Comcast recently made a big splash in the world of assistive technology by launching the industry’s first voice-enabled television user interface, or “talking TV guide,” which gives blind and visually impaired customers the ability to independently explore and navigate thousands of shows and movies. Comcast’s vice president of accessibility Tom Wlodkowski, who is blind, saidContinueContinue reading “How Design for Accessibility Drives Innovation for All”
Category Archives: ACCESSIBILITY
Learn How to Use ChromeVox Next Screen Reader [Videos]
www.lireo.com – When Chrome 56 was released in January 2017, people were excited with the new features, including: One of the new features I think many people may have overlooked in Chrome 56 was the new ChromeVox… Key Takeaways from the Videos Turn on (and off) ChromeVox Next by holding down the CTRL +ContinueContinue reading “Learn How to Use ChromeVox Next Screen Reader [Videos]”
The 7 Factors that Influence User Experience
User Experience (UX) is critical to the success or failure of a product in the market but what do we mean by UX? All too often UX is confused with usability which describes to some extent how easy a product is to use and it is true that UX as a discipline began with usabilityContinueContinue reading “The 7 Factors that Influence User Experience “
Government accessibility standards and WCAG 2
This posting summarizes some detailed research into the state of government accessibility standards around the world, as of March 2016. Usually these evolve fairly slowly, although the Jodhan vs. Attorney General of Canada case may change that (governments don’t like being successfully sued by their citizens). … This table shows government accessibility standards, and relevantContinueContinue reading “Government accessibility standards and WCAG 2”
How major technology companies are improving accessibility for people with disabilities
The year 2016 saw an increase in focus on accessibility features to allow people with disabilities to access technology. The Microsoft Event that saw the launch of the Surface Studio on October 26, and the Apple event a day later on October 27 which saw the launch of the new Macbook Pro laptops, both opened with aContinueContinue reading “How major technology companies are improving accessibility for people with disabilities”
Former Microsoft design director on shaping Hololens, Xbox and Cortana with inclusive design thinking
https://youtu.be/h42RThsvXxs Kat Holmes is the former principal director of Inclusive Design at Microsoft. In this episode, we talk about the definition of inclusive design, take an inside look at her “special ops” design unit, and dive into the best method for deploying human-centered design. Curated by (Lifekludger) Read full article at Source: Former Microsoft design directorContinueContinue reading “Former Microsoft design director on shaping Hololens, Xbox and Cortana with inclusive design thinking”
What Non-Disabled People Get Wrong About Accessibility
…there are a LOT of disabled people in the world, with most estimates at somewhere between 15% and 25% of people being disabled in some way. It’s also because of the way that abled (or non-disabled) people Just Don’t Get It in a million tiny huge ways that add up and can make being theirContinueContinue reading “What Non-Disabled People Get Wrong About Accessibility”
New Vision-Impaired User Interface – Virgin Australia
Virgin Australia has become the first airline in the Asia Pacific region, and the second airline in the world, to introduce an in-flight entertainment (IFE) user interface for passengers who are blind or have low vision. … The new interface increases accessibility to IFE content through simplified screen layouts, larger icons and voice prompts.ContinueContinue reading “New Vision-Impaired User Interface – Virgin Australia”
Emma – a prototype watch, raising hope for Parkinson’s disease
‘My God, it’s better’: Emma can write again thanks to a prototype watch, raising hope for Parkinson’s disease The Emma Watch and a special Windows 10 tablet that controls it. Engraved on the watch is a name – “emma” – in breezy lettering that, to Lawton’s eyes, looks eerily similar to her own handwriting.ContinueContinue reading “Emma – a prototype watch, raising hope for Parkinson’s disease”
Airpoly Vision us a Truly Visionary App
‘Aipoly Vision’ is a very useful object-and-colour recogniser app that helps the blind, vision-impaired, and colour blind to understand their surroundings. It does so by using artificial intelligence to recognise objects through a device’s camera and then announces the name of each object to the user. … The Aipoly(link is external) developers are on aContinueContinue reading “Airpoly Vision us a Truly Visionary App”
Former Microsoft design director on Hololens, Xbox and Cortana and inclusive design thinking
Kat Holmes is the former principal director of Inclusive Design at Microsoft. In this episode, we talk about the definition of inclusive design, take an inside look at her “special ops” design unit, and dive into the best method for deploying human-centered design. Source: Former Microsoft design director on shaping Hololens, Xbox and Cortana with inclusiveContinueContinue reading “Former Microsoft design director on Hololens, Xbox and Cortana and inclusive design thinking”
How a Smart Home Empowers People with Disabilities
… While advances in personal technology continue at a rapid pace, at times their designers seem to forget about the population that could perhaps benefit from it the most. Stabelfeldt says just the ability to charge a phone with a wheelchair didn’t even exist until a few years ago. But features like Apple’s “Home” appContinueContinue reading “How a Smart Home Empowers People with Disabilities”
How a Smart Home Empowers People with Disabilities
… While advances in personal technology continue at a rapid pace, at times their designers seem to forget about the population that could perhaps benefit from it the most. Stabelfeldt says just the ability to charge a phone with a wheelchair didn’t even exist until a few years ago. But features like Apple’s “Home” appContinueContinue reading “How a Smart Home Empowers People with Disabilities”
JAWS screen reader gets more bight
Freedom Scientific has recently released JAWS 18.0.2738, which incorporates several important improvements made between the JAWS February 2017 release and this mid April 2017 update, plus dozens of less revolutionary but very practical enhancements. JAWS (Job Access With Speech) is the world’s most popular screen reader, developed for computer users whose vision loss prevents themContinueContinue reading “JAWS screen reader gets more bight”
TED Talks on Designing for Disability
TED Talks on Designing for Disability: TED Talks (technology, entertainment and design) are short presentations delivered to live audiences by subject experts and recorded on video for later viewing online. The Designing for Disability playlist is 10 TED talks on good design, life hacks and smart technology to empower and include people with disability. TheContinueContinue reading “TED Talks on Designing for Disability”
We need to talk about Accessibility on Chatbots
What happens when a blind person wants to use your chatbot? This idea started after I did a research on UX for autonomous cars or self-driving cars. I did some interviews with 4 people, one of them being blind. I was really surprised to know that she can fully take care of herself and go aroundContinueContinue reading “We need to talk about Accessibility on Chatbots”
How to Get Your iPhone to Read On-Screen Text Aloud to You
Being able to hear written text on your phone read aloud to you can serve multiple purposes. If you have any type of impaired vision, it can certainly help in that regard. It’s also useful in settings where you don’t have the time nor capability to stare at your phone and read large blocks ofContinueContinue reading “How to Get Your iPhone to Read On-Screen Text Aloud to You”
5 Ways to Make Your Web Content More Neurodiversity Inclusive | NOS Magazine
When most people think about accessibility in technology, their first thought may be about accessibility for blind or D/deaf people: captioning, visual descriptions or Braille conversion. Blind and D/deaf people aren’t the only ones who benefit from inclusive technology, though. Autistic people, people with learning disabilities, people with ADHD and other neurodivergent people also haveContinueContinue reading “5 Ways to Make Your Web Content More Neurodiversity Inclusive | NOS Magazine”
Designing for Accessibility: The Ultimate in UX
Designing for users with a broad range of abilities can bring challenges. But, before you start thinking “Great, more stuff to limit my rockstar designs” — recognize this: Smart designs aren’t created to impress your peers. Smart designs (and smart designers!) use design elements like color, placement, and interaction in very intentional ways to help site visitorsContinueContinue reading “Designing for Accessibility: The Ultimate in UX”
Windows 10 free upgrade offer still on for AT users
Microsoft continues to support a free upgrade to Windows 10 for people who are using Assistive Technologies (AT) in Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, despite officially ending their promotional offer on 29 July 2016. Curated by (Lifekludger) Read full article at Source: Windows 10 free upgrade offer still on for AT users |ContinueContinue reading “Windows 10 free upgrade offer still on for AT users”
Developers: get started with web accessibility
If web accessibility is new to you, the path ahead can seem overwhelming. If web accessibility is new to you, the path ahead can seem overwhelming. It’s not so bad. I promise! You could chase perfection forever by building accessible products for every user imaginable. That’s no different from design and development more generally: there’sContinueContinue reading “Developers: get started with web accessibility”
108 million web users are color blind. Tips for designing keeping them in mind
Design, keeping everyone in mind As designers, you pick up the best colors for the canvas and the most engaging content for your users, but often miss out on the color blind ones. Repeating the ever-repeated stats — 8% of the males and 0.5% of the females are color blind. Now that is a HUUUGE number ifContinueContinue reading “108 million web users are color blind. Tips for designing keeping them in mind”
Changing Places > Home
The Changing Places Consortium launched its campaign in 2006 on behalf of the over 1/4 of a million people who cannot use standard accessible toilets.This includes people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, as well as older people. To use the toilet in safety and comfort, many people need toContinueContinue reading “Changing Places > Home”
Accessibility in the classroom—tools that impact my students – Office Blogs
Creating a collaborative, inclusive classroom has many moving parts and pieces—and finding the right balance can be challenging. As a special education teacher, I am constantly on the hunt for technology and tools that give students with disabilities an environment that is personalized, differentiated and yet as close to their peers’ experience as possible. IContinueContinue reading “Accessibility in the classroom—tools that impact my students – Office Blogs”
Calls for a Technology Bill of Rights for People with Disabilities in the US
The National Council on Disability (NCD) in the United States has made a call to establish a ‘Technology Bill of Rights for People with Disabilities’ as part of a series of recommendations to the US Federal Government for making technology more accessible to people with a sensory, cognitive, or mobility disability. … Curated by (Lifekludger)ContinueContinue reading “Calls for a Technology Bill of Rights for People with Disabilities in the US”
