Lighthouse of Collier helps visually impaired people use new tech to increase independence

Rich Naccarato stands in a striped shirt and sporting black-framed glasses in his Naples home, a golden wedding band tracing his ring finger as he taps the touchscreen on his black iPhone.

"Flick, double tap, flick from left to right. Flick, don't swipe," repeats Rick Hart, a technology instructor at Lighthouse of Collier,  which helps visually impaired people in Collier County.

Naccarato, 69, who is legally blind, had a flip phone just six months ago. He picks up a small white box from the countertop, pulls the tab open and reaches inside. His hand emerges with a Google Home Mini as white cords fall to the floor.

The Walmart on Juliet Boulevard in North Naples awarded a community grant to Lighthouse of Collier to provide Google Home devices and training to help visually impaired clients shop by voice command and have their orders delivered to their front doors.

"You can imagine what this will do for someone who is blind or vision-impaired," said Scott Flagel, executive director of Lighthouse of Collier. "Voice activation allows them to live more independently."

Giving back:'You can't focus on learning when you're in pain' — Immokalee kids get new school shoes

Inspiring: Nearly blind Lehigh Acres boy with albinism given gift of piano lessons

Naccarato, a Chicago native, moved to Florida when he was 15 and has lived in Naples since 1984. He worked as a golf course superintendent at The Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club for 30 years and enjoyed the Sunday afternoon bar scene and jazz concerts on the lawn.

He lost vision in his left eye 12 years ago due to a detached retina. He had eye surgery in January, but complications caused Naccarato to lose 50 percent of the vision in his right eye. He describes his vision as foggy at best.

When Naccarato started going blind, he used to hang on to the arm of his wife, Karen, to get around. The buddy system, he called it.

Before Naccarato started learning how to use new technology, his wife couldn't leave town. Before, he couldn't navigate to the gym across the street by himself or go grocery shopping, or even cook a meal for himself.

Now, Naccarato is using some of the latest technology to help him become more independent. He owns an Amazon Alexa that his 23-year-old son set up, a handheld magnifier that can identify dollar bills and take photos, and an iPhone with numerous apps such as Seeing AI — a free app that narrates the world for people with visual impairments.

New technology:High-tech glasses are helping blind people see

More:Apple proposes new emojis for people with disabilities

"That's why I go to Lighthouse, to learn this technology," Naccarato said. "I've got the basics down pretty good, but I'm an old dog learning new tricks. I ask for a lot of help."

Naccarato has been going to Lighthouse of Collier once or twice a week for the past year. Lighthouse was established as a nonprofit organization in May 2009 and now helps 14,000 local children and adults with visual impairments become more independent.

"I like going to Lighthouse because the people there are in the same situation (as me)," Naccarato said. "So you don't feel out of place."

And with his new Google Home Mini, he can buy groceries from stores around town and have them delivered right to his doorstep.

"I tried it and you can order stuff on it like you would on the computer," Naccarato said. "It makes it easy."

Google makes shopping as easy as downloading two apps

Once Lighthouse clients receive a Google Home Mini, the device will ask them to download the Google Home and Google Express apps onto their iPhones. From there, they can go shopping from their own homes.

Although Lighthouse is partnering with the Walmart in North Naples, clients will be given three or four options, such as Costco and Target, for where to buy the products they want to order, Flagel said.

"It really is cool with what they're doing," Flagel said. "We are probably going to have enough money to provide one for any of our clients who are committed to learning how to use it. ...

"All you need is a Wi-Fi connection and a smartphone."

People with disabilities use less technology, study found, and companies are trying harder to serve them

Software engineer Matt King works for Facebook to make the social media site more accessible for people with disabilities, by providing services such as video closed captions and keyboard shortcuts for people who can't use a computer mouse.

Websites are seldom built with people with disabilities in mind. But increasingly, tech giants from Microsoft to Yahoo are focusing on making technology more accessible to everyone.

A good read:$10K glasses? A small price to help blind twin brothers with rare disease see again

Dependent on growth, tech companies can’t afford to overlook large groups of the population who have disabilities. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, one in five adults has a disability — almost 40 million Americans in 2015.

The most common types of disability are difficulties walking or living independently: 14 million people ages 18 and older reported having a difficult time doing errands alone (for example, shopping or visiting a doctor) due to physical, mental or emotional conditions.

Although technology has been shown to help people with disabilities, 23 percent of disabled Americans say they never go online, a survey by Pew Research Center found. Disabled adults also are about 20 percent less likely than those without disabilities to say they subscribe to home broadband or own a traditional computer, smartphone or tablet.

More:Theater for the blind: Theatre Conspiracy, Florida Rep offer plays for visually impaired

Hart, the Lighthouse of Collier tech instructor, bucks the trend of that survey, however. His home has a talking thermostat, Google Home devices, an Amazon Alexa and a Mac computer.

"Apple started accessibility services sooner, so all visually impaired people use Apple," Hart said. "It's harder to get trained on Samsung or Android."

Hart trains Lighthouse clients to use the latest technology to remove barriers to education and employment and increase the ability to interact electronically with others.

"It's much better to have a visually impaired person teaching tech to other visually impaired people," Flagel said. 

More:Apple pushes to teach coding to students who are deaf and blind

'Hey, Google, shop for kayaks'

George Tice sat surrounded by computers at a table with Hart and Tim Richardson, a fellow client at Lighthouse. All three men are visually impaired.

"Hey, Google, shop for kayaks," Tice commanded the white Google Home Mini in the middle of the table.

Tice had open-heart surgery in January 2017 and went blind overnight from complications.

More:Eye doctor sells hope to man going blind

"It caused me to lose everything," Tice said. "It's changed my life."

But his visual impairment doesn't stop Tice from getting out and living his life. Tice uses Google Maps on his iPhone to navigate his way around town and is a member of a local chapter of Heroes on the Water, a veterans' kayaking charity.

"Mobility is a big thing for me. I get out there and meet new people," Tice said.

When Tice first started coming to Lighthouse of Collier in April, he used to swing his cane around and people would yell and duck, he said.

"Everybody uses a cane just a little bit differently," Richardson said. 

However, Tice has an easier time learning new technology than other clients.

"George has picked up assisted devices faster than anyone," Richardson said.

He soon will receive a Google Home Mini from Lighthouse of Collier.

"It does everything my eyes used to do," Tice said. "These guys have helped me through a lot."

USA Today contributed to this story.