if they lose some specific amount of funds, they couldn't even spot those transactions which might never be an ease for them.

Honestly, I haven't seen a factual circumstance of a blind person accessing Bitcoin nor have I read a material stating the precise situation. But in my view, person with disabilities should not be limited to access Bitcoin. Also, today's technology could provide sufficient assistance for disabled persons such as Assistive Computer Technology, any piece of equipment that is customized to make life easier for a person who has a disability. Examples of this are Screen readers, software programs that provide either speech or Braille output, and are commonly employed by persons who are blind or visually impaired. Nevertheless, such enthusiasm would require more diligence in seeking security with regards to account information, assistance provider and confidential transactions.

This might be an important issue regarding the use case of bitcoins. It is merely impossible for blind people to access or utilize bitcoins. Such people with physical disability might also need to know much basic details which could help them start their career with bitcoins but it would get a lot hectic and challenging for them. Even educating normal people with the basics of bitcoins and cryptocurrencies is not a easy task and in this case it would get more tough.

Still by any chance if they learn how blockchain network works but how can a bling person access his wallet if they can't see the private keys? They probably can't depend on other in case of their wallet security and this might be a point where most of such people might stop.

Good to hear that even a person with a disability can have access to bitcoin based on the article. At some point, even they have disabilities it's possible for them to access the technology and we can clearly see that they really believe the potential of bitcoin. While the other people that don't have disabilities still not believe in bitcoin and keep spitting non-sense like BTC is a scam.

We all know that bitcoin can be a global currency someday and this might be unfair for those who can access it through basic. So I hope there's a lot more innovation like this for disabilities 'cause they're also part of this community.

This is a great opportunity to every person with a disability if there will be a chance that the future innovators can create a blockchain that can allow blind and any other disability to access cryptocurrency. Just look at the future wherein despite their disability they can earn money and can make a transaction to any other person.
It is indeed possible for every person with disabilities to access technology because as of now there are some technologies that are developed just to help them use different things. Like as of now they can use mobile phones even if they are blind because there are some applications that can help them to understand what is displayed on the screen. That is why making some technology and with relation to crypto, this is quite interesting.

Developing this for blind is a very thoughtful but they can never get full control of their wallet without assistance which can end up hurting them if the other person decides to snatch it. Some are having tough time with physical money. It's meant to be decentralized without third party.
Other disabilities like deafness can still operate a crypto wallet.

I don't agree with that. Today there are very developed applications to assist blind people, even with sound assistantce. I don't that is necessary for some third people to help them and to be exposed to risk of stolen data. How do you think that blind people use internet banking? The same could be applied to cryptocurrencies wallets too.

Like most others, I have never heard of facilities to access bitcoin for people with disabilities. Even if someone wants to develop it, it must be quite complicated, there are many aspects that need to be considered. As explained in the article, using audio functions may be constrained by homophones, etc. So this is quite complicated, but it will have a pretty good effect if it can facilitate our brothers and sisters who are disabled to take advantage of cryptocurrency.

Yes they could just do what they have done with online banking,
But the problem is it would be hard for them to follow up the price of what they hold because of the sudden pumps and dumps of the market.
And it would be hard for them to track all of the transactions they would depend only on those who assist them.

Actually, I don't think that blind people could access bitcoin because on of the main part of pur body that we use in bitcoin industry is our eyes, we cannot do things if we haven't see something, especially when we talk about bitcoin or other cryptocurrency because it is online and we use computers and cellphones yo access it.

Buy if it would be possible for blind people to access bitcoin, if there is an intelligent person who can create technology for blind people to have acces in bitcoin then that will be great, but I don't think that it would be easy for them to do it.

There are now computers and smartphones that was made for blind people, so it is possible for them to use and buy bitcoin because they can use these technologies by listening the informations that they want to know and touching the equipment that they want to control. There are a lot of new technologies that are useful for every people with disabilities, so that there disability is not a hindrance to use and buy bitcoin.

This is a great question! There are many people with some handicap, and we need to pay attention on them, they alone can't do much! If we wish crypto to be globally accepted we need to pay attention on all the people, especially on people with handicap!
Now blind people can use computer, source www.computersfortheblind.org (http://www.computersfortheblind.org)

"Computers for the Blind (CFTB) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization devoted to providing computers to persons who are blind or visually impaired. It is our hope that each person who is visually impaired may experience the information age in a positive and productive manner."
https://wonderopolis.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/dreamstime_xl_31447931-Custom.jpg

We can't forget about people with physical disabilities, they should be able to have a decent life, and we need to make some effort to enable them that. Definitely this is very important, I hope we will see some effort from crypto projects on this field!

I don't think it's actually possible for blind person to access bitcoin without someone's help. Unless he/she uses some sort of voice command. There's this feature I saw in my phone, it's called tailback or something like that. What it does is to read out anything the user clicks on. And it is available in almost all android phones. I recommend this for a blind person who wants to access bitcoin on his/her own, however, it won't be easy.

As of this days, I do not think that blind people can access bitcoin because for us to access bitcoin we are using technologies, such as phone and computer and blind people would not be able to use it properly.

I know that there is a technology for other blind people for their daily lives but I really do not know if there is for bitcoin. But if there is a programmer, hardware expert and other professionals that will cretae a technology to access bitcoin then for sure it will be great, giving them a chance to access bitcoin again is such a good feeling for them.

The world is evolving with each passing day and i must say it's making live better for everyone, even the handicapped. I can't help but appreciate you for sharing this post, it's one the rare post aim at making lives better as I'm sure if there has not been any actual consideration on making cryptocurrency available for the blinds before now, with this  thread you created, I'm sure some right people out there might be interested in looking for ways to make cryptocurrency accessible to them. As of now, i don't think there's any viable means for the blinds to use cryptocurrency either i think it's best if they keep using FIAT for now but I'm very optimistic this problem will also be look into

I think this is the most important and need of the day thread i have seen.Blind people are also human and we live in 21st century where technology can do anything.People who has visibility disability can also be master investor in crypto market and we should not under judge them.I think every forum should have a automated voice bot that can help blind people with audio just like website has which can help them acquiring knowledge.In wallets technology like siri can be use so that they can follow the instruction provided.These are my suggestion and i have read the link and the work or even thought is commendable.

its called talkback afaik not tailback  . i also have an android and i miss click this once in the settings  , this is helpful indeed and this simillar technology can be also helpful for blinds aside from the traditional braille system  .

 on the past i see blinds reads and use computer so why not by using cryptos  ? its really possible because we are now in the future and we have more advance tools now   . even blinds can still work and live like a normal people even if they have lack of something   .