Cisco Collaborates on Phones with American Council of the Blind

Today’s enterprise environment requires effective, reliable telecommunication solutions. For employees who are blind or visually impaired, this means solutions that are free of access barriers. Working with collaborative input from the American Council of the Blind, Cisco has taken steps to address this need by offering the first mass-market, enterprise-grade desk phone that includes built-in text-to-speech functionality capable of conveying vital information on the phone’s display to the user through audible voice and tone indicators. This new functionality allows the blind and visually impaired to more easily connect anywhere they work. The software update on Cisco’s IP Phone 8800 Series is a significant milestone in Cisco’s ongoing efforts toward making the digital workplace more accessible for employees who are blind and visually impaired. You can find the software update 12.1(1) on Cisco’s website, www.cisco.com, now.