Accessibility in BQ Aquaris E5

Friday, 17 July, 2015

By Amóvil

El BQ Aquaris E5 en blanco y en negro

Aquaris E5 is an affordable mid-range smartphone designed by Spanish manufacturer BQ that offers excellent performance and a diverse set of high-end features. This handset is also adequate for people with vision impairments, profound Deafness, reduced manual dexterity and limited comprehension skills. Amóvil reviewed this device thanks to a loan by BQ.

General features and specifications

Powered by Android 4.4.4 KitKat, this phone sports a simple, austere design with rounded corners and dimensions of 142 x 71 x 8.65 mm. It also weighs 134 grams.

The device runs on a quad-core 1.3 GHz MediaTek processor, and comes with a 5-inches IPS display with 720 x 1280 HD pixels resolution (294 ppi) protected by a Dragon Trail glass. In addition, it includes a rear-side and front-side cameras of 13 and 5 mpx, respectively.

Regarding connectivity, the Aquaris E5 has Bluetooth 4.0, wifi, A-GPS and GPS, among other technologies.

Accessibility review

Accessibility settings included in the Aquaris E5 are those that come by default with Android operating system and can be found under a submenu of the same name that is part of the general Settings menu.

When the device is switched on for the first time, a setup assistant will help users to configure the basic settings. However, no information about accessibility or a shortcut to accessibility settings is provided. In order to setup accessibility features, users must tap on the Settings icon then on Accessibility.

Vision

Aquaris E5 is accessible to blind people. TalkBack, the screen reader for Android, reads most of the available visual content. However, a minor problem observed is that it reads abbreviations as they are. In other words, it fails to convert them into full words. This renders the text confusing for some blind users.

This smartphone is also adequate for people with low vision. The text size feature works satisfactorily and the changes made appear in all interfaces including the icons on the Home page. Additionally, screen brightness can be personalized and users can enable a screen magnifier if needed.

However, persons with color blindness or high sensitivity to light may have a less than satisfactory experience. The phone does not provide a high contrast scheme or a feature to reverse background and foreground colors to improve legibility.

Hearing

Aquaris E5 is not compatible with hearing aids and cochlear implants, so Amóvil is unable to recommend it to users who wear these devices. However, it is suitable for Deaf or hard of hearing persons that do not wear hearing prosthetics. The smartphone supports instant messaging and videocalls.

Dexterity

People with reduced manual dexterity skills may be able to use this handset with comfort. Although it is somewhat heavier than most smartphones in the market, it is easy to hold and to handle.

Also, physical buttons are easy to press and cables can be plugged and unplugged without much effort. However, inserting the SIM and the SD card may be a task nearly impossible to do for some people, particularly those with tremors in the upper limbs or with vision impairments for it requires using a special tool that must be inserted into a tiny hole.

In addition, this smartphone includes a feature that allows users to lock and unlock the display with a double tapping gesture. However, to lock the screen users must tap on the Notifications bar which might be problematic for blind users.

People with very little or no dexterity skills will have a hard time using this phone. It ships with Google Now preinstalled. Google Now is a personal assistant that according to Google works similarly to Apple’s Siri or Microsoft’s Cortana, and allows users to navigate the web and control their devices with their voices. However, it is incapable of opening native apps such as Settings or sending emails or text messages.

Comprehension

Aquaris E5 is suitable for users with comprehension issues or learning disabilities. It includes icons that comply with accessibility standards, and users can add an image or a picture to each contact for easier call/message identification.

Additionally, a feature that can be useful for these users is the step by step configuration guide that is activated when the phone is powered up for the first time.

Notwithstanding, this smartphone lacks an Easy Mode feature that would simplify the home screen layout to improve the experience of people with comprehension issues, learning or cognitive disabilities.

For more details about the accessibility features available in Aquaris E5 please consult the full accessibility report.

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