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Facebook Home inaccessible on Android

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Android users who rely on assistive technology might have to wait a little longer until Facebook Home becomes accessible. Facebook Home, a new interface for the popular social networking website, has been released in the USA on the HTC First smartphone. However, an HTC resource suggests Facebook Home is inaccessible.

The HTC First Accessibility Guide (PDF, 129KB) was recently published on the HTC website to coincide with the release of the smartphone. It provides step-by-step instructions on how to enable accessibility features. The accessibility features includes Android's screen reader, TalkBack, and Explore by Touch. Both of these provide audible feedback for items on the screen. These features help people who are blind or vision impaired navigate Android-run devices through audible feedback.

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General
Blind or vision impaired
Digital technology
Web
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Digital media and technology: 
Android
Facebook
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Feature: SIMO – Australia’s indoor mapping project

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For most people, great ideas are triggered by an event or experience that pushes them to do something. For Sydney industrial designer Euan Ramsey-Stewart, it was getting kicked out of art galleries, writes Clarizza Fernandez.

"I used to get kicked out of art galleries because I would go up and touch sculptures. I thought 'What if I couldn't see the damn thing?' I'd at least want to know what it felt like."

Taxonomy: 
General
Blind or vision impaired
Digital technology
News
Digital media and technology: 
Android smartphones
Android
Smartphones
Mobile operating systems
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Blind/vision impaired Digital Technology & Online Media news

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Samsung Galaxy S4 accessibility

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Samsung’s latest smartphone, the Galaxy S4, was launched on Friday with Samsung claiming the device would “bury” its biggest rival, the iPhone 5. Samsung announced a suite of new features, including some that have benefits for people with a disability such as eye-tracking, enhanced gestures and improvements to the voice-activated assistant, S Voice.

Samsung is yet to release a list of the phone’s key specifications, including which assistive technologies it includes. The Galaxy S4 runs on the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system which comes with a screen magnifier, screen reader and gesture mode by default. However, as Android is open source, manufacturers such as Samsung can pick and choose which features they include. This explains the wide inconsistencies in levels of accessibility across Android smartphones and tables.

Taxonomy: 
General
Blind or vision impaired
Mobility
Digital technology
News
Digital media and technology: 
Android
Mobile operating systems
News alert taxonomy: 
Blind/vision impaired Digital Technology & Online Media news

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Assistive Android apps recognised

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The Vodafone Foundation Smart Accessibility Awards were held yesterday in Belgium to celebrate innovative apps for Android smartphones designed to make things easier for people with a disability.

Funded by the Vodafone Foundation and supported by the European Disability Forum, the awards recognised apps in four categories: Wellbeing, Independent Living, Social Participation and Mobility. As phones which run on Android are generally less accessible than the Apple iPhone, encouraging Android developers to consider the needs of disabled users is very worthwhile.

Below are the winners and runners-up in each category:

Taxonomy: 
General
Blind or vision impaired
Deaf or hearing impaired
Mobility
Digital technology
News
Digital media and technology: 
Android smartphones
Android
Smartphones
Assistive technology
Mobile operating systems

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