A leading smartphone app maker in South Korea is working with the the visually-impaired to improve smartphone interaction and ensure no user is left behind.

Smartphone messenger apps like KakaoTalk can listen and respond to the users’ voices, helping them be able to fully use the app,.

Many South Koreans like to express their feelings using emoticons. While other smartphone messaging apps don’t recognize the characters, KakaoTalk gave all its 180 of these emoticons a voice. The app also reads to the user when photographs were taken to help the visually-impaired remember each photo.

Unlike websites, smartphone apps still have a long way to go to become more accessible to people with disabilities. Blind users said that if more app developers listen to their needs, then smartphones could act as a bridge between people with and without disabilities.

CCTV America’s U-Jean Jung reports from Seoul.