London Closer to Setting Standard for Commuter Accessibility

Google’s charitable arm has donated $1 million to help spread blind navigation technology throughout cities worldwide. Starting in London, the Wayfindr program will develop an app that works with Bluetooth beacons to guide users through physical environments with audio cues but, more importantly, it’s developing the first open standard for such systems globally. Curated by (Lifekludger) Read

A Smartwatch for the Visually Impaired | XPRIZE

… an idea that could change the way the visually impaired interact with technology. The students created a startup to develop and produce an affordable active Braille smartwatch, called Dot. When wearing Dot, users can check the time, read incoming text messages or tweets, and even e-books–although reading “War and Peace” four characters at a

Microsoft, American Council of the Blind partner to advance accessibility | News Center

REDMOND, Wash and ARLINGTON, Va – Dec. 17, 2015 – Microsoft Corp. and the American Council of the Blind (ACB) on Thursday announced they will partner on efforts to advance the accessibility of information technologies. Through the partnership, the ACB and Microsoft will work together to enable planned updates to various Microsoft products to better

The designer’s guide to digital accessibility | Web design | Creative Bloq

How to create accessible designs that work across print and digital. The notion of accessibility may bring to mind ideas of screen readers and voice control, but it’s about much more. Some impairments, for example, often go unnoticed. Take colour blindness: one in 12 suffer from the condition, so a design that uses only colour to

Tech companies should care more about customers with disabilities.

The Blind Deserve Tech Support, Too Why don’t tech companies care more about customers with disabilities? Finding himself in the position of having to justify his disability to a person who was intent on questioning its reality, Bahram asked—in terms he admits were rather pointed—that the call be escalated to a manager. … But accessible

Picture this: An app for blind photographers

The app, which has already won two prestigious design awards, allows someone who is visually impaired to not only recognize their photos but also to organize them and even share their shots through social media. Curated by (Lifekludger) Read full article at Source: Picture this: An app for blind photographers

Disability and Graduate Job Hunting | Robbie Crow

I’m blind. Not completely, but I’m registered blind. I have been since birth and there’s no chance of fixing it. During my life I’ve faced many challenges, most of which I’ve overcome. … Nevertheless, the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do as a blind person is find a job. Why? Of course, I face

Smartphones, apps liberate the blind, visually impaired

Ruben Morales, a blind 59-year-old retired engineer who lives in this Silicon Valley city, has used a specialized screen-reading program for years to write and run spreadsheets on his desktop computer. But recently, he figuratively cut the cord to his desktop and joined the mobile revolution. Morales was visiting an area Veterans Affairs blind rehabilitation

Map Traffic Lights for the Visually Impaired

Imagine trying to cross a busy city street without being able to see the traffic lights change color or glance down the road to make sure the oncoming cars have stopped. For the blind and visually impaired, that’s just one aspect of navigating the world that presents a challenge, but an app called SeeLight aims

Smartphones, apps are liberating the blind and visually impaired

Ruben Morales, a blind 59-year-old retired engineer who lives in this Silicon Valley city, has used a specialized screen-reading program for years to write and run spreadsheets on his desktop computer. But recently, he figuratively cut the cord to his desktop and joined the mobile revolution. … learning how to use an iPhone’s features for vision-impaired