Blind/vision impaired Digital Technology & Online Media news

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New eGlasses can improve vision for many who are legally blind

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Canadian company eSight creates futuristic glasses that use images from a forward-facing camera to overcome vision loss, even for many people who are legally blind. The makers claim that their latest variant, the eSight 3 augmented reality headset, is a real wearable breakthrough for those people living with vision loss.

eSight 3 electronic glasses

eSight 3 electronic glasses

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JAWS screen reader gets more bight

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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.

Image of JAWS screen reader logo

JAWS screen reader logo

JAWS (Job Access With Speech) is the world's most popular screen reader, developed for computer users whose vision loss prevents them from seeing screen content or navigating with a mouse. It allows blind and vision-impaired people to read the screen either with a text-to-speech output or by a refreshable Braille display.

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Aipoly Vision is a truly visionary app

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‘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.

Image of Aipoly Vision logo

Image of Aipoly Vision logo

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New vision-impaired user interface launched by Virgin Australia

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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.

Image of ‘Welcome Aboard’ main menu

‘Welcome Aboard’ main menu


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Registrations now open for 2017 Round Table Conference in May

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Registrations are now being taken for the 2017 Round Table Annual Conference, to be co-sponsored again by Media Access Australia. This year’s theme is ‘Information Access – new modes, technologies and opportunities’. It is being staged at the Mercure Perth hotel in the city from Saturday 6 May to Tuesday 9 May.

Round-Table-on-Information-Access-for-People-with-Print-Disabilities-Inc.

Round-Table-on-Information-Access-for-People-with-Print-Disabilities-Inc.

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Don’t miss The Future of Accessible Work

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The 14th International Web for All Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A 2017), run in conjunction with the 26th International World Wide Web Conference (WWW 2017), is taking place in Perth from 2-4 April – with the overall theme being ‘The Future of Accessible Work’.

Image of W4A 2017 logo plus Perth skyline

W4A 2017 logo plus Perth skyline

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Magnifier feature in Apple iOS 10 – a hidden gem

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Towards the end of 2016, Apple's iOS10 mobile operating system was released. One of its ‘box of tricks’ that didn’t get much publicity is a helpful new access feature called Magnifier. This hidden helper has been a hit with those who have discovered it, and is designed for people who are vision impaired plus seniors who have trouble reading small print.

Image of Magnifier enlarging an image and words on an iPhone

Image of Magnifier enlarging an image and words on an iPhone

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The accessibility of self publishing

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Dr Scott Hollier, Media Access Australia’s Specialist Advisor, Digital Accessibility, self-published an inspiring book Outrunning the Night late last year. He shares some very helpful practical advice on his journey of ensuring that the finished product was accessible across multiple formats, with MAA’s Philip Jenkinson in a fascinating podcast article.

Image of a book within a computer screen

Image of a book within a computer screen

Listen to the complete interview where Dr Scott Hollier shares some great tips with Philip Jenkinson from his journey of accessible self-publishing.


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Disability is a mainstream issue

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Media Access Australia (MAA) advocates for all people living with disability. New CEO, Dr Manisha Amin, believes that disability is a mainstream issue that needs to be managed in a mainstream way.

Image of Dr Manisha Amin

Image of Dr Manisha Amin


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Disability commissioner calls ABC transcription cuts a backward step

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The Disability Commissioner, Alastair McEwin, has blasted the decision last month from the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) to cut back transcription of some news and current affairs programs on TV and radio, as a “backward step” for accessibility.

Australian Broadcasting Commission logo

Australian Broadcasting Commission logo

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