A telephone is the terminal most often used so it is essential that it is easy to use by everybody, including people with disabilities.
Many features needed by people with disabilities would benefit all users. For example everybody would benefit from these features when trying to use a telephone in a noisy or dark environment.

Large character, high contrast displays are essential for many people with impaired vision.

For persons with reduced strength or uncoordinated movement, a handset that is easy to grip helps considerably.

Enlarged keys with a concave shape will help a person with poor dexterity to press the correct key.

An additional earphone can help persons with hearing impairments. It can also be used by another person.

Persons who are blind or have low vision find it useful to be able to feel the keys of a telephone. It is particularly important to have a single raised dot on the number 5 key.

A non-slip base will help persons with poor manual dexterity press keys without the telephone moving.

A dial-out buffer memory enables users who are slow in dialling to avoid being timed-out. Many elderly people need plenty of time to read a number, press the keys and check that they have entered the correct number.

Sockets allow additional equipment such as headsets, external displays or computers to be connected