Microsoft recently announced Sign Language View – a new meeting experience that is meant to make remote video calls on Microsoft Teams a lot more accessible for deaf and hard of hearing users. This experience, currently in public preview, has added the following elements to make sure deaf and hard of hearing participants have clear and easy view of sign language being signed by sign language interpreters on the call:

1. Prioritize up to two other participant videos so they stay visible and in consistent location throughout the video.
2. Ensuring video feeds are in the appropriate shapes and size for sign language to be visible.
3. Having up to two signers prominently visible throughout the meeting.
4. When someone shares content, the signer’s video shifts position but remains high quality and larger size than the other videos.
5. Sign language view is personal to the user and will not impact what others will see in the meeting.

This is the first of many features planned on the roadmap and Microsoft has also provided documentation on how to use Sign Language View and its related features. Watch the video below and hit the source link to learn more about this new experience. Microsoft is also doing an AMA (Ask Me Anything) for everyone to learn more about this experience and ask questions.

Source: Microsoft

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‘When I was driving at night the glare was unbearable. That problem’s gone. It’s been a saviour. I would say that the mask has given me my life back – not only can I see so much clearer, but it has enabled me to carry out my job safely again.”

That quote is from Michelangelo Biasiucci, a 64 year old from London who is one of many to have benefited from Noctura 400,  a facemask designed to treat diabetics at risk of blindness.

Healthy individuals get an adequate flow of blood and oxygen to their eyes, however, those with advanced diabetes do not since they tend to have narrower and weaker blood vessels incapable of meeting the required oxygen demand. Even though the body attempts to compensate by growing more blood vessels, the new ones tend to be weak, causing fluid leaks and ultimately damaging surface of the retina. Night time usually elevates this because adapting to the dark means higher demand for oxygen by the eyes. Over a period of time, individuals form dark spots in their vision and can possibly lose their sight in the long run.

To prevent vision loss because of this, diabetics can wear the Noctura 400 which emits a green light on a wavelength that is absorbed by the cells in our eyes that provide night time vision. At night, the cells are tricked into remaining in their daytime state so they don’t demand more oxygen and ultimately create more leaky vessels.

When people with diabetic retinopathy lose vision, they can get injections in their eyes that can stop the growth of new vessels, however, they are a lot more intrusive, uncomfortable, risky, and expensive. Noctura 400 is a non-intrusive and non-surgical home treatment that works when the patient is sleeping.

In a clinical trial involving 48 patients who wore this mask every night, 42 of them saw significant improvement in their vision. Following years of clinical trials on the British-made Noctura 400, Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Surrey has put it to use on patients with diabetic retinopathy.

Watch the videos below and hit the source link to learn more about Noctura 400.

Source: Daily Mail

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Sound Notifications, an accessibility feature in Android, was introduced in 2020 to identify sounds in and around households and notify deaf and hard of hearing users. Originally, it came with a limited number of sounds in its alert library but now users can add their own custom sounds to the alert library to get notified the next time they sound.

Designed in partnership with the Deaf and hard of hearing community, a user’s phone can identify critical sounds like fire alarms, microwave ovens, running water, door knocks, baby sounds, etc. and notify them on their phone or watch as they occur. The notifications can be vibrations on their devices or flashing lights on their phone which are useful for deaf users or anyone using noise cancelling headphones.

Sound Notifications uses machine learning to identify these sounds and works completely offline.

Sound Notifications can be found in Settings->Accessibility. If you are unable to find this option, you can download both Live Transcribe & Notifications from Google Play, then go to settings and turn on Sound Notifications.

Watch the video below to see how it works and if you have an Android phone, give this feature a shot and let us know how well it works!

Source: Google

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University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign recently announced the Speech Accessibility Project in collaboration with some large tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, as well as other not for profit organizations whose communities will benefit from this initiative.

Voice Assistants (Alexa, Siri, etc.) and other speech recognition systems today don’t do a good job of identifying voice commands from people who have diversity of speech patterns resulting from Lou Gehrig’s disease or Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Cerebral Palsy, and Down syndrome. UIUC researchers will recruit paid volunteers to collect speech samples from individuals who have these speech patterns. There is heavy use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in speech recognition systems and these new speech samples will be used to train machine learning models more effectively and accommodate speech patterns representing people with speech impairment.

So why are all these companies joining hands? Because they all create solutions that use voice recognition so instead of duplicating efforts, they are all working together to create a common dataset that can be used by all. The belief that inclusive speech recognition should be a universal experience is the core fundamental driving this one of a kind collaboration.

Sign up for this research if you or someone you know is interested in participating in this multi year research project. Frequently asked questions are available if you want more information about this initiative.

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Google recently announced a new feature on the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro that will enable users with visual impairment to take better selfies! This new feature, called “Guided Frame”, is a voice coach that guides the user to move their phone up, down or to the sides so their face is well positioned in the frame and even take the photo for the user.

With a smart camera in practically everyone’s hands, selfies provide a way for people to express themselves in various ways. Many visually impaired users are unable to take selfies because they cannot frame themselves correctly. Guided Frame provides a camera experience that’s inclusive and enables visually impaired to take good selfies and have fun with them. To turn on Guided Frame, one has to enable TalkBack and then use the Google camera app to take selfies.

Let’s hope that this feature comes to all Android phones very soon and Apple follows suit and introduces this feature in iPhones too!

Source: Pocket-lint

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Jake always loved to bring coffee to his dad at his record store in Norristown, PA. As his interest in coffee grew, he started researching the process of making coffee and learned about all the types of beans, blends, temperatures, and milk needed to make good coffee. When the pandemic hit and the record store closed and Jake couldn’t follow the routine he had set for himself, he started a curbside coffee cart outside the record store through which he got overwhelming support from his community. During the enforced shutdown, Jake and his family were able to hold two curbside coffee cart fundraisers. With the donations, he constructed a custom cart called “Coffee Closet with Barista Jake” which now permanently stays inside Vinyl Closet Records, his parents’ record store.

Jake started making different types of coffee and recently got a license to serve food as well. Jake’s business now employs other young people with disabilities. And Jake’s mother helps them with resume preparation, mock interviews and prepares them to join the workforce. The Coffee Closet is also helped Jake find the social side of himself through interactions with his coworkers.

Watch the video below to learn more about Coffee Closet with Barista Jake.

Jake can also be found on TikTok as baristajake.

@baristajake #FYP #SHEINcares #autismoftiktok #specianlneedysyoungadult #worklife #baristajakesteam@theskilledbaratone @fawnonthem00n ♬ The Hustle – Van McCoy

Source: CBS News

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The general perception out there when it comes to vision is that you either have it fully or you’re completely blind. If someone loses vision, we tend to think that a switch was flipped to the off position, causing them to lose all of their vision. However, there are many instances where an individual may lose sight gradually over a long period of time. In fact, 85% of legally blind people can see some light and their vision can change throughout the day. They may be able to see a person quite well in one moment and in the next, perhaps not so much. This documentary aims to show the audience what it’s like to slowly lose vision.

In the first episode of a three part documentary series, New York Times features Yvonne Shortt – a talented sculptor who is legally blind, losing her vision slowly to an optical disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa. She is able to see some things some of the times, depending on ambient lighting, her distance from the object, where the object is in her line of vision, etc. In this episode, Yvonne starts with the question that many people tend to have when they meet her – you don’t look blind! She shares with us the moment in her life when she realized something was wrong and what she found through further investigation and talking to five doctors – that she will lose her vision altogether in the future. In the 13 years since her diagnosis, she has developed many ways to adapt including “scanning”. She also talks about how her perceptions towards the white cane changed when she joined a support group.

Through her artwork that involves installation, sculpture, and paint, Yvonne’s subjects of exploration are community, disability, race, equity, and equality. Check out her work on her Instagram and website.

Source: New York Times, Laughing Squid

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Putting on clothes can sometimes already seem like an arduous day-to-day task. Adding on limited dexterity and mobility for those with disabilities, it then becomes stressful and can drive a person to lose their dignified independence by asking for help with this daily task.

Don Horton, a college football coach, found himself struggling to button his shirt one day because of Parkinson’s disease at an early age. Limited mobility is one of the side effects associated with Parkinson’s, and as someone who traveled regularly for business, his inability to dress himself up made him anxious. This is when Maura Horton, his wife, came up with a way to help him with his daily challenge. By adding magnets to the shirt, she created a product that brought back independence in his daily routine.That’s how Magnaready, the adaptive clothing line, was born in 2013.

MagnaReady clothing products consider usability and functionality for those who have disabilities like Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, neuropathy, and those who have experienced strokes. Whether it be the hidden patented magnetic closure systems, pull loops, or stretch waistbands, MagnaReady provides a classic and stylish look without compromising comfort and ease while dressing.

MagnaReady’s extensive line of clothing has everything for everyone, be it casual clothing, activewear or sleepwear – from shirts & polos and pants to tops, dresses, sweaters and bottoms. If you go to MagnaReady’s website, you can also shop by needs – Parkinson’s clothing, Arthritis clothing, Multiple sclerosis solutions, easy closure options, and wheelchair products.

If you have someone who needs more independence and convenience while dressing up, Magnaready may be the best option for them. Look at their entire catalog at magnaready.com.

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When we look at storage space in our immediate environment, it’s mostly horizontal in the form of cabinets, shelves, and tabletop surfaces. More often than not, we clutter these spaces and finding items in an unorganized space can cause frustrations and ultimately impact our physical and mental wellness negatively. The clutter can easily go out of control in smaller urban apartments where floor and storage space is minimal. A messy environment is especially challenging for people with disabilities and senior adults who may have mobility challenges and may not be able to reach for items easily.

To address these challenges and contribute to the de-cluttering process in a person’s living space, Mengzi Zhang, a Ph.D student at Cornell’s Architectural Robotics Lab started looking beyond floor space and created a working prototype of a swarm of small assistive robots that can take advantage of wall space even if it’s not reachable to store personal items and not only deliver them as and when needed.

Zhang calls these wall climbing robots SORT (Self Organized Robot Team) that can deliver items to the user by slowly scaling the walls in their environment. As the video shows below, with some gestures, the robot can not only fetch the needed items but also put them back when the user is done with them. Other potential uses can be delivering mail, bringing a mask when the user approaches a door, being a light source in dark places, and reminding the user to take medication.

Here’s another scenario where depending on time of the day, SORT brings John his medication and other items to help him recover from COVID.

At this stage, SORT is a lab experiment and a working prototype but this system definitely has potential. How do you envision SORT can help you? What else would you like it to do? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: IEEE

Additional reading: Self-Organizing Robot Team (SORT): A Multi- Robot, Wall Climbing Organizer-and-Delivery System for Living Spaces

How Many Robots Do You Want? A Cross-Cultural Exploration on User Preference and Perception of an Assistive Multi-Robot System

The post PROTOTYPE: Self Organized Robot Team (SORT) Is A Swarm Of Assistive Robots That Can Help Disabled People De-clutter And Organize Their Living Spaces appeared first on Assistive Technology Blog.

There was a ton of excitement when the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was launched into space last month. What made the excitement exponentially larger was when NASA made the first few photos received from JWST public. The pictures were gorgeous and stunning, and the world was captivated by the sheer beauty of our universe as shown by these photos.

These stunning photos, which are a feast for our eyes, were accompanied by something that made sure blind people enjoyed these photos as much as sighted people did – alt text! Now, the alt text attached to these images were not just 1-2 sentences giving a vague description of the images. These were descriptive, poetic, and scientifically accurate. It is clear that the team that wrote them (STCI – Space Telescope Science Institute) put a lot of thought and care into them. 

Take a look at the first few photos from JWST below and their image descriptions. You can also access these descriptions on the JWST website under “Image Description” on the left menu (pdf). The images also have alt text that will be read out loud by your screen reader.

Through these photos, NASA has taught us that alt text is and should not be an afterthought. There are many individuals who are passionate about space, and it only makes sense to provide the rich and detailed experience they deserve through various means that work for them.

Has seeing these detailed descriptions influenced how you will write alt texts in the future? Let us know in the comments below! 

Read more on Washington Post

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If you live in or near Toronto, get ready to watch a puppet show like no other! What Happened to You? is a new, heart-warming piece of puppet theatre for children and their families. Created semi-autobiographically, puppet designer Nikki Charlesworth challenges the fundamental laws of traditional puppetry by making puppets that reflect her own disability, and moves as she moves. What Happened to You? also features creative use of audio description, embedded into the original score, and integrated American Sign Language by a Deaf actor, which introduces children to enhanced access. What Happened to You? will be presented as a relaxed performance; house lights will remain on at a low level and audience members will be able to enter and exit the theatre as they wish.

Originally performed in the UK, this show is coming to Toronto this summer. What Happened to You? will make its Toronto debut at Tarragon Theatre on Saturday, August 20 and Sunday, August 21 at 2:00PM.

Before the show, What Happened to You?’s director and designer, Nikki Charlesworth, will be hosting a complimentary puppet-making workshop which starts at 12:30 PM. During this 45 minute workshop, participants will learn about basic puppetry and create their own puppet using found materials, and will have the opportunity to meet the cast and puppets from What Happened to You? up close!

Presented by The Disability Collective, What Happened to You? is produced with support from Arts Council England, Roseneath Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, Navigator, Re•Vision: The Centre for Art and Social Justice, and PrintPop.

What Happened to You?
August 20 & 21, 2022, 2:00PM
Tarragon Theatre
30 Bridgman Avenue, Toronto

Tickets are pay what you can.
Tickets are available online at thedisabilitycollective.com or by phone at 416-531-1827.

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Twitter introduced alt text in 2016 and enabled its users to provide a detailed description of images they were tweeting by allowing up to one thousand characters for the description.

Because alt text is not required, a lot of people may forget to add them, even though they may sincerely want to make their content more accessible. For that specific reason, Twitter recently launched the image description reminder. Available on a toggle under Accessibility Settings, turning on ”Receive image description reminder” will remind the user to add image description before a tweet can be sent.

This feature is slowly being rolled out to users worldwide and at the time of announcement, 10% of global Twitter users had access to it. This announcement was made in the following Twitter thread that also had some great tips on how to write image descriptions and other ways tweets can be made accessible.

Interested in knowing what else is coming to Twitter accessibility? Twitter’s July accessibility status indicates the following:

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Recently, the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) unveiled the “travel Confidently MSP Education Center” that has a mock airplane cabin to help build confidence in travelers through pre-flight experiences. One of the notable features of this center is the Navigating MSP Program which provides flyers with sensory, physical or cognitive disabilities and those with a fear of flying with a place to practice boarding a flight. It also gives service dogs an opportunity to get familiar with an aircraft cabin.

There are several travelers whose circumstances present unique challenges and programs like this not only help them prepare to travel confidently but also pave the path for building travel equity. 

Reservations for the pre-flight experiences can be made through the Navigating MSP Program website which also has other resources to help Autistic children navigate airports and flights.

Source: MAC

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One thing that people involved in farming have to do every year is apply manure to their farms. To put things in perspective, in the state of Wisconsin, farmers and manure applicators apply around 7 billion gallons of manure every year. The individuals involved in this process typically use maps that show extremely important information like sensitive areas and setback zones on the farm land so they can apply the manure in the right places. These maps use different colors and shades to depict said areas and zones which, although helpful, can be easily missed by those who are colorblind.

“It’s like being given a highway map from Chicago to St. Louis and you don’t know which are interstates and which are gravel roads because everything looks the same” – Kevin Erb

Kevin Erb, director of the University of Wisconsin’s conservation professional training program, trains farmers, crop consultants, and conservation staff on tools, apps, and programs they can use for managing their farms said that one in five individuals in his training programs are unable to distinguish colors and recently shared some tips on how to make it easy for colorblind individuals to follow important information on maps. He uses a USDA online guide that shows how to create maps for colorblind farmers using color adjustments and symbols to make information more visible. For example, a pump icon instead of a colored rectangle could indicate a well location.

(click images below to enlarge)

Once these maps are created, a pdf or image of them can be easily uploaded to an app like Custom Maps (available on Android devices) that can make these maps “geo-referenceable”. What that means is the person who is applying manure (someone on a tractor) can see their current location on the map created for them and see where they are navigating within various areas and zones. These mapping tools can be used not only for manure application but also pesticide application and other practices. Besides helping colorblind individuals, a tool like this is friendly for farmers of all ages who need to easily know what needs to be done in which areas.

Even though we are talking about farming here, I can totally see these tools being used in other scenarios as well – a person in a wheelchair off-roading in the wilderness and wanting to understand the terrain and what’s around them. Where else do you think this can be helpful?

Source: FarmWeek Now

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Our daily chores and activities require the use of our arms and in several cases, decent amount of strength. In many cases, individuals lose strength in their arms because of various disorders like muscular dystrophies, traumatic incidents like strokes or simply aging. To make up for lost strength, researchers have been working on various types of lightweight exoskeletons that can provide the appropriate amount of strength and comfort needed for individuals to perform movements required for activities like cooking, cleaning and other activities that require movement of limbs. The latest addition to these exoskeletons is the Myoshirt being developed by ETH Zürich.

Textile based, lightweight, and weighing only eight pounds, the Myoshirt can be worn just like a vest and combined with or hidden under normal clothing. Meant to provide shoulder stability and mobility while moving arms, the Myoshirt adds an external layer of muscles and enhances arm movements needed by people with upper limb impairments. Movements are detected by motion and force sensors and do not require any additional input by the user.

In a recent study with twelve participants, it was found that an individual with muscular dystrophy was able to increase endurance by roughly 60 percent. Another individual with spinal cord injury was able to perform exercises for three times as long.

In the next phase, ETH Zürich wants to test their prototype outside the lab in the natural environment of future wearers and continue to enhance it.

Source: Futurism, ETH Zürich

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Microtia is a condition which causes the ear to remain small and undeveloped. People with this condition have received 3D printed ear implants made out of polymers but thanks to a new method created by New York based 3DBio Therapeutics, a recipient recently received a 3D printed ear implant made from her own living tissue. 

This implant, named AuriNovo, is a patient-matched 3D implant specifically for Microtia. The process starts with a 3D scan of the patient’s opposite ear to get an accurate geometry for the full form ear implant. In the next step, a collagen hydrogel scaffold is printed using a custom printer the company has built and the patient’s own auricular cartilage (outermost portion of the ear) cells are integrated into the scaffold, creating a full sized living ear, ready for transplant. The printer uses artificial intelligence to print the complex materials and geometries for the ear.

This implant is part of as study that started in August 2021 with 11 patients in the trial. The first implant surgery occurred back in March this year. Through this study, the the company aims to investigate the safety and aesthetic properties of this new procedure.

Read the source link and watch the video below for more information.

Source: 3DPrinting.com

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Music Health, a Music Wellness Technology innovator, has developed and launched Vera, an intuitive music intervention tool designed for the care of people affected by dementia. Through a strategic, industry-first agreement, Vera App users are able to access the entire catalogue from Universal Music Group (UMG), the world’s leading music-based entertainment company, to develop personalised music stations specifically designed to improve the lives of people living with dementia every day.  As an exclusive launch partner, UMG brings a diverse and comprehensive global music catalogue to Vera users.

Vera is now approved by Apple for download via the App Store in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA, with the cross-sector Music for Dementia campaign welcoming the launch to help improve the lives of people impacted by dementia. The launch is the culmination of Music Health’s rigorous three-year development process which involved global research and development of the underlying technology that allows Vera to curate the perfect song at the right time for every individual listener.

The announcement follows the launch at Universal Music UK of the Power Of Music, a report from UK Music and Music for Dementia, which outlines a blueprint to use music to help transform communities and improve the nation’s health and wellbeing. It includes a commitment from Universal Music UK to develop a dynamic online resource which will serve as a music and dementia information hub. 

Grace Meadows, campaign director, Music for Dementia, says, “Research shows that music is much more impactful for people living with dementia when it holds meaning and is associated with moments from someone’s life. In our recently launched Power of Music report, which sets out how we can be harnessing the power of music more to support health and wellbeing, we emphasised the need for a personalised approach to embedding music in health and social care, and the Vera App helps carers to do that.”

The power of personalised music to affect a significant improvement in cognitive function for people in dementia care is evidenced by international scientists and neurologists, including award-winning neuroscientist and best-selling author, Daniel J. Levitin; the late physician, best-selling author and professor of neurology, Dr. Oliver Sacks; and Ronald Devere, M.D., director of the Alzheimer’s Disease and Memory Disorders Center in Austin, Texas.

Dr. Ren Minghui from the World Health Organization, says, “While there is no curative treatment for dementia, the proactive management of modifiable risk factors can delay or slow onset or progression of the disease.  I urge all stakeholders to make the best use of these recommendations to improve the lives of people with dementia, their carers and their families.”

Vera analyses the age of the dementia affected person, where they grew up, and how they react to certain music. It uses these criteria to autonomously curate the right songs at the right times to effectively manage the Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD). 

More than 80 percent of people living with dementia experience BPSD, manifesting as agitation, aggression, depression, or confusion. Vera stimulates the part of the brain responsible for long-term memory to help manage the impact of BPSD, easing the care routine of those living with dementia. Listening to personally significant music – all the noteworthy songs from our own life – is shown to effectively decrease the effects of BPSD helping to improve mood, cognitive function, motor functions and brain plasticity.

Vera curates songs from UMG’s unrivalled catalogue, the world’s largest, most diverse and culturally rich collection of blues, classical, country, folk, jazz, pop, R&B, reggae, rock ‘n’ roll, soul and soundtracks. The songs are autonomously curated and played directly from the Vera app via speakers or headphones.

With more than 20,000 hours of observation and rigorous analysis, combined with research from the Global Centre for Modern Ageing, confirms that Vera has a significant positive impact on the quality of life of people dealing with BPSD. While not a cure, Vera is a tool that can temporarily improve the cognitive function and mood of the person living with dementia making it easier to care for them.

Stephen Hunt, Music Health co-founder, says, “We’ve built Vera to know and find the music that means the most and has the biggest effect for each person living with dementia. It acts like a music detective, that seeks out tunes that they used to love a long time ago but may have forgotten about, which their carers may have never heard of, and their families may not even know.”

Vera is a product of Australian collaborative innovation. Music Health credits Barossa Village, Dementia Australia, the Australian Department of Health and the Global Centre For Modern Ageing (GCMA) for helping realise the innovation since 2019.

The Department of Health provided a research grant in 2019, following Vera winning Dementia Australia’s Decoding Dementia competition.

“I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to bring Vera to market thanks to our amazing partnership with Universal Music Group and the many care home and researchers that have made it possible.  It’s thanks to their early support for the concept that we’ve been able to deliver this foundational change to the daily lives of those living with dementia, here and around the world,” adds Hunt.

Michael Nash, UMG’s Executive Vice President of Digital Strategy, says, “From rigorous workouts to peaceful meditation to restorative sleep cycles, music is deeply integrated into numerous innovations promoting health and wellbeing. Now, scientists are finding that music is also a powerful tool for helping those suffering from the effects of dementia and memory loss. At UMG, we are working with a wide range of companies to develop therapeutical applications of music and we ‘re proud to partner with Music Health on Vera to help improve the lives of so many around the world.”

Barossa Village, an aged care organisation, worked with Music Health to refine the app and validate the impact Vera has on people living with dementia. This included daily monitoring of the changes Vera had on the people being cared for at Barossa Village as listening sessions were integrated into the daily routine of care. Findings from the studies showed an overall increase in quality of life for participants, especially after using Vera for several months. You can view a video of Barossa Village’s experience here.

“Vera provides playlists that are targeted and tailored to how each of our residents relates to their favourite songs. It’s an amazing innovation. And family members love it as they can participate in a shared experience with mum or dad, grandad or nanna,” says Matt Kowald, General Manager, Integrated Care at Barossa Village.

Vera is currently in trials with BUPA, an international healthcare company headquartered in the UK serving more than 31 million customers across the world, as well as several of Australia’s most innovative health and aged care providers offering hospital care, residential care and community services.

Vera is available in:

• Australia for AUD $119.99 for a 12-month care plan.
• Canada for CAD $89.99 for a 12-month care plan.
• New Zealand for NZD $119.99 for a 12-month care plan.
• U.K. for GBP £69.99 for a 12-month care plan.
• U.S. for USD $89.99 for a 12-month care plan.

Download Vera from the Apple App Store.

The post Dementia Management Tool ‘Vera’ Launches on Apple’s App Store With the World’s Largest Music Catalogue from Universal Music Group appeared first on Assistive Technology Blog.

Bradley Hennessey was 16 when he started developing “an Aspie Life” – a video game that centers around what it’s like to live with Autism. Bradley, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, first released this experimental adventure game in 2018. Since then, not only has Bradley made several updates to the game and provided bug fixes based on gamers’ feedback, he is also ready to launch the prequel to the game titled “An Aspie Life Beginnings”.

An Aspie Life tells the story of a young Autistic man whose roommate leaves for no reason, leaving him to face the outside world all by himself. The game intentionally incorporates several facets of the day to day an autistic person deals with. For example, all characters in the game are just black outlines so their body language cannot be read. However, this is an opportunity for the player to interact with these characters with limited vocabulary. Of course, conversations with others can cause stress, uneasiness, happiness and other emotions. The character can regenerate their “feelings meter” by going to a quiet place. Environmental sounds are also measured on the sound sensitivity meter which means that the player always has to keep sounds under control so as not to overwhelm the character. Finally, the dark blue/purple theme represents social isolation in addition to paying homage to the 80s/90s.

“Video games can be entertaining and educational. When these two qualities are combined, the player not only enjoys being informed, they are also more likely to remember the key themes of the game. ‘An Aspie Life’ is a video game that explores autism through the life experiences of the central character and playing a video game can be more enjoyable and informative than reading literature and watching documentaries” – Tony Attwood

Bradley is just about to release the prequel “An Aspie Life Beginnings”. Set in a small town on an island far, far away, three kids with disabilities solve a decade long mystery while discovering more about themselves in the process. Along with our protagonist from the original game who is on the Autism spectrum, we are joined by a girl with low vision and a boy with hearing loss. As the player cycles through these characters, they also get to experience the character’s disabilities. For example, when the girl is chosen, the screen becomes darker around the edges. There are several audio, visual and gameplay cues to guide the player throughout the game. One big difference you will see is that the world in the prequel is much more vivid and the environments and characters are closer to reality than in An Aspie Life.

The games are meant to bring the “experience” of living with Autism and other disabilities, however, it is important to reinforce the fact that both these games were developed by a disabled person himself. Parents, employers, caregivers, and individuals with disabilities should take note of the realms of possibilities here.

While you wait for An Aspie Life Beginnings to come out, head over to Steam to play the original An Aspie Life for free.

Source: Fast Company

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There are several blind photographers out there (like Bruce Hall) who use their cameras not just for taking photos but also looking at objects in their immediate surroundings. Just because they use their cameras regularly does not mean they can navigate their camera menus easily.

The Sony A7 IV plans to change that with its built in screen reader for its menu. Once turned on, the A7 IV can read aloud digital text on the camera’s display, allowing blind users to interact with the camera menu much easily. The screen reader options can be accessed from Menu->Setup->Accessibility->Screen Reader. Here, you can toggle the screen reader on or off as well as set the speed and volume at which the menu options will be read aloud.

Even though the current screen reader is not perfect (it does not read everything – the Quick Menu, for example), it is still a great inclusion and sets the right precedence for other manufacturers to follow.

Learn more about the built-in screen reader in the video below.

Source: Digital Photography Review

The post Sony A7 IV Camera Has A Built-In Screen Reader for Photographers With Visual Impairment appeared first on Assistive Technology Blog.

Many Braille literate blind and deafblind users use refreshable braille displays with their Android devices to touch-read and type out braille dots that represent text. Usually, people connect their Android devices using the BrailleBack app which is a separate download or use a virtual keyboard within Talkback instead of a physical device.

In the upcoming Android 13 Beta, which should be available to users in the next few weeks, Google is providing out of the box support for Braille displays within Talkback, Android’s screen reader. With this new update, there will be no need for additional downloads to use most Braille displays. For example, users will be able to use display buttons to navigate their screen, compose emails, make phone calls, send text messages or read books There will be shortcuts for scrolling/moving to the next character, word or line as well as for editing documents – like jumping to the end of documents or selecting, copying, and pasting.

Watch the video below to learn more about this upcoming out of the box support for Braille displays and other accessibility features and services in Android 13.

Sign up for the Android beta program to try Talkback 13 when it is released to the public.

Source: Google

Image Source: Humanware

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