Written by Dr. Scott Hollier, CEO and Co-founder of Centre for Accessibility Australia (CFA Australia).
As a child of the 1980s growing up in a family home with a Commodore computer, the brand holds a lot of nostalgia for me, and I still have my childhood computer to this day. When a reimagined Commodore company emerged last year and sold an updated Commodore 64 computer in the form of the Commodore 64 Ultimate, I was quick to order it, even though, as a person who is now legally blind, it would be difficult to use independently. As with many in the retrocomputing and retrogaming space, I was interested to see what the next product would be, and it turned out to be a mobile phone. Given modern phones have great accessibility features, I thought this could be the opportunity for me to be dealt back into the Commodore brand. Unfortunately, that is not the case for the Commodore Callback, and as a result a great opportunity has been missed.
Conceptually, I like the idea of the Commodore Callback – a mobile phone that takes away some of the online disruptions of modern smartphones with the removal of a web browser and social media but keeps all the essential things a mobile phone needs to do. The form factor includes physical buttons and that classic Commodore logo and runs a Linux-based OS which still offers some Android support.
However, unlike nearly all Google Android and Apple iPhones from the past 10 years, there is very little in terms of accessibility features such as screen readers and other tools that come as default in modern devices.
The Callback not considering accessibility in its processes seems to be something entrenched with modern Commodore. Its emails don’t include alternative text for images, making their communications difficult to access, and while the Commodore 64 Ultimate undeniably lacks accessibility features to preserve its legacy feel, it bucks the trend of other modern remakes, which typically incorporate accessibility options.
Consider video games that are remastered; most of them will have many more accessibility features than the original because the expectation today is that gamers with disability can join in and take part. To produce a new product but not include accessibility potentially removes 1 in 5 people with disability from being able to share in the dream, and in this case that includes me. I’d love to buy a Commodore phone, and I’m generally supportive of the philosophy behind it. Unfortunately, though, I won’t be able to use it. With accessibility features removed and the touchscreen disabled, it removes access in a way that 99% of other smartphones on the market do not.
To resolve the issue, I’d like to ask Commodore to consider a few things from a fan of the brand and the great concepts of its new products. Please consider including accessibility features in your products. For example, the Commodore 64 Ultimate could have basic audio feedback when navigating menus – this would not in any way impact the legacy of the machine but would be very helpful to me in being able to load games for my children if a screen reader was available in the modern interface. Perhaps SAM could be the screen reader to keep the legacy feel. For the phone, it would be amazing if either Linux-based or Android-based accessibility features were included, given the OS allegedly supports both. Alternatively, consider an Android OS that could be flashed onto the device with all the usual Android accessibility features. While I appreciate this would be against the design philosophy of the product, it would at least mean I could use it, and I’d almost certainly buy it.
Also, I’d like to be part of the solution and offer our help and support to Commodore. Our mission here at Centre for Accessibility Australia is to support organisations in addressing digital access issues, so we would be absolutely delighted to provide training and advice to the Commodore team on what digital access is, how their products could incorporate international digital accessibility standards, and ultimately enable their ageing audience, who are statistically likely to have a higher prevalence of disability these days, to continue keeping up with Commodore as it continues its journey of new products.
Thank you, Commodore, for considering these suggestions. We’re not proposing to change your products; we’re just wanting to use them!