Bitcoin may be touted as a global currency can be accessed, but it may not be appropriate for some users. Michael Staffen is a blind bitcoin users. He Reddit (foreign exchange bitcoin community) expressed his frustration: Bitcoin wallet for the visually impaired, does not currently offer any accessibility options.
" I am a using a screen reader blind persons (screen readers can convert text to speech), but I downloaded all bitcoin wallet were unable to be accessed by a screen reader ... it makes me very angry, because I am also a Bitcoin supporters, I have my own bitcoins, but I have no way to use them. "
Staffen in reddit post attracted nearly 200 comments and nearly 1,000 votes. These views are largely positive, they called purse developers to provide better accessibility for the blind Bitcoin user services.
Multibit wallet (a popular open-source Bitcoin wallet) is a core developer, said he began to see the post after a number of developers and for the issues raised, to begin the test. He also recruited Staffen as one of a number of testers.
Accessibility walletCoinDesk contacted Staffen, and let Staffen through a screen reader to use Bitcoin wallet to get his experience. Screen reader is a software that can read the entire contents of the computer monitor, and allows those who are blind or visually impaired to operate the equipment.
First, when the application starts, Staffen said he can only access the main menu bar of the application.
This menu bar contains three drop-down menu that allows him to back up his wallet and encryption, but you can not let him to perform basic functions, such as checking his wallet address and send and receive bitcoins.
"If I visit my bitcoin wallet Qt, I can go to" File "," Help "and" Settings "menu, but I can not really do anything through them. Nothing can [help me] tell me what happened things, because there is no interaction with the screen reader, so the wallet basically useless to me, unless I find someone to help me, "he added.
"For example, in the position [wallet] address, I may need to cut and paste - but I really can not do this."
Staffen said his sister is a bitcoin enthusiasts, is helping him into the wallet. However, he can not be pinned to a specific company or individual to help him use the wallet.
Staffen said, "Most people want to be able to better access the wallet, including the developer - ... they just do not take it this is not a deliberate exclusion of others, but people ignore the experience of people with disabilities."
Michael Staffen story 
Staffen (Figure) 36-year-old, living in a small town called Regina, Saskatchewan, this town is a relatively rural areas, are part of the "Canadian Prairies," the. Four years ago, he had lymphoma.
He was diagnosed with lymphoma and told already in the fourth (the equivalent of terminal cancer), but the cancer had spread to his central nervous system. He was given a pessimistic forecast.
"I'm a total coma for a month, and almost zero chance to survive when I woke up from the coma, I basically can not see anything or can not be moved."
Staffen cancer has damaged the optic nerve, so he lost his sense of light. After hospital treatment for up to a year, where he received chemotherapy and physical therapy, and eventually regained control of the body from the hands of death.
"My physical therapy twice a day to do, where I learned how to walk again with the use of my body and I now think I've recovered!"
Staffen currently studying at the University of Regina Master's degree in Public Policy and Management. Expected to graduate in September.
Staffen two years ago after the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's radio program heard bitcoin, bitcoins started to generate a lot of interest, but as the blind how to better adapt to the new technology is really difficult.
From the beginning of April last year, Staffen has been trying to make Bitcoin through new technologies can provide a comfortable enough environment for themselves.
"My sister and I teamed up to figure out how to buy bitcoins from MT Gox. We had our money wire transfer to Japan, and now want to come it seems to be very funny and scary."
Staffen is so obsessed (bitcoin), his cash advance from your credit card in order to get enough money to buy some bits currency. Unfortunately, Staffen and his sister, buying time in April bitcoin $ 250 peak.
"The price collapse in the next day and I keep them, because I think they may eventually recover," he said. According theCoinDesk BPI records, bitcoin prices rebounded in the final time of the year to more than $ 1,000, and now the price is $ 850.
Online wallet MultiBit attitudeMany, including core developers, including Gary Rowe said the team is working to develop a new version of MultiBit wallet.
This version can be easily disabled, including visual impairment and blindness in patients. Gary Rowe said he expects to release the latest high-definition version of the end of March.
Assistive technology boomScreen-reading technology is becoming driven computing devices, the consumer expectations, the combination of industry applications and legislation increasingly common, says Robbins Spinks, the Royal Institute for the Blind in the secondary figures, the UK's leading charity - Royal Institute for the Blind assisted key management personnel Robin Spinks said that consumer expectations, driven by screen-reading technology in computer equipment, industrial applications, and a combination of legislation will become increasingly common.
WebAIM is a focus on web accessibility solutions for nonprofit organizations in Utah State University. According to the latest survey by WebAIM screen reader usage in the last three years has increased from 12% to 72%.
Apple developed in 2009 based on the IOS platform screen reader has become the industry standard, Spinks said the move triggered large-scale use of this new technology boom.
As Staffen, he said, he plans to further develop the Bitcoin economy . He has been thinking about how to be more convenient to use blind Bitcoin wallet.
"I do not know the business of the future would look like, I just want to know from which to make a living."
