The Blind Buzz on Accessibility

Accessible Documents in HTML, Word, and PDF – Terrill Thompson

Amazon and accessibility – onwebdev blog

Audio Darts Shows Accessible Recreation’s Broad Appeal

[Audio] audio description of museums, galleries and exhibitions – Infosound – the work of VocalEyes, who also audio describe theatre performances in the UK. 

VocalEyes Web Site

ccPlayer – Invent + Build / Web + Multimedia / Tools & Guidelines – a media player that you can use on your web site that gives accessibility to videos, including Flash.

Ghana To Host Forum For The Blind ::: GBC | GTV | Ghana Radio | Ghana Television – Ghana Broadcasting Corporation – the 2011 event will have delegates from 70 African countries. The theme will be Access Africa.

I Know! Let’s Take Books Away from the Blind! – Planet of the Blind – New Jersey Governor axes talking books service. Yes, that’s you, Governor Chris Christie.

Interactions – May/June 2010 – topics include accessibility in Sweden, United Nations supporting web accessibility, user interfaces, mobile technology.

Interactive Podcasts: Web Accessibility Gone Wild | SXSW.com – not all accessibility is well done. 

Listen to the podcast (mp3)

Introduction à NVDA – Site des utilisateurs francophones de NVDA

iPad Assistive Technology/Disability Round-Up | ATMac – accessibility for blind people and those with other disabilities.

iPad Camera Connection Kit Provides USB Keyboard, Microphone, and Headset Support– The Mac-cessibility Network – News [Lioncourt.com] – hidden possibilities of this $29 add-on.

iTunes 9.1.1 squashes VoiceOver bugs – update available through software update.

Judge Rules that Movie Theaters Must Accommodate Their Blind and Deaf Customers – Perspectives from a Blind Point of View

Kill Accessibility | Man with no Blog – developers who don’t use assistive technnology themselves are only paying lip-service to accessibility, claims author Gary Barber.

Kindle Update Bringing Useful Improvements, Also Twitter | Maximum PC

Labeling Frozen Foods – Fred’s Head

Learning to Cope with Sight Loss: Six Weeks at a VA Blind Rehabilitation Center (Book and Audio CD set) – Amazon.com

Install “Tonalities:seeing art through music” for the blind in museums | Pepsi Refresh Everything – supposedly tones have raltionships with colours.

Make video accessible, localised, mobile and searchable by captioning » iheni :: making the web worldwide

Microsoft Word – WebAIM – accessibility, including Word 2010.

Moon Letters – this is the other blind people’s tactile reading system, the one that’s not Braille.

More Digitized Books to be made Available – Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind – Internet Archive and libraries have ways of getting around the copyright laws without breaking them.

Nadler Examines the Americans with Disabilities Act’s Application within the Digital Age

National Disabled Persons Network launched – Stabroek News – umbrella network for other disability networks in Guyana.

New Air Carrier regulations, travel services try to improve access for people with disabilities – Media dis&dat – improvements to travel in the US, including that probvided by foreign operators.

New Braille technology helps visually impaired ‘see’ emotions – thesis proposes camera linked to electrodes on the skin to let a blind person interpret facial expressions.

New news and information service launched for blind people · coHearentVision – this is Infosound, based in the UK.

NFB National Convention Hosts Apple Products Session– The Mac-cessibility Network – News [Lioncourt.com] – apparent change of policy at NFB

NFB-NEWSLINE(R) for the Blind Receives Funding a further year’s access to newspapers and magazines is now possible.

NY City plans to shift special education into schools throughout district – Media dis&dat

Obama Signs Veterans, Caregivers Legislation – Defense.gov News – access to transportation in rural areas and services for women are included.

Online resources for accessible travel – Manchester Examiner (USA)

Op Ed Writer Bob Branco – Can Grade Two Braille Spell Trouble? – Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind – introducing contractions too early could stop children learn real spellings.

Open vs. Closed: Google Takes on Amazon and Apple in e-Books – Google Editions could change the ebook market radically.

Page zoom does not mean the end of flexibility | 456 Berea Stree – there’s still more to it than sizing your fonts in pixels.

Panic Releases Transmit 4.0 With Enhanced Accessibility and New Features– The Mac-cessibility Network – enhancements for this Mac FTP client.

Pedestrian accessibility issues focus of city walk | The Kennebec Journal, Augusta, ME – walk to promote interest in the city, getting to know the neighbours and highlighting problems faced by pedestrians.

Pioneering video telephone system accessible for all – those who find conventional phones difficult may benefit from the Total Conversation system in the UK.

Presentations – Accessibility – Resources – Vision Australia – VA can provide extensive services to government and businesses to ensure web accessibility.

Presenting About “The Evolution of Assistive Technology into Everyday Products” | Accessibility NZ – paper to be presented in Rotorua, New Zealand, in September.

Project Canvas to be accessible for disabled viewers – BBC to incorporate audio description, ability to change colours, captions, and more.

Proprietary Vendors Don’t Help Disabled, Says FSF | eWEEK Europe UK – Free Software Foundation asks for more accessibility.

Quitter v4.0 – free and innovative blind persons’ interface for Twitter.

Radio Service For Blind Takes To The Web – Home – Staple News – CRIS is the Connecticut Radio Information System, carrying news, discussion and readings provided by about 400 volunteers. 

CRIS Radio web site 

Listen (Windows Media Player)

Roundup: What is the Mozilla Accessibility Team working on?

SAKSHAM | ngogateway.com – Saksham is an organisation in India that aims to empower marginalised people, including those with disabilities. Activities include production of accessible materials, providing technology and audio description.

Serotek brings IMAP and Book Port Plus support to its mobile content subscription offerings – Blind Mind News – Unrestricted Access: News

Sendero GPS v2010 Improvements list

The First Release Candidate (RC) of Tobi, the DAISY Consortium’s Open Source Full Text/Full Audio Authoring Tool Now Available | DAISY Consortium

The Keyboard Shortcuts of Ubuntu 10.04

Toozla releases beta version of audio guide based on Wikipedia – Focus on Travel News

Trekker Breeze Talking GPS gets major software update with lots of new functionality — Free upgrade to 1.2 – Blind Mind News

The Blind Buzz on Accessibility

3D TV: A proposal on behalf of the stereo-blind | CNET to the Rescue – CNET Blogs

4th European eAccessibility Forum eAccessibility of Public Services in Europe

abilityhub for disability and disabilities – adaptations and techniques to help those who find operating a computer difficult.

Acapela TTS for iPad: Super Natural Voices From Acapela Add Audible Value to Rich Content, in a Choice of 22 Languages and 44 Voices! | Earth Times News

Accessibility 101: An Introduction | Onextrapixel – Showcasing Web Treats Without A Hitch – a bewildering array of disabilities: where is a web author to start.

Accessible Podcasts – making audio and video podcasts accessible.

Accessible Volcano’s! – Peter Ganza’s Blog – carbon-heavy travel plans ironically distrupted by a natural event! The author promotes a product called
Xenos, a high-volume document production system. 
Peter Ganza’s Blog RSS Feed

Activists oppose ‘discriminatory’ amendment to Copyright Act – Indian Express – complaints about restrictive terms of proposed law as it affects disabled people.

Adoption of Accessibility Guidelines for Outdoor Areas Getting Closer in the USA – Access Tourism NZ

Announcing Two Exciting New SamNet Features « SeroTalk – Bookport support and using a different e-mail client for your SAMNET mail.

Assistance programs to purchase adaptive tech – Living on the frontlines – sources of funding for assistive technology in the USA.

Best Free Word Processor – Word may be over the top for some people who just want simple word processing. Some good alternatives are described here.

BlindCrawler includes a JAWS scripts search engine, and a Mac page that includes software and links that are VoiceOver friendly. While you’re there, you might also like to check out the BlindCrawler Podcast.

Creating Accessibility-aware Silverlight 2 Content – CODE Magazine

Disabled riders protest Rochester, N.Y., bus service – Media dis&dat

Disability groups in NY file class-action lawsuit over proposed elimination of accessible county transportation – Media dis&dat

E-Access Bulletin for April, 2010 is now published, but does not yet seem to be on their web site. To subscribe, please visit
Subscribe to the Bulletin

Evaluating Web Sites for Accessibility with Firefox’, Ariadne Issue 44 – Get Tooled Up

Fangs – the screen reader emulator- Standards Schmandards

Free Online Training with NFB-NEWSLINE® – Thursday, April 29, 2010, 11 a. m. Eastern. You will be able to learn how to download newspaper and magazine materials to your BookSense or other talking book/mp3 player. This is a free webinar, in partnership with GW Micro. Register by sending your name and email address to drew@gwmicro.com – take part at http://www.gwmicro.com/meeting

Free Screen Readers – Action for Blind People – covers Windows, MacOS and Linux.

GW Micro BookSense – portable digital player. New feature: you can get extra software to play materials from NFB Newsline.

History in the Making: The Story of the American Printing House for the Blind, 1858-2008 – Fred’s Head – a lavish production that includes colour photography and tactile graphics to celebrate APH’s 150th anniversary in 2008.

How to add RSS Autodiscovery to your site – many sites lack the one line of code that enables auto-discovery.

iBill Money Identifier: A Quick Review | Access4 Us

JAWS 11.0.1430 Update Posted on April 15, 2010 « AccessTech News – with a list of fixes in the update.

Larry Skutchan: a Blind Cool Tech – Fred’s Head – meet one of the real innovators in blindness technology.

Learning Braille is Easier than You Think – Fred’s Head

Library offers new device for those with low vision » Local News » The Free Press, Mankato, MN – mouse magnifier gives large print on TV screens.

Louis Database of Accessible Materials for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired – Fred’s Head

[Video] Low Vision Chef Marking Your Kitchen – painting on raised marks to help you to identify controls on equipment.

[Audio] Main Menu – technology topics from ACB Radio. The next episode features Raul A. Gallegos talking about Thunderbird e-mail client. Live at 1:00 UTC Saturday, which is 8pm Friday Eastern. There is a
podcast feed, which is currently empty.

Manuals and Tutorials – High Tech Center Training Unit – accessible PDF documents covering such subjects as JAWS, Braille, Windows and Dragon Natrally Speaking.

[Video] Microsoft’s Skinput turns hands, arms into buttons – CNN.com

MobilizeToday.com Announced Release of Mobius WordPress Mobile Theme – StreetInsider.com – compatible with touch-screen phones.

National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials – USA site offering resources to educators and learners.

New Audible Pedestrian Signals Tested – Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind – they’re testing something we’ve had in the UK for 50 years!

Now the home phone goes smart – one Australian provider has a touch-screen internet ready landline phone.

Nuance Talks & Zooms Product Manager Torsten Brand passes away – Blind Mind News – Unrestricted Access – the man who first brought us screen readers for mobile phones died recently aged 47.

Ofcom reports on accessibility of UK electronic program guides

Optical Braille Recognition: Read Braille with a standard scanner – Fred’s Head – software for Windows. 

OBR Web Site

Podcast 39, 6 Cents from Mike, Michael and Ricky, iTunes 9, and 12 New SA Voices « SeroTalk

Programming The iPhone For Accessibility By The Visually Impaired

Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic Launches National Record-A-Thon – masses of volunteers expected to help record books for students and veterans in the latter half of April, 2010

ROKTalk Text-to-Speech Adds Multi-Language Translation Functionality: GlobeNewswire Business News – MSN Money – text-to-speech service for web sites can now translate between English, French, German, Spanish and Hindi. Also visit
RokTalk Breaks New Ground In Website Text To Speech Services By Launching Language Translation Capability – eGov Monitor

Sexual health texting service hailed success – accessible service in Leicestershire and Rutland, UK, advises young people by mobile.

Smith-Kettlewell Wayfinding Survey – Survey of Basic Wayfinding – if you want to help with this, the survey should take about 20 minutes of your time.

TAFN | The Accessible Friends Network | Welcome – a well-established social network for blind people, including live chat, events, gardening, Sue’s Kitchen, music,

The new Opera Mini iPhone app disappoints on accessibility – no surprises there, then!

The Rough Guide to Accessible Britain, new venues & ideas – Motability

Too many objects often confuse me – Donna Jodhan – the problem of clutter.

Universal Subtitles – this project seeks to create a free and open system for subtitling every video on the Web.

Using the lang attribute makes a difference | 456 Berea Street – screen readers that support language switching will sound better.

video accessibility – ginger’s thoughts – example of using timeine files in HTML5, with code.

Video on the Web – Dive Into HTML5 – not everything works yet, but using videos without a plug-in is on its way.

Vision Australia “Making a Difference Award Winners 2010″ – Blind Mind News – Unrestricted Access

Visiprint Software – large-print document production, aimed at the educational market.

ZoomNews – latest edition of the newsletter of AIsquared.

The Blind Buzz on Accessibility

A selection of VoiceOver keyboard commands | 456 Berea Street for Mac OS,.

Accessibility features – Windows SharePoint Services – Microsoft Office Online

Actuate Addresses Online Statement Accessibility for the Visually Impaired with Xenos Axess – Mozilla Firefox – this system can deliver high volumes of accessible PDF files, according to this article.

Advocacy group for visually impaired | guampdn.com | Pacific Daily News – new group aims to open up life and work opportunities. Meeting on April 17th will include phone accessibility and JAWS demonstrations.

AFB Consulting Webinar on PDF and Assistive Technologies « The BAT Channel

Apple iPhone to soon get long-sought multitasking – iPhone OS 4 will let you run multiple apps at the same time.

Apple will update iPhones, iPads to run more than one program at once

Apple’s iPad Brings Easy Reading to the Blind « Forbes.com’s Booked – why the iPad is exciting some blind readers and is way ahead of the Amazon Kindle.

ATTO: Assistive Technology Training Online to assist elementary school students.

b-f-b Blind Facebook Yahoo! Group –
Subscribe by email

BARD Talk – a mailing list concerning the NLS download service in the US.
Subscribe to BARDTalk by e-mail

BCScan Scan It, Learn About It, Use It – a new online way to organise your life. For more information, listen to
Accessible World Tek Talk presents A Look at BCScan, April 12, 2010 by J.J. Meddaugh

Blind iPad Review – Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind – totatlly blind woman reviews the iPad.

Brailect Can Translate Text Into Braille Or Audio – this concept device is a glove that can be used to read text and convert it to either format.

Breaking news on Digital Image and Graphic Resources for Accessible Materials: DIAGRAM – No Limits to Learning – this is hoped to improve accessibility to images for students with disabilities, and educators providing for them.

C-Desk by AdaptiveVoice – free 15 day trial. The program gives a high-contrast, voiced desktop that is meant to simplify computer use for people who are disabled or elderly.

Call for Presentations for the ATIA 2010 Chicago and ATIA 2011 Orlando Conferences. « ConnSENSE Bulletin

Charities merge to aid the blind – Scotsman.com News – InfoSound news service launched with support from British Wireless for the Blind Fund. 

How to listen to InfoSound. 

[Audio] Latest briefing (April 12th, 2010).

Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology – "Welcome to COAT, a coalition of over 280 national, regional, state, and community-based disability organizations. We advocate for legislative and regulatory safeguards that will ensure full access by people with disabilities to evolving high speed broadband, wireless and other Internet Protocol (IP) technologies."

computer assistive technology abilityhub for disability and disabilities – "Assistive Technology for people with a disability who find operating a computer difficult, maybe even impossible. This web site will direct you to adaptive equipment and alternative methods available for accessing computers "

Creative ZEN X-Fi Style PMP, ZEN Style Series Music Player | Blog | ZiggyTek – news on these affordable audio players.

CTL 2goPC Slate: Windows 7 Tablet (Video) | Blog | ZiggyTek – the spec is not outstanding, but this device has some things the iPad currently lacks, e.g., webcam and Adobe Flash.

Digital Unite – Computer Training for the Over 50s – UK based.

Disabled Ontarians still find barriers to voting – thestar.com – Coyle

Document Accessibility Should Begin at the Author Level – the Web isn’t the whole story – what about other types of document?

Dogs and Islam: The Devil and the Seeing-Eye Dog | Psychology Today – all may not be as it seems on the subject of "unclean" dogs.

Dogs for the Blind | Dogs Training who thought of that idea?

E-Readers and technology to assist the Blind | Good E-Reader Blog – Electronic Reader News and Articles

Easy to See Balloons – Fred’s Head – balloons that light up. Every little helps!

[Audio] EyePod TechnoCast 10 – Larry Lewis of Flying Blind, LLC, talks about optical character recognition (OCR) and introduces AbiSee Products, particularly the EyePal OCR products that use a camera rather than a scanner.

Facebook Works with the Blind on Accessibility | WebProNews

Good50 Low Vision Version – "Good50 is a user-friendly search engine designed for those who are ages 50+. Because of its user-friendly features, Good50 is also beneficial for the whole family including children."

Grave Concerns about a Ban on Dogs in Nottinghamshire Parks – jady_lady – ban on dogs in parks in part of Nottinghamshire, could cause guide dog problems.

Group Travel for Persons with Special Needs – Yahoo! Finance – many opportunities in the USA for people with various disabilities.

HTML5 details element, built-in and bolt-on accessibility – Bruce Lawson’s personal site – possible advantages of HTML5 over scripting and ARIA.

Ideas on Coping With Low Vision by Sharon Noseworthy and members of the Macular Degeneration Support Network

Interviews from CSUN 2010 – NFB – Access Technology Blog

iSpeech – Text to Speech Service – Assistive Technology – online service that can convert text files to speech.

KeySoft 9 0 1 upgrade – HumanWare Canada/English – update your BrailleNote Apex.

Nissan Adding Noise to Make Silent Electric Cars Safe « Nissan Zone – USA and Japan could make this mandatory.

[Audio] PDF Document Reading and Strategies with JAWS and MAGic – 90-minute webinar with instructions for saving.

Registration Mac Academy Workshop – Handy Tech North America – there is a booking form and description here for the 5-day workshop on using VoiceOver with SnowLeopard being held in June.

Review: VI Scientific’s Currency Identifier (and more) “VisionHunt 2.1″ for S60 3rd & 5th edition – Blind Mind News – Unrestricted Access: Versatile apps for camera-pones. Currnecy, colour light source and light light level detection. Works on the Nokia N97 and their are planned versions for other types of phone, including the iPhone.

Screen Reader Tutorial – for users of the Blackboard Learning System.

Self-Expression | Real Coaching Radio Network – technophobic? well, if a blind middle-aged woman not involved in technology can deal with technology, you can too!

SeroTalk Tech Chat 57 – The Three Most Affordable reading Solutions « SeroTalk

Sweeping Landmark Class Action Settlement Paves the Way for Improved Sidewalk Access for People with Disabilities | Accessibility News International – success for Californians with disabilities.

Tactile mind – A book of nude photographs for the blind/vision impaired. ISBN: 978-0-9813431-0-5 produced in toronto,canada. tactilemind@gmail.com, telephone: 416.516.2999. Wrongly described as a magazine in the British Telegraph newspaper, this is a thermoform book of raised erotic images with Braille text. A snip at £150. 

Read the telegraph article ‘Pornographic magazine for the blind launched’

The Mac-cessibility Round Table Podcast – Special Edition #6 – iPhone OS 4.0– The Mac-cessibility Network – News [Lioncourt.com

The Tech Doctor Blog and Podcast - comparative reviews of similar products.The
first podcast looks at the Plextalk Pocket and the Bookport Plus. 

The Tech Doctor Blog and Podcast RSS Feed

Videos Created by Ai Squared « AccessTech News - these promote products such as ZoomText, Victor Reader Stream and Pebble.

Who Wins the Accessibility Election? | S3 Web Design - a web designer comments on the accessibility of the web sites of the major British political parties.

[Book] Windows 7 and Vista Explained – A guide for blind and partially sighted users. Intended to work with whatever access technology you have. Can be pre-ordered for delivery late May. Orders from USA and Canada should be made to National Braille Press.

The Blind Buzz on Accessibility

10 Best iPad Apps and Sites for Watching Video – the iPad doesn’t have Flash. Here’s proof that there is life beyond Flash

12 Ingenious Gadgets & Technologies for the Blind | Design + Ideas on WU – some of the gadgetry here is only at the concept stage.

50 Web Accessibility Blogs « Clear Helper – survey of the current crop of accessibility blogs.

Accessibility | The Linux Foundation

Accessibility Planning and Resource Guide for Cultural Administrators – NEA Accessibility

Add alternative text and other Section 508 features to PDFs | Workers’ Edge – CNET News

Are your PDFs accessible? – Webcredible blog

ATRIEV TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR 2010 – computer and English Language skills for visually impaired people. Based in the Philippines.

AUDIO FOR THE BLIND – Louisville – CDs – Records – any – audio books at discount prices.

Bookmarklets for Zapping Annoyances – repress annoyances on web pages.

Can a modal dialog be made to work properly for screen-reader users on the web? | Everett Zufelt’s Weblog

DHTML Style Guide | dev.aol.com – discussion on shortcut keys

Figures of Speech: Audio-Describers Deliver Theatre to Imagination of Visually Impaired | Accessibility News International

Guide for Aging Computer Users: Tips for the Awkward Age of Computing – Microsoft’s own guide to making Windows easier to use.

Handy List of New APH Products – Fred’s Head

How to Meet WCAG 2.0 – from the standards-setting body, the Web Accessibility Initiative. If you are a developer, this looks very useful.

HP Slate: 8.9-Inch Windows 7 Tablet (720p Video) | Blog | ZiggyTek – possibly a rival for the iPad, though I haven’t seen any comments on accessibility yet. If it’s running on Windows 7, with any luck the Ease of Access facilities will be available, let alone installing your current access tech. Video review
HP Slate at CES 2010

iPad Review: From a Blindness Perspective – Fred’s Head

iPhone OS 4: Apple Announces April 8th Event | Blog | ZiggyTek

Laying Down the Coolest Tracks, It’s the Accessible DJ – Fred’s Head – 2 talking mp3 players plus the Pocket Sized MP3 Player Mixing Deck, and you’re good to go.

[Audio] Main Menu Shows – the latest, for April 3rd, includes more on the Book Port Plus, CSUN 2010 highlights, the Blio Reader and the KNFB Reader.

No Color :: Add-ons for Firefox – this one removes colours and graphics from web pages.

Nuance Announces TALKS 5.0 for Touchscreen Phones: Business Wire Business News – MSN Money

Prefab makes all software open source

[Audio] Podcast #80: Web Accessibility Successes – Web Axe – Practical Web Design Accessibility Tips – Podcast and Blog – web sites that provide good accessibility and standards compliance.

[Audio] Podcast: Interview with Dennis Lembree, creator of accessibletwitter.com & author of web accessibility blog Web Axe – Blind Mind News – Unrestricted Access

Portable Wikipedia PDA | Blog | ZiggyTek

PreFab UI Browser – assistant for Apple’s AppleScript GUI Scripting and Accessibility technologies.

Project:Possibility – A Software Collaboration for Persons with Disabilities – "Project:Possibility is a nonprofit, community service project committed to creating groundbreaking open source software for persons with disabilities."

Sticky Keys can be very handy « The BAT Channel – it isn’t always realistic to try to press multiple keys at once, but there is an answer.

Switchy McLayout: An Adaptive Layout Technique – A List Apart: Articles – with the wide range of displays being used, new styling may be needed.

Teach Science to the Blind with Plush Microbes – Fred’s Head – and anyway, a large cuddly swine-flu microbe on your desk really adds something, doesn’t it?

[Audio] The Mac-cessibility Round Table Podcast – Special Edition #5 – iPad First iMpressions– The Mac-cessibility Network – News [Lioncourt.com]

Top 10 Mistakes in Web Design (Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox)

Types of of Assistive Technology Products

Virtual Magnifying Glass 3.3.2 – A free, open source, screen magnifier, for Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and Mac OS X.

What Do I Think Of Youtube’s New Layout? « Youtube’s “Living Blind” Blog – not much, apparently. I might add that if you can’t read the CAPTCHA, and you click the "Can’t read" link, you just get another visual CAPTCHA. And an error message that just says "Error – try again". DURH!

When More is Less – Accessibility | Joe Dolson Accessible Web Design – before making your site more complex, consider wehther the new features will meet your users’ needs better.

The Blind Buzz on Accessibility

12 Useful and Free Downloadable Web Design Books – Speckyboy Design Magazine

14 great computing aids for the disabled News – PC Advisor

A primer on Microsoft’s IE9 browser – a bit previous, maybe?

ABiSee is the leading worldwide developer and provider of easy to use electronic readers for the blind and visually challenged – USA company

Access by Students with Blindness: Notes from the Mar 11 Webinar « Maine Learning Technology Initiative

Accessible Design for Homes – Fred’s Head – source:Vision Australia.

Accessible Multimedia – University of Wisconsin.

Accessibility Change Proposal Status, HTML5 – HTML accessibility task force Wiki

Action on cinema access in Australia

AFB Consulting and Adobe Present Free Webinar: Debunking the Myth of PDF Inaccessibility – American Foundation for the Blind -Monday, April 5, 2010 from 1:00-2:30 EDT/5:00-6:30 UTC.

[Video] An Introduction to Screen Magnification Software” on Yahoo! Video – Karo Caran:

APH Cranmer Abacus: Prime Factorization, Part 1 from Texas School for the Blind

Apps for visually impaired go portable | Desktop Apps | ZDNet UK – Serotek portable apps on U3 portable drives can be used on most Windows PCs.

Arab architect calls for universal design in Dubai – Media dis&dat

Are All Video Captions Equally Accessible? – Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt

Arts program in India gives disabled people confidence – Media dis&dat

Australia approves country-wide disability access law – Media dis&dat

BBC Projects – HTML 5 – "This is a proof of concept demonstration of HTML pluginless Video and Audio playback, showing AV content synchronised to chapters, allowing direct access to specific sections of the show." And maybe it’s a proof on concept that you don’t include accessibility features until you’re pinned against a wall and flogged. Doesn’t work in Internet Explorer.

Better Living Through Technology Homepage – stand by for the new revamped version.

Blind Scientist – Fred’s Head – science may not be the first thing that comes to mind as a career for blind people, but ask your local marine biologist!

Braille alphabet

Cab driver in Australia fined for refusing to pick up man and his guide dog – Media dis&dat – unfortunately for that cabbie, the blind man was a disability discrimination commissioner!

Conflict of interests? Can tensions between accessibility, interactivity and multimedia in e-learning be overcome? – eAccessibility Lab (Ireland)

Chicago theaters aim for barrier-free experiences for disabled audience members – wide range of services for disabled patrons – Media dis&dat

Council Websites: Better Than They Seem? – E-Access Bulletin Live » Blog Archive – UK council web sites may not be perfect, but they’re better than they were.

Count a Dose – Fred’s Head – this will enable blind people with diabetes to fill a syringe independently.

Disability News & Views Radio Show

Don’t Run Away from this Mouse – Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind – a new type of mouse is designed for the use of blind people.

Dolphin releases Version 11.51 of their screen access products « AccessTech News – hot on the heels of the last update comes another update…..

Download Fire Vox – Firefox extension that works like a screen reader, translating text into speech. Works on Mac OS, Linux and Windows.

Driving Blind? We May Live to See the Day – AOL News – NFB (the American one) and Virginia Tech develop the self-driving car. Do you want to cross the road in front of one?

e-Access ’10 – the E-Access Bulletin Conference, 2010, on 24th June, 2010 at Earls Court Conference Centre, London.

E-Access Bulletin Live 

E-Access Bulletin Live RSS Feed

Equality Bill makes Britain’s web accessibility law harder to access | Pinsent Masons LLP – despite promises of clarity, this British anti-discrimination law is impenetrable, according to this author.

Esha – The Braille Place – People who believe that being blind should not mean being unemployed.

EU Set To Ditch Rules On Accessible Goods – E-Access Bulletin Live » Blog Archive – if this amendment is passed, it will put Europe a long way behind the U.S. in accessibility provision in consumer goods.

Feature: Which Smartphone is smart for me? – Unrestricted Access

Friday Fun: Find Your Blind Spot – One Cuckoo Short of a Nest

html5media – Project Hosting on Google Code – find out how to include media on web pages without plug-ins.

Humanware admits spoke too soon on screen reader for Blackberry – Unrestricted Access – reasons users are angry about the long delay in the Oratio screen reader.

Innovative teaching tools to aid visually impaired students learn math through sculpture!

Interview: Media Access Australia (MAA) turns up the volume on Audio Description – Unrestricted Access

J&R Assistive Technology Boutique – Ubergizmo

Juicy Studio Accessibility Toolbar :: Add-ons for Firefox – at the moment, this add-on is experimental.

Just Ask: Integrating Accessibility Throughout Design

Legacy Plan for Disabled People to improve the lives of 10 million in the UK – opportunities to open up for disabled sport and other things.

Making the Mobile Internet Accessible for All | Accessibility News International – the difficulties in viewing web sites on mobile devices and TV need to be addressed.

Mississippi police vehicle ticketed for parking in accessible spot – Media dis&dat

New Assistive Technology DVD and Reference Guide Great Resources for Educators – No Limits to Learning – author of this new book and DVD is also the author of the
Assistive Technology Blog

New DVD on Guiding Blind Track Athletes: View “Basics of Guiding Runners for Track, Trail, & Jumping” Online

Opinion: 3 (Vodafone/Hutchison) pulls a fast one on Skype users, beware! – Unrestricted Access – careful where you get those downloads!

[Video] PAC Mate Braille Display with NVDA-001 – getting it to work, selecting Grade 2 Braille and more.

Podcast Interview Exclusive: Gerry Chevalier from Humanware discusses the Victor Reader Stream CD Edition – Unrestricted Access

Podcast: 15 Mar 2010 Audio Series – MP3 Splitting and Merging using Absolute MP3 Splitter – Unrestricted Access

Podcast: 20 Mar 2010 Software Walk-Through Blackballer Pro from Killer Mobile – Unrestricted Access

Podcast: 20 Mar 2010 Software Walk-Through RAMblow 1.0 from CellPhoneSoft – Unrestricted Access

Podcast: HTC Ozone and Mobile Speak 4 demonstrated – Unrestricted Access

Skype releases beta Symbian client for 10 handsets – Unrestricted Access

Social worker denied Australian work visa due to blindness – Immigration News – Global Visas

SpeakingFox: Add-ons for Firefox – Firefox speech add-on for Mac OS.

Technology Trust To Launch Online Hub For Social Good – E-Access Bulletin Live » Blog Archive – UK’s Nominet Trust, to support vulnerable groups.

Thunder screen reader – downloads and help files.

[Video] Thunder Screenreader – demonstration pt1
Part 2 – the assumption is that you’re a volunteer helping a blind person.

WebAIM: Microsoft Word – creating accessible documents, including structure, alt-text and conversion to HTML.

Web Accessibility for Older Users: A Literature Review

WebbIE, the free web browser for blind people with little or no sight

WebFormator-Download – this free add-on for Internet Explorer puts up a text version of a web page.

The Blind Buzz on Accessibility

5 Great Ways to Download YouTube Videos

Accessible Flash – Flash Accessibility Techniques and Considerations – WebAIM

[Video] CNET: Ray Kurzweil on the future of reading – potential for multi-functional reading software, Blio.

Free RFB&D Keys Available for the BookSense – Blind Bargains for any blind person in the US.

GNOME Desktop Accessibility Guide

HiSoftware Cynthia Says Portal – web page validation tool with emphasis on Section 508.

i Speak It for Mac and iPhone Text to Speech – No Limits to Learning Blog – new app converts text to mp3 on Mac, iPhone and iTouch.

iType keyboard brings a physical keyboard to the iPhone, but there’s a catch (Jacob Schulman/Engadget)

Lingo Xplorer 52 « AccessTech News – this device speaks 52 languages, and has many enhancements.

Making footnotes accessible in PDFs and other PDF accessibility fixes

myguide site that provides easy-to-use web services.

Podcast #77: Interview with Terrill Thompson – Web Axe – Practical Web Design Accessibility Tips – Podcast and Blog – Dennis speaks with Terrill Thompson, technology accessibility specialist at DO-IT, a program at the University of Washington.

Pushing past the limits of what people think the disabled are capable of – The Nassau Guardian Online Guide – Sportsability opens up a wealth of activities for disabled people, culminating in an event in Nassau in 2011.

Read Easily – Ebooks Online Library – site presents ebooks in accessible ways, including fonts, colours and text-to-speech.

SeaBeast Theme Demo » An Accessible WordPress Theme by Mike Cherim

Screen reader software usage shifts on desktop and mobile » iheni :: making the web worldwide – much more healthy competition among screen readers nowadays.

SSA Now Providing Materials in Accessible Formats, Not Email – Blind Bargains – US Social Security Administration respond to accessibility demand from ACB.

Talking RSS Reader – Project Hosting on Google Code – speaks news feed subscriptions on Android phones.

The Blind Buzz on Accessibility

This feature is turning out to be the backbone of my blog, and there’s nothing wrong with that!. Here are some recent links about, in the broadest sense, accessibility, particularly for blind and visually impaired people.

Blind charity slams ‘dangerous and unlawful’ kerb removal » Local Government » 24dash.com – UK Guide Dogs charity challenges Borough over kerb removal in Exhibition Road, London.

BookServer Offers Books in Text-only DAISY Format « The BAT Channel

Bridging the Gap: Best Practices for Instructing Adults Who Are Visually Impaired and Have Low Literacy Skills

CBC News – New Brunswick – Blind astronomer constructs backyard observatory

Cepstral Text-to-Speech – plenty of voice demos to try.

Descriptive Audio Comes to All Upcoming Sony and Universal DVD Releases

Dolphin Computer Access announce free upgrade to version 11 users

EC Proposes Law To Address ‘Fragmented’ Accessibility Rules « AccessTech News – effort to harmonise accessibility rules throughout Europe.

Education Department hit over Web site access — Federal Computer Week – National Federation of the Blind take the Education Dept. to task over usalearns.org.

Experience the Future of Assistive Technology at Abilities Expo November 6-8 – Atlanta, Georgia.

Google Introduces Free Turn-by-Turn GPS Navigation Service On Android 2.0, iPhone To Get It Soon » ZiggyTek » Blog

IBM gives voice to your web • The Register – new technology allows the plotting of a flow through complex web pages.

ICT Data Gap ‘Hindering Disabled Business Owners’ – from E-Access Bulletin Blog

Intel May Delay USB 3.0 On Chipsets Until 2011, Users Not Too Happy » ZiggyTek » Blog – this may delay the developmet of many gadgets.

Introducing Orator for BlackBerry Smartphones « The BAT Channel – for my money there is not enough hard information yet to make a purchasing decision here.You can sign up for Humanware’s newsletter to be informed of developments.

Invention helps blind feel way | Bundaberg News | Local News in Bundaberg | Bundaberg News Mail – the BrailleOz makes short work of adding Braille to public signs.

Jubilee Sailing Trust: Accessible Tall Ship Adventures Designed for Disabled Persons | Suite101.com

NEW KINDLE MAY ASSIST SOME VISUALLY IMPAIRED but mixed reviews hint that it’s got its limitations.

Nonprofit that helps disabled find work will expand – Business – News & Observer – Enable America matching disabled people with employers.

NVDA 2009.1 beta, what’s in it for Firefox users? « Marco’s accessibility blog – NVDA has come a long way since the previous stable version. We catch up on the news.

Public Firefox 3.6 beta now expected Wednesday, 3.5.4 Tuesday – well, somtime this week with any luck (week of Oct 27th, that is.

“Say No To Shared Streets!” Guide Dogs For the Blind In The UK Is Suing Dixon Jones « Doggy Blurb

SeroTalk Podcast 26 – Upgrading to Windows 7 With Speech and Demo of NLS Digital Talkingbook Player « The BAT Channel

Via-Dux – OpenStreetMap – "Via-Dux is planned to be a OSM and Java based multi platform navigation software for mobile devices for blind and visually impaired persons. The task in this phase of the project is to collect requirements. The result will be a document that can be given to a programmer.&quot’

WAVE – Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool – rather than presenting a detailed technical report, this service shows up where a site is accessible or not.

webanywhere – Project Hosting on Google Code – WebAnywhere is a web-based screen reader that can not only assist visually impaired people but can enable programmers to check their code for accessibility and usability. This page points to some resources.

What’s New in JAWS 11 – security update available for JAWS 11 in versions preeior to 11.734

Accessible PC survival kit on a stick!

FPAC – Free Portable Apps Collection

http://fpac.freehostia.com/

This is a collection of accessible programs that will run with NVDA and other screen readers. The collection is built with blind people in mind, and is aimed at those who want portable applications for their pen drives / memory sticks. Used as instructed, the programs should not leave unwelcome settings information on the host computer’s hard drive. Good for library, cyber cafe or work computer use. There’s no knowing what the host computer’s firewall will do, though!

Vince.

http://nystagmite.wordpress.com

More accessibility buzzd

I knew this topic would have to run on and on. Well, at least for a second day! Some of these topics will no doubt turn up again in more detail, but for now, these are the links.

Accessible Kitchen Appliances « The BAT Channel – your views are wanted on which ones really are accessible.

Bar Code Scanners, an article at Fred’s Head.

BBC iPlayer Guide – A guide for users of the Jaws screen reader (and other screen readers), written by David Bailes

BCI: Thought control for smart home – Taking thought control from parlour trick to scientific reality using brain-computer interfaces. Emerging technology of interest to disabled people and the military.

Bioptic Driving USA – types of technology that may enable mildly visually impaired people to drive, state laws, available training and an explanation about who would be eligible for bioptic driving. 

Website Introduction Video on Youtube

Blind + Linux = BLINUX

BlindAid: Virtual Maps For The Blind

BookSense 1.1 Public Beta Released – GW Micro’s book reading machine gets some stability fixes.

Color Oracle – Design Tips Design for the Color Impaired

Digidesign Demonstrates Upcoming ProTools Accessibility– The Mac-cessibility Network – improvements to this professional recording software for the Mac.

Download WebbIE 3.95 – you will need this update if you want to carry on using the BBC Live Radio program, as the BBC has scrapped its Real Audio streams. The package has several bug fixes too.

EU launches free satellite system to fine-tune GPS – free European Union satellite service could improve accuracy for pilots, drivers and blind people using GPS.

Fifth-generation iPod nano Review | iPod | Playlist | Macworld – another device uses the VloiceOver screen reader.

Flash 10.1: Full Flash for Everyone But iPhone, Actually Playable HD Vids [Flash] « The BAT Channel – up-and-coming fast Flash version invading everything except the iPhone.

Guide to Making Board Games Accessible to the Blind

Guidelines on Presenting Accessible Powerpoint Presentations

High-tech glasses help the nearly blind see – eSight, developing special glasses with cameras looking out and LCDs looking in, which they claim are suitable for people with severe sight loss. Production hoped for in 2010.

iSonic: Interactive Data Sonification for Blind Users

IT PRO | Windows 7: The most accessible Windows yet?

jady_lady: Gadgets We Can’t Live Without – in praise of the Nokia N81

JAWS Public Beta 11 Released! from the Ranger Station Blog

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard With VoiceOver– The Mac-cessibility Network

MacMegasite » Media Atelier introduces Retina 1.0 for iPhone – Color Blindness Helper

Math Education and Nemeth Code for Braille users

Movies For the Blind – enjoy films without looking at a screen. Download audio-described movies.

New software helps blind venture out on their own – BlindAid, developed at tel Aviv University, allows blind people to feel and hear information about their surroundings.

Nokia Braille Reader makes SMS tactile

Open Textbook Resources free from the Orange Grove

Orator for BlackBerry ® Smartphones – this is a Frequently Asked Questions page on this screen reader by CodeFactory, with some less than satisfactory answers.

Phone eyes documents, reads to the blind – the KNFB Reader offers increased independence by reading bills, menus, etc.

Qwitter: the Accessible Way to Access Twitter – "The Qwitter client enables blind individuals to interface with the Twitter service globally, regardless of application focus. Based off of revolutionary concepts pioneered in The Jawter Jaws Scripts, Qwitter, with full support for the three major comercial screen readers and sapi speech, provides you instant access to all aspects of the twitter microblogging service, giving you the ability to post a tweet from anywhere, read tweets, perform searches, and far, far more. "

Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic®: Building Bridges Between Print Disabilities and Educational Success

Scanning Pens – these are pens that let you write on ordinary paper, but save your text and drawings in digital format as you go. An example is the Digiscribble. Pens, small scanners, portable printers, consumables. Request a catalogue and the site newsletter via e-e-mail forms on the site.

SOFIA Program Supports Astronomy For Students With Sensory Impairments

Solona – a site that can solve CAPTCHAs by getting volunteers to read and decipher the graphics.

Sony Partners With WGBH to Deliver Descriptive Video Service for DVDs

Students Developing A Car For The Blind – The Early Show – CBS News

Ten Innovative Designs To Help The Sight Impaired » Yanko Design – introduces several products, including Siafu PC, B-Touch mobile phone, Braille Label Maker The Visual Assistance Card, Braille Interpreter, Braille E-Book, Voice Stick, Swatch Sens, Rubik Cube For Blind.

The Nokia N900 Wants To Take On The iPhone, Will It Match Up? 

YouTube Video

Toshiba Touch cell phone for blind people – Google translation from Russian.

Traveleyes – world-wide travel for blind and sighted people. That’s accessibility all right!

Universal Phone For The Blind And Sighted by Seunghan Song » Yanko Design

Updates Everywhere You turn for JAWS, Zoom Text , Dolphin And Window Eyes – Mozilla Firefox

VINUX Project Page – A Customized Version of Ubuntu for Visually Impaired Users

Virtual reality used for blind to map real world – VR used to deal with the world, not escape from it!

Visionplus Sightstick for the Blind – not any old cane, this one has GPS, can output sound, vibration and braille and can bookmark specific locations.

WebAIM Screen Reader Users’ Survey – you may have seen one of these before, but this is a new one. Your chance to influence the industry.

Webvisum – your web helper – WebVisum is an add-on for Firefox that lets you solve CAPTCHAs, those mangled symbols that you have to decipher to get into some web sites. It also lets you label graphics on a site to make clear what they are.

ZiggyTek Blog, part of the ZiggyTek Gadget Community.
RSS Feed

Accessibility Buzz

I thought I’d start with the very basics. Without accessibility to the web and other things, blind people can’t get started with anything else. Luckily, this is a very lively area at the moment, and accessibility is likely to be a major theme in this blog.

These are simply alphabetically listed links. Along the way there will be features on particular subjects.

11 iPhone Typing Tips – thanks to
The BAT Channel for this one.

Accessibility in Windows 7 « The BAT Channel

Ameriphone Dialogue JV-35 Big Button Braille Phone for the Hearing & Visually Impaired

[Video] Apple – iPhone – Accessibility – demo video of the VoiceOver Screen Reader

BBC iPlayer – audio-described programmes – about 25 hours of BBC TV are available each week with audio description. Stay up to date with what’s available by installing this
RSS News Feed

Blindness ‘licked’ by new technology | Weird True Freaky | News.com.au – a camera image transformed into champagne bubbles on the tongue….. the Brainport is due to appear late this year.

BookBole – social network for lovers of accessible books.

Call for law to improve websites for disabled – Commissioner proposes pan-European law to include disabled people.

Change Log for WebbIE and the Accessible Programs – WebbIE is a text-based web browser, and comes packaged with many other handy programs – podcast receiver, internet radio tuner, access to Gutenberg Library, RSS news reader, front end for BBC iPlayer …… It’s too good to miss. This page details recent changes in these programs.

Dolphin Released Version 11 of Supernova, Hal, Lunarplus and Lunar, but does not support new technology

Down for everyone or just me? – if you have trouble getting through to a web site, this free online service may be able to diagnose the problem.

Download Instructions for Microsoft Security Essentials from the Blind Access Journal. You may want to research this a bit more before you install the new security tools from Microsoft. It does seem that you are expected to uninstall your current security software.

E-Access Bulletin Live » Blog Archive » Application Opens Up Twitter To Disabled Users

E-Access Bulletin Live » Blog Archive » Google reCAPTCHA Purchase Boosts Accessibility Potential – Google has acquired the company that produced an audio CAPTCHA system. Now let’s hope they use it wisely.

E-Access Bulletin Live » Blog Archive » Ofcom Report Uncovers Major Accessibility Research Gap – UK regulators OFCOM found that communications and broadcasting companies were doing very little to give access to disabled people.

Eye Glasses Turns iPhone into Magnifier For the Visually Impaired « The BAT Channel

Firefox Browser Tips and Addons for Low Vision Patients « The Eye Doc Blog

Free and Open-Source Screen Reader for Windows « AccessTech News – review of NVDA (Non-Visual Desktop Access)

Google Chrome Frame – accessibility black hole « AccessTech News

How Accessible is the Apple iPhone 3GS Smartphone for Visually Impaired?

How Tech for the Disabled Is Going Mainstream – BusinessWeek – the iPhone may now have speech output and be able to respond to voice commands, but this is familar territory for developers of adaptive technology.

HSBC Credit Cards To Deliver Services For Disabled – improved service in New York following customer complaint.

Keys-U-See Large Print Keyboard – Yellow Keys with Black Print – this and other blind-friendly devices are available in the USA from Amazon’s health and Personal Care Department! I don’t make it up, I just report it.

Kindle DX: Amazon’s 9.7″ Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation): Kindle Store – latest version of this book reading machine available on Amazon’s USA site, but it’s not exactly cheap.

[mp3] Mobile Speak New Touch Interface – Techshare London 2009 – audio recording of one of the presentations, with the microphone, as ever, placed as far away from the person presenting as possible.

National Legislative Measures Aimed at Strengthening Rights of Persons with Disabilities Focus, as States Parties to Convention Open Session – nations urged to embrace the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

New approaches to Flash and Java accessibility in the browser on Windows « The BAT Channel – very useful notes on the approaches taken by screen readers to these sometimes troublesome programs.

PenFriend Audio Labeller – record your own rewritable sound labels for cans, CDs etc. also visit this
BBC News article

Philly Fun Guide – lists accessible arts events in the Philadelphia area

Recent happenings in accessibility-related projects financially supported by Mozilla « AccessTech News – projects include NVDA screen reader, Orca and Firebug

Rogers Wireless launches Nuance’s TALKS Software on Nokia E71 to assist Canadians with vision loss

Sendero Group Podcasts – hear about the well-known GPS system for blind people. 

[mp3] Audio about Sindero version 6

Smart Canews for the Blind – some recent developments.

Textbooks for the Disabled – Inside Higher Ed – publishers and the University of Georgia aim to provide text books in good time for disabled students.

Top 5 Free OCR Software Tools To Convert Images Into Text – maybe you already use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to scan your snail mail, but if you’re not blessed with Kurzweil or some other big-name software, you may find this article a very useful introduction.

Traveling Independently Without Sight – how do they do it?

Websites will talk to you now – Internet -Infotech-The Economic Times – India legislates for accessible web sites, and ATMs, washing machines and other devices are soon to follow.

Window-Eyes 7.11 is Now Available! – update of the well-known screen reader.

World’s First Talking Digital TV System – talking technology for television sets and set-top boxes, developed in Bristol, UK, could bring enhanced TV experience to millions.