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Egypt gets a taste of Hotel Transylvania 2 with live AD

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In a first for Egypt and the Middle East, the popular new children’s fantasy-comedy movie Hotel Transylvania 2 was screened in Cairo with live Audio Description (AD), which is the first time this has been done in the region.

Image of Hotel Transylvania 2 from the official Sony Pictures movie site gallery

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New tech developments give a glimpse of the future

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Research into access technology has become quite advanced, with more sophisticated products that are attempting to help people with disabilities in real-life situations. Two projects from Microsoft show how image recognition is developing.

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UK Cinemas support World Autism Awareness Day

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More than 900 UK cinemas are taking part in special screenings to help recognise World Autism Awareness Day on Saturday 2 April.

Little girl holding popcorn in a cinema, making a "shh" gesture

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Twitter supports alternative text for images sent via app

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Twitter has announced that images tweeted from its iOS and Android apps can now include alternative text, ensuring that users of assistive technologies such as screen readers can understand the nature of the visual content.

Two screen shots of the composer for Twitter on iOS. The first showing the new "Add description" button overlayed on an image thumbnail in the composer, and the second showing the composition of alt text for an image. Image credit: Twitter

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Consultation on communications access

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The inclusion of accessibility features in many mainstream smartphones and tablets is a potential game changer in the delivery of special services for Deaf and hearing impaired people, according to the Department of Communications.

Woman using a smartphone

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Social media for those with a disability gets 2016 update

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The ground-breaking 2012 ‘SociAbility’ review into social media for those with a disability has had a much anticipated update. The Media Access Australia website now includes important new information on the varying accessibility challenges and practical fixes across all popular social channels. Project leader Dr Scott Hollier believes that it is destined to be the go-to resource on social media for people with a disability and those who provide care, support and advice.

Social media icons with a magnifying glass on the words ‘social media’

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Web

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Deaf or hearing impaired

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Digital media and technology:

WCAG

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

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Audio description awards call for nominations

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The annual audio description awards hosted by the American Council of the Blind’s Audio Description Project are now open for nomination.

Golden microphone trophy

The awards have six categories:

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Ten years of accessibility on Twitter

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Popular social media short-blogging site Twitter is 10 years old and over its life it has gone from being accessible to less accessible and back again. This story reflects a common pattern in accessibility.

Twitter logo

In his blog, Robin Christopherson traces the accessibility of Twitter in ten tweets, showing the ebbs and flows as new features were developed.

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Using captions for children’s literacy in any language

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Captions are not just essential for Deaf and hearing impaired people. Their power to assist literacy, especially in developing countries, has been demonstrated on a massive scale by organisations such as Planet Read. Another program, partnered with Planet Read, takes the same concept into new areas, including the possibility of using any language.

Screenshot from the 'Cricket at the Zoo' AniBook, with Hindi captions present. Image credit: bookboxinc via YouTube

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Accessible media preview from CSUN

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The annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference (commonly known as CSUN) starts on 21 March in San Diego, California. This year there is significant coverage around accessible media. Media Access Australia’s CEO, Alex Varley, previews some personal highlights.

Seated audience attending a conference