84 years old I have macular degeneration, GA in right eye ,

My friend has offered the attached:

Thank you. I will contact the Association for the blinds for help

I don’t have a Samsung, so can’t help with setting up your phone to read to you.

I wish my father-in-law was still alive, because I’d put you in contact with him. He just died in June at age 85 of cancer. But he had been going blind for several years from a series of eye problems, not AMD. He had all kinds of aids to help him, including having his phone read to him. He was involved with support groups for the blind as well. He was very proactive and trying to live life to the fullest. In fact, he had just planned a river cruise for himself and all his kids/spouses. We’d be there right now if he hadn’t died. But we decided to cancel it since he’s not here to enjoy it with us.

I hope you can find the help you need. The blind support group should be able to give you lots of info.

I do have two tips. There is a company making “smart glasses” that can help you see. I’m not sure how they work, but you should check into that.

And there is an app you can get on your phone called “Be My Eyes”. It’s for vision impaired people to call volunteers to help them with seeing something. There are nearly seven million volunteers (of which I am one) and about 500,000 vision impaired people who use the app. So when you need help, your call will be answered immediately.

I’ve been a volunteer on the app for many years. But I’ve only received a handful of calls because the calls go out to everyone and they’re answered so quickly, by the the time I’ve picked up my phone, it’s already been answered by another volunteer.

I recently answered a call from a vision impaired person who was testing his new smart glasses because Be My Eyes has apparently arranged to be connected somehow to the smart glasses.

Anyway, you can get help with literally anything vision related with Be My Eyes. I’ve read packaging labels for people, helped a person choose a certain color shirt to wear, told them what food was in their refrigerator, etc.

@bonas

Hi,
This is in regard to your phone. I have a Samsung Galaxy 21 phone ..have always used Samsung phones.
Whatever messaging app you are using ( mine is just called Messages )
You should have a Contact List on your screen and if you hit that icon, it will bring up a list of your contacts and you can choose one to send a text message. To start a message or to respond to someone’s message do the following.
There is a blank space under someone’s last text message that should show a plus sign and actually says “text message” or it could just be a blank screen. This is where you either type or speak a message.
Hit that space and it will bring up the key board where you normally type.
At the very bottom of your phone , under the keyboard, you will see a small microphone icon. Touch that microphone…it should turn a different color which means it’s on. Now you start speaking and the words should show up.
Speak slowly and distinctly as it’s not always accurate and is trying to recognize your voice. Just make sure the color change on the icon is still on.

Your particular version may have the microphone in a different place but all phones and iPads have this little microphone icon somewhere near the keyboard. When you are done speaking,hit send.

If you are able to see the message you just spoke..check for accuracy. Since this is a voice recognition device, some accents or soft voices can bring up some unintentional and bizarre words.

I hope I explained this well but let me know what questions you have. iPhones work a little differently from Samsungs and I think Samsungs are easier.

FLMary

I am also 84 and have always

You’re doing a wonderful job already with the lights and magnifiers — those changes really do make a difference. On your Samsung Galaxy A15, you can speak your messages instead of typing. Here’s how:
1. When the keyboard is open, look for a small microphone icon on the keyboard (usually near the spacebar).
2. Tap the microphone, then just speak out loud.
3. Your words will appear as text on the screen.
4. When you finish, tap the microphone again to stop.

You can also ask your phone’s helper, called Google Assistant, by saying “Hey Google” followed by what you want, like “Send a text to my daughter.”

If it’s hard to see the screen, go into Settings > Accessibility > Visibility Enhancements. There you’ll find options to:
• Make text larger and bolder
• Use high-contrast mode
• Turn on “magnification” (lets you zoom in with three quick taps on the screen)

Don’t worry about being new to this — many people learn these steps later in life, and it gets easier with a little practice.