What provider are youlooking to use ? That dictates the options.
Telus and Rogers have the most options for accessible phones
The next question is: how much are you willing to pay?
The least expensive & easiest option is from Rogers who offer the E71-RVI; which is a
symbian phone from nokia. It comes with talks (the screen reader)
pre-installed at no extra cost. On a 3yr plan it's $29 for the phone,
which is rediculously cheap for this type of offering. See:
http://is.gd/fnT8C
The phone is fully featured, offers lots of software and features (i.e.
email, text msging, calling, web browsing…etc). Talks also supports a lot of different bluetooth braille displays.
Be aware that NO carrier will know what you are talking about. If you call rogers for example expect them to tell you they don't sell the phone anymore
or something like that. This isn't true but does take a bit of fighting to
resolve. (based on past experience)
The next least expensive option is a phone that runs "android" (google's
cell phone operating system). There are a number of companies that make
android phones (htc, motorola, etc) …
These phones have a free screen reader available and a number of add-ons
that provide fairly decent access at no additional cost. Although, you do
need to manually install them from the app store. The GPS is particularly
good on an android phone. There are a lot of different shaped phones, so I
would suggest going and having a look at them at a telus or Rogers store. One piece
of caution: make sure you get a phone with a dedicated answer button on it.
i.e. avoid the Nexus or Galaxy model which don't. Also be aware that you will require sighted assistance install the screen reader from the app store. This software free (as are a very large # of the apps for this phone, which runs an open source operating system).
The next option is an apple iphone (3gs or 4g); which at no extra cost has abuilt in screen reader. Some ppl find the touch screen interractions of the iphone a little foreign but it is totally usable without sight. Be aware that the battery life on the iphone is extremely short and they do want you to buy it with a fairly expensive package so this might not be an option for some ppl.
Feel free to use my contact info if you would like to discuss further
I don’t think your statement about iPhone battery life is justifiable as written. Watching a lot of video (not a priority for blinks) definitely does disproportionately consume battery power, but people have no trouble going all day, or several days, on one charge with normal usage (phone calls, Web surfing, texting, etc.).
I am going on first hand experience of heavy usage with a number of devices. I have used each of these with a screen reader for atleast a month.
1) iphone 3gs – voice over screen reader – 1day battery life
2) iphone 4 – voice over screen reader – 2day battery life (3 if lucky)
3) android – talkback screen reader /kickback/eyes free desktop – LG shine plus – 3 days and often 4 battery life
4) Blackberry 9700 – Oratio screen reader – 5 day battery life
5) Nokia E70 & E71 – talks screen reader – 4-5 days battery life – often a full week