Digital technology

Research to make white canes smarter

no

Show on home page

A new device is being developed by Curtin University researchers which uses sensors to enhance the white canes used by people who are blind and vision impaired. The device creates a map of the immediate environment within a room and communicates this to the user’s smartphone.

Attached to the tip of a standard white cane, the device uses an accelerometer, three axis magnetic field meter, three axis gyroscope, camera, microphone and a barometer for floor level detection. The information gathered by each of these technologies will be used to calculate the position of an obstacle surrounding the white cane and navigate the user around it.

Taxonomy:

General

Blind or vision impaired

Digital technology

News

News alert taxonomy:

Blind/vision impaired Digital Technology & Online Media news

Top of page

Read more about Research to make white canes smarter

Unpublished

Top of page

Unpublished

Top of page

DisabilityCare: accessibility essential from the very beginning

no

Show on home page

As the National Disability Insurance Scheme, DisabilityCare, launches, service providers need to be aware of the technology needs of people with disability. At the DisabilityCare conference this week, Media Access Australia presented on the need for service providers to harness mainstream technology if they want to attract customers in the new era of individual choice.

Our Service Providers Accessibility Guide, commissioned by the NDIS Practical Design Fund, aims to break down the myth that people with disability always require expensive specialist equipment to access information.

The quick reference guide contains information on:

Taxonomy:

General

Australian policy and legislation

Blind or vision impaired

Deaf or hearing impaired

News alert taxonomy:

Deaf/hearing impaired Digital Technology & Online Media news

Blind/vision impaired Digital Technology & Online Media news

Research & Policy news

Top of page

Read more about DisabilityCare: accessibility essential from the very beginning

Unpublished

Top of page

Accessibility improvements announced at Apple WWDC

no

Show on home page

A number of new features announced at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) held in San Francisco last week reveals some potential improvements to the accessibility of Apple devices. Presenting to developers, Apple unveiled its new operating system (OS), called OS X Mavericks, and the latest version of its mobile OS, called iOS 7.

Mavericks will come installed on Apple’s desktop computers and laptops including the iMac, Macbook Pro and Macbook Air, while iOS 7 will come installed on Apple devices such as the iPhone and iPad.

Taxonomy:

General

Sensory impairment

Blind or vision impaired

Deaf or hearing impaired

Digital media and technology:

iOS

Mac OS X