For the ordinary man or woman, a watch may be a time piece made of exclusive materials, neatly designed as a fashion device with a useful function. Yet, the modern watch market has to meet the needs of extraordinary people as well. Blind people are extraordinary in their capacity to analyze their environment without the seeing sense. They rely on their auditory and their tactile senses, and have sharpened these to a new perfection unattainable by sighted people. For that reason designers have developed speaking watches and watches with touch dials. There are various watch brands which meet the expectations and needs of blind or partially sighted people.

Speaking watches and touch dials

Speaking watches convert the time they show into a sound pattern to be mediated through a mechanical voice. In order to get to know the time, the wearer simply has to push a button to activate the mechanism. Another possibility of informing blind people about the time is through touch dial watches which allow the wearer to feel the position of the watch hands with their fingers. The dial is usually protected by a hinged lid. In that way, it works like braille. Auditory and tactile time-telling devices make lives much easier for blind people and on top of that also follow an equally stylish trend as other watches. For example, these specific products are available as womens watches and mens watches as well. Through these useful time telling devices individuals with a perceptual handicap can attain the same degree of independence as everybody else.

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