During that time, we have also gained an unparralleled understanding of the UK’s disability marketplace and the many products and services available to disabled people, their families and carers/enablers. We now feel that the time is right for us to link these together by offering our readers an independent, dependable evaluation of the numerous products now available in the UK.

From our November/December 2008 edition, Able magazine began regular reviews of disability and mobility products. This  includes giving products an Able Magazine Star Rating, a system that we believe will come to be valued and recognised by disabled people for its independence, trustworthiness and simplicity. Products will be tested by the real experts – people with disabilities themselves or carers/enablers who use them on a day-to-day basis.

Further to this we will reward manufacturers and/or distributors with official certificates confirming their score, which will then be permissable to use in marketing and publicity material.

Each product will be judged by five criteria:
• Value – regardless of price range, do customers get what they pay for?
• Function – including comfort, ease of design, reliability and maintenance
• Form – does it “look the business”?
• Innovation – does it offer a new or improved solution for a particular challenge?
• Desirability – is it something people will want to use or own?

Each criterion will be marked out of five, with an overall product score derived from the average of those scores.

This is a real opportunity to gain a trusted and well-regarded validation of your product and have it promoted within the UK’s most widely distributed general disability lifestyle magazine. For further information on arranging a product review, contact the editorial team on 0141 419 0044 or email the editor at james@cravenpublishing.co.uk This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Visit our first review here.

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Keeping with the practical, the handset’s easy-to-grip texture means it’s easy to hold, and the well-spaced, large buttons make dialling problem-free, accurate and comfortable. The backlit screen, meantime,displays big characters and icons that are easily read. Indeed, the only immediate criticism with the layout of the controls are the “up/down” buttons on the side; these control the volume during a call and allow the user to scroll up and down different menu screens. Unfortunately, our tester found that she was constantly touching them accidentally (and getting a lot of beeps) while using the phone. Simply moving them nearer the top of the handset would almost certainly solve that problem.

It’s useful that the Freestyle 750 is compatible with hearing aids; our tester also found that the sound quality was better than her previous phone when she chose to use the speaker phone setting. The lightness of the unit also ensured it wasn’t a problem to carry it around the home in her pocket – in truth, the heaviest part of the phone are the two standard-sized, rechargeable batteries, and the tester remarked that, unlike her previous handset, it was easy enough to change these when required. The range of the signal from base unit to handset was more than needed within the house, extending well into the back garden.

As for style, the Freestyle 750 has it in loads; nothing overstated, it stands erect on its little platform and looks more luxurious than the asking price – £39.99 for a single unit, with discounts when you buy more than one unit (to place around the home).

Initially, our tester found the set-up complicated by the fact that certain controls on the phone have multiple functions; so those older people who are unfamiliar with multi-level functionality may have to rely on children or grandchildren to enter names and numbers into the phone’s directory and memory. The process isn’t overly complicated, however, although the ability to set up single-digit speed dials wasn’t at all marked in the instructions sheet and only “happened” by accident. Another slight annoyance was the 8 character limit when inputting names into the memory; potentially problematic if you know people with longer names, or indeed several people with the same first name!

After a few tries, our tester also found the built-in answerphone system easy enough to use, although again the set up – despite the step-by-step instructions – needed a bit of concentration.

Overall, though, the phone’s pluses well outweigh its few negatives.

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2. Product Review July August 09
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