Why this seemingly average text was a long time coming

To start this story off, we thought we’d share with you what might look like an average text exchange between father and son over a texting app.

Pretty normal right? But, to the father, Byungho Lee, and his son, this conversation is very special.

Byungho Lee, the 51-year-old President of the Yong-in Branch at the Blind Association in Korea, is totally blind. In fact, it’s only been a few months ago since he started text messaging. He was worried and afraid at first and thought, “Can a person like me really use a smartphone?”

When we asked Lee to show us the message he received from his son, he smiled with delight. And using the text reader feature, which reads the texts aloud, he gladly shared the latest remarks he shared with his son, away serving the Korean Army. As if he could picture his son right there talking to him, he replayed the messages over and over.

The latest technologies connecting family

Lee had just starting using a smartphone when his son went to serve the ROK Army. The son was touched beyond words, as he had no idea when he first received a text message from his dad.

Lee loves this new world he was introduced to. Using smartphone apps and using them to talk to his son every day, these were things he hadn’t even imagined possible.

This all started when Samsung donated a Samsung Galaxy Core Advance, a smartphone with specialized accessibility functions for the visually impaired, to Lee. It took a while for him to become familiar with the features but he had help. His wife, who is his eyes and always by his side, was his first assistant. Another group who played a role in Lee’s progression? The ‘Smart Angels,’ a group of volunteers consisting of Samsung employees.

▲ Byungho Lee and his wife

Introducing the Smart Angels

Samsung has donated 2,000 Galaxy Core Advance devices to people with visual disabilities, including Lee. But it was the experiences, the possibilities we wanted to give, not just a product. So came to be, this July, the Smart Angels. Once every two weeks, they visit Yong-in and Hwasung, and teach disabled people how to use smartphones. 

The volunteers not only give guidance on using the smartphone and the accessories but also listen to the opinions of the users so Samsung can further improve their experiences.

“I want everyone to be equally able to enjoy the products we make,” says a Smart Angel. Yes, that’s why we endeavor for better accessibility.

Check out other articles from Samsung Tomorrow for more information on our efforts to improve accessibility:

How Samsung approaches Accessibility

Accessibility Features of the Galaxy Note 4

[Infographic] Accessibility Features of Samsung Smart TV

All Access: Galaxy S5 Accessibility Features

Galaxy Core Advance: Who is it for?

* Galaxy Core Advance has been specially designed with accessibility features. Also, usability accessories, including Optical Scan Stand (which recognizes text from an image and reads it aloud to the reader using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology), Voice Label, and Ultrasonic Cover are available to further improve user experience.

** Texting app shown in this article is a translated recreation of the actual conversation. Details such as the app design, fonts, etc may differ from the original ‘Kakao Talk’ interface

***All functionality features, specifications, and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability, and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice or obligation.